Pains were shooting down my legs. I became so afraid I couldn't catch my breath. I wondered what was happening to me. September 2000 - Over 4 million Americans, or about 5 percent of the adult population, suffer from panic attacks a disabling disorder affecting one mentally and physically. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, panic disorder is twice as common in women than in men and can appear at any age.
Sufferers complain about losing control of their body all of a sudden.
When physical symptoms come rushing into their awareness, they can feel overwhelmed. In actuality, there are a number of events that typically take place within the mind and body leading up to a panic attack most of them unconscious. The mind considers approaching a feared situation. That thought stimulates a memory of a past difficulty. At the moment the mind creates an image of the past trauma, it simultaneously instructs the body to respond as though that trauma was presently occurring.