International Panic Day

What the day is

International Panic Day is observed on June 18. The name invites jokes, and panic attacks are a real and common experience, so this entry covers what is actually happening.

Origin and background

The day itself has shifted. Earlier versions of this novelty observance were marked on March 9 before the date settled on June 18 under the International Panic Day name it now carries; both dates still circulate on different calendars as a result, which is worth knowing if you see this holiday listed twice.

A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear accompanied by strong physical symptoms: racing heart, chest tightness, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, dizziness and tingling in the hands or face. The symptoms closely resemble a cardiac event, which is why a great many first attacks end in an emergency department, and why anyone experiencing chest pain for the first time should be assessed rather than assuming.

The mechanism behind several of those symptoms is worth knowing because it overturns the usual advice. Under adrenaline people breathe faster and deeper than the body needs, which expels too much carbon dioxide. Blood chemistry shifts, and that shift produces precisely the tingling, light-headedness and chest tightness that feel most alarming. The frightening sensations come from breathing too much, not too little. Telling somebody to take a deep breath therefore adds to the problem. What helps is slowing the breath and making the out-breath longer than the in-breath, which lets carbon dioxide return to normal.

The second useful fact is that attacks are self-limiting. They typically peak within about ten minutes and subside, because the body cannot sustain that level of adrenaline. Knowing the peak is coming, and that it passes, measurably reduces how frightening it is.

Having a panic attack is not the same as having panic disorder, which involves persistent fear of further attacks and avoidance built around them. Most people who experience one never develop the disorder, and cognitive behavioral therapy has strong evidence where it does.

How to take part

• Breathe out for longer than you breathe in, rather than breathing deeply.
• Remember it peaks and passes, usually within minutes.
• Sit with somebody having one without trying to talk them out of it.
• Get first-time chest pain checked medically rather than assuming panic.
• Speak to a doctor if fear of the next attack is shaping your choices.