Panic Attacks

A panic attack is one of the most physically frightening experiences the mind can produce. It comes on fast — often out of nowhere, sometimes in a place you'd previously felt safe — and for the ten or fifteen minutes it lasts, it can genuinely feel like you're having a heart attack, losing control, or about to die. A lot of people end up in A&E the first time it happens, get told their heart is fine, and go home more confused than reassured — because the experience was real, even if the danger wasn't.

This page is written to help you recognise what a panic attack is, and what the pattern looks like when it starts to happen repeatedly. Not to diagnose you, and not to tell you what to do about it — that's a conversation for a trained mental health professional. But if what's below reads like a description of something you've been through, that's worth taking seriously.

What a panic attack can actually feel like

A racing or pounding heart. Chest tightness. Sometimes sharp chest pain.

Shortness of breath, or a feeling that you can't quite get a full breath in.

Tingling or numbness — often in the hands, feet, or around the mouth.

Trembling, shaking, or a wave of hot-and-cold that moves through the body.

Sweating, sometimes drenching sweat that comes on within seconds.

Dizziness or lightheadedness. A sense that the floor isn't quite where you left it.

A feeling that things aren't real — either the world around you (like watching yourself through glass) or your own body (like it isn't yours). This is called derealisation and depersonalisation. It's disorienting and it's not dangerous, though it doesn't feel that way in the moment.

A strong, urgent fear — that you're dying, that you're going mad, that you're about to lose control in public. This fear is often the loudest part.

The attack usually peaks within about ten minutes and eases within twenty to thirty, though the shakiness afterwards can last hours.

How it's different from general anxiety

Anxiety is a slower burn — a tightness that lives in the background. A panic attack is a sudden, discrete surge. Many people have both. The clinically meaningful shift is when the attacks start happening repeatedly, when you begin to fear the next attack, and when your life starts quietly rearranging itself around avoiding places or situations you associate with them. That anticipatory pattern — the fear of the fear — is often more disabling than the attacks themselves.

Signs it's time to see a mental health professional

• You've had more than one panic attack, and you've started worrying about when the next one will come

• You've started avoiding places, activities, or situations where you had one before — even if you know the place itself was fine

• The attacks are showing up at work, while driving, or in public in a way that's affecting your day-to-day life

• You've had cardiac and physical workups that came back normal, but the attacks are continuing

• You've started drinking, using medication, or using your phone in specific ways to feel "protected" against another one

• The attacks are waking you from sleep

What a first consultation actually involves

A first appointment for panic is usually a conversation about what the attacks have felt like, when they started, what tends to trigger them (if anything obvious does), what your sleep and stress patterns look like, and what your medical history is. The goal isn't to categorise you — it's to understand your specific pattern and help you decide what to do about it. Nothing gets decided in the first meeting that you don't have time to think about.

Frequently asked questions

Am I going to die during a panic attack?
No. Panic attacks feel dangerous but are not physically dangerous, even when they feel like a heart attack. That said, chest pain should always be checked medically at least once to rule out physical causes.

Why do they happen for no reason?
They often feel like they come from nowhere, but there's usually a pattern once you look — stress that built up gradually, a period of poor sleep, caffeine, a life transition. A psychiatrist can help you find the thread.

Will I always have them?
For most people, no. Panic is one of the most responsive conditions in psychiatry once it's addressed properly.

Can panic attacks happen in sleep?
Yes. Nocturnal panic attacks are less common but they do occur, and they're clinically meaningful.

Do I need to try to stop them from happening?
Actually, part of what keeps panic going is the effort to prevent it. But that's a conversation for a therapist or psychiatrist, not something to try to figure out from a webpage.

If this pattern sounds like what's been happening to you, that's a signal worth acting on. You can book a consultation with Dr Pragya Sharma — Consultant Psychiatrist — in person in Mohali or online across India.

Reviewed by Dr Pragya Sharma, MBBS, DPM, DNB Psychiatry — Consultant Psychiatrist, Repose Clinic, Mohali. Last reviewed: 1 August 2026.