An Inner Struggle: Watching Someone Suffer from Panic Attacks

This mental health issue may be one of the most misunderstood of them all.

The words “panic attack” bring with them a certain image: you might imagine someone passing out, overtaken by such a wave of anxiety that they fall prey to tremors that wrack their whole bodies.

I know people experience things differently depending on many variables, but the panic attacks I have seen never manifested in this apparent shock-factor way.

The first time I saw a panic attack up close, my mother and I were in a Best Buy. I was five or six at the time, it’s hard to say, but I don’t remember anything being amiss. My mom and I were just browsing through VHS tapes (we can place the time-frame at the mid-90’s then) when, suddenly, she was kneeling on the carpeted floor with her head nearly between her jean-clad knees. All I can remember is crouching down next to her and trying to find out what was happening. Oddly, though, I knew not to start a ruckus myself. I just sat there as I rubbed circles into her back while she told me in only a few words that I just needed to give her some time to breathe and calm down. She would later explain to me that she had started to have panic attacks, and the incident at Best Buy was one of them.