Before I realized what I was doing, I was flying out my seat sending it skidding across the tile floor behind me. I had been trying to swallow my lunch around the growing lump in my throat when it started to feel like it was closing up. The sudden feeling of suffocation sent my heart banging against the inside of my chest. Aware that I was acting weird, standing there with my plastic fork in my hand breathing hard, I was grateful that all the other students in my college class had gone out for lunch. There was no one around to witness my behavior. Not knowing what to do, I just stood there staring at the empty room around me. Even though I had had them sporadically throughout the years, including my childhood, I still did not understand panic attacks well enough to walk myself through one. Not knowing if it was going to get better or worse, I did not know what to do. It had been years since my last panic attack. Another spike of fear washed over me as I tried to swallow again and f