I Keep Getting Hit by Panic Waves: Signs & Therapy for Panic Attacks
- ✓I was sure I was having a heart attack until the ER doctor said 'panic attack'
- ✓I avoid highways now because a wave hit me there once and I'm terrified it'll happen again
- ✓I'm always braced for the next one, scanning my body for warning signs
You're not broken—your threat-response system is misfiring, and it can be recalibrated.
Panic attacks are more common than you think—up to 35% of adults experience one at some point. What you're feeling is real, and it's highly treatable. (National Institute of Mental Health)
That desperate need to flee, the certainty something is terribly wrong—these aren't character flaws. They're features of a nervous system stuck in high gear. Many people who land here [start with our general stress overview](/topics/stress/) before realizing their pattern is more specific.
Why Panic Waves Keep Hitting
Panic attacks happen when your body's 'high gear' threat system fires even without real danger. Your heart races, breathing shallows, and mind scans for problems—because your nervous system believes you're in imminent danger. Research shows this is a learned alarm pattern, not weakness. The good news? [Exposure therapy](/topics/stress/generalized-anxiety/) can retrain this response by teaching your system these sensations aren't actually dangerous. (NICE, 2020)
Signs You're Experiencing Panic Waves
- •**The Wave is Sudden:** You go from fine to 'I'm dying' in seconds, with no warning.
- •**Your Body Takes Over:** Heart pounding, chest tight, dizzy, sweating—you're certain it's physical.
- •**The Escape Urge is Overwhelming:** You must leave NOW, or something catastrophic will happen.
- •**The Fear of Fear Itself:** You avoid places, situations, or even your own body sensations to prevent another wave.
Something to try
The 5-4-3-2-1 Anchor (ACT-Based Grounding)
Name 5 things you see, 4 you hear, 3 you feel, 2 you smell, 1 you taste. This interrupts the panic spiral by forcing your brain out of future threat and into present-moment sensing. Studies show this grounding technique reduces acute distress by engaging your parasympathetic brake system. (APA, 2023)
This is a surfboard to ride the wave—not the shore. To stop the waves from forming, you need targeted exposure work.
What to expect in therapy
Therapy for panic focuses on retraining your threat response through controlled exposure and CBT techniques. You'll learn to sit with body sensations safely until your nervous system realizes it doesn't need to sound the alarm.
With the right support, you can go from bracing for the next wave to trusting your body again.
Ready for support that stops the waves?
If you've tried breathing apps that didn't stop the panic, or therapy that never quite addressed the body terror—you need a specialist in exposure-based panic treatment. We match you to clinicians who know how to retrain this specific pattern.