Panic Disorders are more common in people then you would imagine. According to the National Institute of Public Health there are 6 million American adults aged 18 and older who have this affliction.

Personally, in my life the experience I have with it is through my mom who has a panic disorder and has panic attacks. The first one that I remember her having I was 11 years old and my mom was in the living room crying and writhing on the floor because she thought she was having a heart attack. She kept grabbing her chest and telling me to call 911. My baby brother, who was 1 at the time, was crying, my dad was at work, and my mom was breathing heavily and telling me that she was dying. I froze. I didn’t know what to do, I had no idea what was going on or that she even had these panic attacks. So I called 911 and we all went to the ER where I sat with my brother in the waiting room while I waited to see what was wrong. It was probably the longest 30 minutes of my life sitting there in that ER trying to calm my brother down and wondering how I could get ahold of my dad, when the doctor came out. He sat down next to me and told me that my mom was fine and that they’re doing tests because she insisted but that we could go home. I didn’t understand. I saw her and the pain she felt not even 30 minutes ago and she looked so scared, she was crying, she couldn’t even get up off the floor, and the doctor said that she was perfectly fine?

I didn’t understand what my mom had for a few years, though they ket happening. But we didn’t have to go to the ER anymore and it was never as bad as it was that one instance. So learning more about Panic Disorders really helps to show exactly why that happened to my mom. She had all the symptoms that we discussed, shortness of breath, feelings of terror, chest pains, the feeling that you’re having a heart attack. It must be terrifying to go through that so that fact that she lives with it every day shows how strong of a person you can be. I admire my mom for being able to go through her day to day and not let it affect her life in a big way. Knowing that there are so many who suffer this disorder I hope they are able to get the help that my mom was able to so that they can live generally normal lives.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml#Panic