In my case, I had anxiety attacks only when I was on live TV and in the midst of voice-over stories that featured me talking. No sound bites, no reporter packages, no commercials. Just me and the script and that damned clock, ticking off the seconds like centuries. Unlike most other TV newscasters in the country, I didn't have a co-anchor to bail me out. Just me and my fears, duking it out in front of an audience the Astrodome couldn't hold.
Anxiety attack is such a cute term.
It sounds like a kid got so excited about a planned vacation to the Grand Canyon that he couldn't do his homework. Panic attack is better, but even that doesn't describe what the victim feels. Death would be a sweet release compared with the agony my brain put me through. Only another victim of mental illness would understand. In fact, death was an option I considered.