I tend to get them when I'm really stressed out or nervous. Around exam time at school I get them about 5 times a night. It's pretty terrible, but manageable because I'm always in bed when I get them; I rarely get them when I'm up doing things.

The worst, however, was once when I was at work. I was working at Tim Hortons at the time, and I was the evening supervisor, with about 6 people working under me. I think I was about 18 at the time. It was me and a couple other girls' last day (or close to last day) so at the beginning of the shift we had a couple drinks with the manager.

Because of the shift, I start off with about 10 people, and slowly people go home until there are only 2 or 3 left. Well, about 8 or 9 pm we were down to our normal 2 or 3 people, and we got a busy rush. I'd been there the longest so I worked the drive thru by myself which is extreme multi-tasking because you have to take orders, punch them in, make them, and then hand them out the window and handle the money and clear it out of the system while your taking more orders, plus, because I was supervisor, I had to watch what everyone else was doing and pay attention the store wasn't getting too messy and deal with any complaints.

Well, this rush ended up going on for AGES, and eventually it was just me and one other girl with a line up out the door and drive thru backed up on to the road, the store was a huge mess and we were missing parts of orders left and right and running out of coffee and everything else, there were drunk people in the store causing trouble, and I got a panic attack. I think it had to do with the alcohol because I'd had nights like that but certainly never after drinking... My work area was about 6'x6' and I got so disoriented, it was like my brain couldn't keep up.. I'd turn around reaching for something thinking I was standing right next to the counter but I was actually like 3' away. I got dizzy. It was terrible. And usually panic attacks don't last long, but this one went on for 2-3 hours. I had no idea what I was doing, I was dropping things, messing up orders, people were getting mad and complaining at me, meanwhile I was about to fall over every time I turned around. I almost started crying more than once, and the other girl was getting so frustrated she was yelling at people.

Eventually the midnight shift came in (at midnight) and I practically ran from the store and sat in my car for a good 30 minutes before I left.. It was only a 5 minute drive home but I didn't think I could do it.

Anyways, terrible night. I had to go in the next day too and I didn't want to go SO badly I went in crying.

Usually panic attacks for me don't happen often during the day, though. The only times I've gotten them, maybe 3 times other than that while awake, have been when I've been impaired, which surely contributed to it. For those, I (literally) just sat in a corner with my eyes closed until they went away. When I get them at night, I wake up suddenly and toss and turn and freak out, so basically i just try to lie still until I fall asleep again. Sort of works, but I haven't found a better solution. I'm going to have to figure out something for this semester at school because I'm already nervous!
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Today, I was cleaning out my store room and noticed a ton of bees, so for the whole time I was cleaning I was sure to walk really far away from them so I wouldn't get stung. It was a little inconvinent, but I didn't want to get stung. When I finished cleaning I was walking back to my house and I walked right throught the bees! Right when I was surrounded by bees I noticed where I was, paniced and ran inside. It helps to sit down and take big breaths and try to calm yourself down.
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60ft under water the second time I was diving. Not a good place to get a panic attack.
Told myself to start breathing normally again and "force" myself to calm down again, mainly a matter of focusing on the target of calming down instead of on the panic itself.
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