A panic attack is an explosion of high anxiety. It is strongly associated with a sense of losing control or predicting that the very worst will happen. It is not a mental disorder, more than one in five people experience one or more panic attacks in their lifetime, but few go on to develop panic disorder or agoraphobia. There are different types of panic attacks: Cued Panic Attacks, Situational Predisposed Panic Attacks and Spontaneous Panic Attacks.

To discuss three case reports with one year follow-up, each one of a different type of panic attack.

1 Female, 25-years-old. First panic attack at age 20, since there several spontaneous episodes with a mean of 4 a week, not related to any specific situation, event, or place, without any warning.

2 Male, 28-years-old. Has always been afraid of airplanes but it was only 3 years ago that riding on an airplane has started to trigger panic attack. He don’t experience panic attacks in any other situation.

3 Male, 31-years-old. First episode 4 years ago while driving alone and since there driving, traveling alone, enclosed spaces and crowds are more likely to trigger a panic attack but not always. They don’t have a specific fear or phobia tied to that situation or place; they simply tend to experience panic attacks when there.

Understanding the different types of panic attacks can help you and your doctor determine the cause of your attacks and the best way to go about treating them.