Signs of Panic and Anxiety (And What to Do About It in Boise)
Anxiety You Know. But What About Panic?
Anxiety is that maddening, buzzing hum of worry that follows you around everywhere. It’s a monkey on your back. It shows up in your thoughts, sleep, and ability to focus. Most people who've dealt with it for a while have learned to function around it but sometimes overwhelm keeps them from functioning properly. At some point, we need to take a step back and start dealing with anxiety head-on. If you’re just trying to keep going, you’re pushing through, and you telling yourself you're fine… but starting to wonder how much longer you can keep up with the spinning plates? This is for you.
Anxiety lives with us and usually we can deal with all the worry, but Panic Attacks are different. Panic hits fast and suddenly, it’s super scary, and it can make you feel completely out of control. Your body goes into crazy-ass-full-alarm mode even when there's nothing obviously wrong…. that’s the nature of panic. It doesn’t necessarily show up in the moment of highest stress, but after. And this can be confusing too. Because the physical symptoms can be so intense, a lot of people genuinely think they're having a medical emergency the first time it happens.
If you've been brushing off some of these experiences as or "just stress," it might be worth taking a closer look, learning more about panic, and learning how to prevent it or at least cope when it happens.
Signs Your Anxiety Might Be Tipping Into Panic
You don't need all of these, but if a few feel familiar, pay attention…..
Your heart suddenly starts racing or pounding for no obvious reason. It isn't because you're exercising, rushing to an appointment, or dealing with anything physically demanding. Instead, it seems to come out of nowhere while you're sitting at your desk, relaxing on the couch, or even lying in bed in the middle of the night.
You find yourself becoming short of breath without any clear explanation, almost as if your body has forgotten how to breathe naturally for a few moments. Sometimes it's accompanied by a tightness in your chest, making the sensation even more alarming and convincing you that something must be seriously wrong.
You begin feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or strangely disconnected from yourself or your surroundings. It can feel as though you're watching yourself from outside your own body or that the world around you suddenly seems distant or unreal. Because these sensations don't match what most people expect anxiety to feel like, they often catch people completely off guard.
Out of nowhere, you're overwhelmed by an intense wave of fear or dread that doesn't seem connected to anything happening around you. It isn't a specific worry or anxious thought. Instead, it's a powerful feeling that something is terribly wrong, even though you can't identify what it is, and then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it fades away.
Without fully realizing it, you may find yourself changing your routines or avoiding certain places, situations, or even being alone. These choices often happen gradually as your brain tries to protect you from experiencing another frightening episode, even if you haven't consciously recognized that's what you're doing.
You may also notice that your tolerance for caffeine has changed dramatically. A cup of coffee that never bothered you before now leaves you feeling shaky, overstimulated, or uncomfortably on edge because your nervous system is already operating in a heightened state, and even a small amount of caffeine can push it into overdrive.
What's Actually Happening When You Panic
Panic attacks are your nervous system doing its job... just at the completely wrong time! Your brain registers a threat, real or perceived, and fires off a full physical alarm response. It’s a protective mechanism that’s been with humans a long time, and it’s designed to protect us. When you feel your heart rate increase, your breathing changes, and adrenaline spikes? that’s when it’s time for you to pause and recognize the symptoms. Get moving asap to help bring those panic-chemicals down… the more you sit, the more cortisol and adrenaline build. When you feel that panic mechanism setting in, it’s a signal from your body that you’re overstressed and need to shift gears asap.
The problem is that when there's no real threat to respond to, the whole thing feels terrifying and out of control! Then you start to worry about the panic itself, which keeps the cycle going. Panic-about-panic is another hallmark of Panic Disorder.
It's not weakness or you just being dramatic… it's a nervous system that's been under pressure for too long finally hitting a wall.
So What Do You Do About It?
First, and this is important: if you haven't ruled out anything medical, do that. Heart palpitations and breathing issues are worth a quick check with your doctor just to establish a baseline.
Once you know it's anxiety and panic, and not something physical, the work becomes helping your nervous system get out of chronic overdrive. That means looking honestly at what's been piling up, the sleep you've been skipping, the self-care you keep deprioritizing, and the way you've been white-knuckling through a lot more than you probably should be.
You don't need a dramatic overhaul. You need some support, a little clarity, and someone to help you think through it without adding more to your already full plate.
That's what anxiety counseling with me looks like. I’m someone on your side who gets it and will help you make a realistic plan without piling on labels or pushing solutions that don't fit your life!
You've Got This. But You Don't Have to Do It Alone.
If you're in the Boise area and anxiety has been louder than usual lately, that's worth paying attention to. Panic is manageable. Anxiety is manageable. And you don't have to figure out the next step by yourself.
Learn more about anxiety counseling in Boise at Jamison Counseling
Wondering if burnout is part of the picture? Read more here