This is called a panic disorder. The risk of suicide is especially high among women who drink and started panicking in their teens or early twenties.
Many victims avoid treatment, like they do other scary situations.
Other victims, fearing some serious physical disease, see an average of 10 doctors before the disorder is correctly diagnosed. Unfortunately, many professionals give ineffective drugs and don't use the best therapy methods. So seek a panic disorder specialist , if possible, by calling your Mental Health Center or the Phobia Society of America. The causes of panic attacks are not known. Other theorists believe panic sufferers were born shy, nervous children with over-demanding, suffocating parents.