Panic Attacks: What They Are and What to Do in the Moment

This article is general information published by the practice of Dr. Sholeh Toobaei, Specialist Psychiatrist, Dubai. It has not yet been individually reviewed by a clinician and is not a substitute for personal medical advice. Published: 1 September 2026.

Scope: This article is general information about panic attacks. It is not a diagnosis. Chest pain and breathlessness can also be signs of heart and other physical conditions — if you are unsure, especially the first time, get medical help rather than assuming it is panic.

What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear that peaks within minutes, with strong body symptoms: racing or pounding heart, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, sweating, tingling in the hands, and a feeling of losing control or dying. It is the body's alarm system firing when there is no fire.

The alarm system in question is the "fight or flight" response — an ancient reflex that floods your body with adrenaline so you can run from danger. It is designed for physical threats. When it triggers by mistake — in a meeting, in traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, in bed at 3am — the sensations are real and intense, but the danger is not. This is why a panic attack feels exactly like a heart attack or like dying: your body is genuinely in emergency mode. The emergency is just a false alarm.

Panic attacks are common. Many people have one or two in a lifetime, often during periods of high stress. They become a medical problem — called panic disorder — when they keep recurring and you start living in fear of the next one.

What should I do while a panic attack is happening?

Do these things, in order: (1) Remind yourself, out loud if possible, "This is a panic attack. It is frightening but not dangerous. It will pass." (2) Slow your breathing — breathe in through your nose for a count of four, out through your mouth for a count of six. (3) Plant your feet on the floor and name five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can touch. (4) Stay where you are if it is safe; do not drive.

The breathing matters most. During panic, people breathe fast and shallow, which lowers carbon dioxide in the blood — and that drop is what causes the tingling, dizziness, and feeling of unreality. Slowing the out-breath reverses it. Longer out-breath than in-breath is the key; you are not trying to take deep breaths, you are trying to take slow ones.

The grounding step (naming things you see, hear, touch) works because it forces your attention out of your body and back into the room. Panic feeds on monitoring your own sensations. Starve it of attention and it burns out faster.

Most panic attacks peak within about ten minutes and fade within twenty to thirty. They feel endless. They are not. Nobody has ever died of a panic attack itself, and the wave always comes down — every single time, whether you do anything or not. The techniques above just make the wave shorter and less terrifying.

What should I NOT do during a panic attack?

Do not flee the situation if you are safe, do not fight the sensations, and do not start scanning your body for proof that something is wrong. All three teach your brain that the alarm was real, which makes the next attack more likely.

This is the cruel logic of panic: escaping feels like relief, but it is the relief that trains the fear. If you leave the supermarket every time panic rises, your brain learns "supermarkets are dangerous," and soon the car park is enough to trigger it. If you can possibly stay — even one aisle away, even sitting on a bench — and let the wave pass while you are still there, you have taught your brain the opposite lesson. That lesson, repeated, is the core of how panic disorder is treated.

Also avoid the trap of constant reassurance-seeking — repeated heart checks, repeated emergency visits that find nothing. One thorough medical check to rule out physical causes is sensible. Ten is the anxiety maintaining itself.

When do panic attacks become a problem that needs treatment?

When they recur, when you start avoiding places or activities because of them, or when the fear of the next attack is itself shrinking your life. At that point the condition is very treatable — but it rarely resolves on its own once avoidance has set in.

Treatment usually involves a specific form of talking therapy, sometimes combined with medication. The therapy works by gradually reversing the avoidance and changing your relationship with the body sensations themselves. Most people improve substantially. The important thing to know is that panic disorder is one of the most treatable conditions in psychiatry — people who have suffered for years often improve within months of proper treatment.

When should I seek urgent help?

Call 999 or 998 in the UAE, or go to an emergency department, if: this is your first episode and you are not sure it is panic; the chest pain is severe, crushing, or spreads to your arm or jaw; you faint; or the symptoms feel different from your usual attacks. Also seek urgent help if panic comes with thoughts of harming yourself. Emergency doctors would always rather check you and find a panic attack than have you stay home with something physical. For ongoing, non-emergency care, you can reach this practice on +971 58 143 2494.