When people experience fear, they usually know specifically what they are afraid of.
Fear is based in reality on an exaggeration of real danger.
A panic attack is a period of sudden onset of fierce anxiety often associated with feelings of impending doom. Freud s writings on anxiety neurosis foreshadowed the concept of panic disorder. Freud noted that panic can erupt into consciousness without being triggered by any antecedent thoughts, although fears of impending death or insanity often accompany an emerging attack. He also described limited symptom attacks, nocturnal panic, and nonfearful attacks characterized by sudden physical symptoms but no anxiety. Despite the remarkable similarities between the modern concept of panic disorder and Freud s characterization of anxiety neurosis, notable differences between the two exist.