The closest I've ever been to a panic attack happened last fall in my Arabic class. I had done well on the initial test by struggling out each word. On the final exam, the test had new vocabulary and no vowel markings. My reading was less fluent than it is now and I ended up changing right answers to wrong answers. By the end on the exam I was such a mess that I know I drove home, but I can't figure out how. Nothing I had studied was on the exam and even though the format was the same as previous tests, I just couldn't decode the Arabic text.

Thankfully no.

It has happened to me twice, or even maybe a third time. The first time, when I was about 19 years old, it was probably caused by the extreme stress of the preparation for the university semester exam, in a period where I neglected for long my otherwise careful nutrition and physical activity. The second time, a couple of years later, the "panic-attack" was manifested as an episode of 'manic depression' after I broke up with my partner and stayed for a period of over a month in a state of intoxication. The third time, 5 or six years later, was again a case of emotional disorder in a period of constant intoxication for over a month. Many years later, I can declare pretty confidently that a person who is carefully engaging in emotional relationships, eats healthy, doesn't neglect his/her physical activity and restrains from intoxicating agents (nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, halucinogenic and euphoric drugs) is not likely at all to manifest a "panic-attack" episode nor any other type of anxiety disorder. It's common though that it takes some years for most youngsters to appreciate a balanced lifestyle, doesn't it?