Kate Regnier

The first panic attack, you thought you were dying. The second one, you felt way too alive in the worst way. The third one hasn’t happened yet and you’re dreading its arrival. Despite being a high powered professional whose worked your ass off to get where you are, you feel like a ball of anxiety. Ever since the first panic attack, you can’t calm down when your heart speeds up, you get hot flashes, and you feel convinced that you’re about to lose control. There’s the you before the panic attack and the you after the panic attack. You’ve tried all the tricks you read about online: the breathing exercises, cold water, ice packs, sour candy, vagus nerve stimulators. Maybe those help for a second. But you’re still spending every free moment wondering when the panic will come back. You wonder, “What then?” What if you’re always on edge, anticipating what you’ll do if panic reappears and you can’t handle it. Maybe you’re scared the next panic attack will do you in for good. You’ll go crazy or somehow be permanently damaged. You’re not just struggling with panic attacks. You’re living in fear of the next one. You aren’t dying, you’re not going crazy, and you’re not stuck like this. You’re bodies fear alarm just rang at the wrong time and sent you adrenaline for an emergency when there wasn’t one. Panic attacks have interrupted your life in so many ways. And you can’t keep on like this. It’s taking time and energy away from the business woman you like to be, the parent, friend and spouse you were before. You’re scared its affecting others, having to change your schedule or the plans just in case a panic attack appears. Panic says there’s a safe zone that you can’t leave. And we’re going to show it that it’s wrong.