5 Overlooked Symptoms of Panic Attacks

Panic attacks and panic disorder are dramatically under-represented in conversations about mental health. Even more so are the specific symptoms of panic attacks.

Many people don’t even know that they’re experiencing panic attacks and instead believe that they’re just going crazy or that “something is wrong with them.”

If this resonate with you and you’re thinking “that’s me!,” you’re not alone. I spent about a year of my life dipping in and out of what I now know were episodes of “depersonalization” and “derealization,” two symptoms of panic attacks that are almost never talked about! Not knowing that this experience was something other people had or that it’s common enough to have a name, made the experience that much more terrifying.

What is A Panic Attack?

A panic attack is an extreme and involuntary reaction of fear to a non-existent or non-threatening stimulus. It is an evolutionary response , known as our “fight or flight” response, meant to save our lives from real danger. Unfortunately, this mechanism doesn’t always function so effectively in our modern world.

What Does A Panic Attack Feel Like?

Panic attacks don’t always look the way they’re portrayed on TV: sweating, accelerated heart rate, heavy breathing, feeling faint etc. Lesser-known symptoms like depersonalization and derealization are equally possible and real symptoms to the ones we hear about in pop culture.

Sometimes, a panic attack is the feeling that you’re going crazy, you’re dying, something bad is going to happen, you’re not real, the world’s not real, or some variation of those things.

If this sounds familiar, you might be suffering from a panic disorder and having panic attacks.

Here are 5 possible signs of a panic attack that are never talked about.

5 Under-RePresented Symptoms of Panic Attacks

If you’ve felt any of these symptoms, chances are you don’t need them explained to you. Not to mention, they’re difficult to explain! However, I’m going to do my best to explain them anyway in the hope that it will offer you some comfort knowing you’re not alone.

1. You Feel Like You’re Going Crazy

Variations of the phrase “I’m going crazy” have been overused so much by so many people that it’s hard to do justice to the extreme fear that comes with truly believing that you’re going crazy.  

This is the feeling that your thoughts are no longer making sense and your brain isn’t functioning the way it’s supposed to. It’s difficult to explain exactly what’s different about your mind, but it doesn’t feel like your mind anymore. It feels like you can’t trust yourself or your thoughts.

2. You Feel Like You’re Dying

One of the scariest symptoms of a panic attack can be this one. Even if you can logically look around you and see that there’s no immediate threat to your health, it feels like you’re going to die. Sometimes it’s associated with the fact that your heart is beating so fast it feels like you might have a heart attack, but sometimes it’s independent from your somatic experience and is a generalized sense of impending death.

3. You Feel Like Something Really Bad is Going to Happen If You Let Go

This panic attack symptom is a conundrum. It’s the feeling that if you somehow “give in” to the feeling you’re having, that something really terrible is going to happen. It feels like everyone will know that you’re crazy, or you’ll do something you can’t control, or some other inexplicable and unforgivable event will take place. The irony is that the terrible thing you’re trying to hold off is already happening: it’s the panic attack you’re already having.

4. You Feel Like You’re Not Real

This symptom as a name: Depersonalization. This is the feeling that you are not you anymore.

This feeling goes hand in hand with that of feeling like you’re going crazy or like you’re dying because the feeling of loss of identity is so terrifying. Depersonalization feels like you don’t have agency in the world the way you used to, your thoughts don’t feel like your own, you don’t feel attached to your body, and you’ve become an outside observer of your own life.

5. You Feel Like The World Isn’t Real

This symptom also has a name: Derealization. This is the feeling that nothing is “real” in your environment anymore.

The experience of derealization is difficult to explain. It’s also known as It’s kind of like being in a dream, but there’s nothing pleasant about it. It’s unbelievably disconcerting to suddenly have no attachment to people, things, or outcomes that you know used to be important to you. However, it also feels impossible to will yourself back into caring the way you’re “supposed to” because there’s some sort of invisible wall between you and the rest of the world.

Both depersonalization and derealization are sometimes talked about under the umbrella term “dissociation.” “Dissociation” is a useful term to describe an altered state of personal awareness that lacks in an attachment to yourself or the world around you.

Bonus Symptom: It Feels Like You’re Never Going to Stop Feeling That Way

Part of what makes panic attacks so intense and terrifying is that they always seem to be coupled by the feeling that it’s never going to end.

It’s extremely empowering to know if you’re suffering from panic attacks because if so, it means that the feeling is an isolated event.

Knowing you’re having panic attacks allows you to put some space between yourself and your panic attacks. I know it doesn’t help just to tell yourself it’s not going to last forever, but with time, patience, and repetition, you’ll begin to believe it.

Where to Go From Here

These are just five of the most dramatic symptoms of panic attacks and panic disorder that are rarely talked about in the mental health world and especially in mainstream media. I think it’s wrong to leave so many people feeling like they’re alone in their mental health journey because they don’t know the words to describe what’s happening! If you believe you’re having panic attacks, I hope this was helpful and makes you feel less alone.

Please let me know in the comments if you found this helpful! And feel free to check out this article for tips to create a Morning Routine that helps you Heal Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks.