Everyone who experiences spontaneous panic attack remembers their first attack: where they were, what they were doing and how they felt. There is no other experience with which to compare it. The panic attack usually appears to have little or nothing to do with any personal or environmental situation. Even if we are very distressed about a particular situation it can seem to us there is no direct relationship between the situation and the attack. Whereas in social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder, people may recognise the driving force behind their attack as it is usually specific to a particular situation.
Most people who experience a spontaneous attack will go straight to a doctor or the nearest hospital, sometimes by ambulance, as the attack feels as if it is actually a heart attack. We go through the standard clinical tests which show there is nothing physically wrong. Many of us are now diagnosed as suffering from a panic attack, although a large number of people are still only told they are suffering from stress or anxiety.
There is no relief in discovering that there is nothing physically wrong. The attack can be so severe and the physical reaction so extreme, it is difficult to believe there is not a physical cause. It is impossible not to feel frightened, especially if there appears to be little or no relationship between the panic attack and our current personal situation.
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