All sentient beings can panic, but only sapient beings can have panic attacks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)
, roughly four percent of the world's population suffers from some form of anxiety disorder. This includes, and can contribute to panic attacks.
The symptoms of a panic attack can include any or all of the following:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Chest pain or tightness
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Nausea or abdominal distress
- Trembling or shaking
- Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
- Hot flashes or chills
As with many disorders or traumatic episodes depicted in fiction, it is common to show the most severe symptoms in their most extreme state, so as to make it perfectly clear to the audience what is happening. Creators make their characters have panic attacks for a reason, and they can be very impactful on the audience, narrative, or both.
Panic attacks do not happen in a void. Usually, there is some triggering mechanism, such as being reminded of past trauma, such as in cases of PTSD. Experiencing a situation of extreme danger or stress, even without past trauma, can also make more sensitive individuals candidates for a panic attack. Can often happen to a Shell-Shocked Veteran, especially when they're reminded of their traumatic wartime experiences.
The sufferer may exhibit any or all of the above-listed symptoms, as well as present with a Thousand-Yard Stare, and/or hyperventilating. Even after the attack, it's not uncommon for the sufferer to feel weak, exhausted, shaky, and/or sick for a while afterwords. This state is referred to a "panic attack hangover
", which can last hours or even days after the initial attack.
Naturally, friends, family, and allies of the sufferer will want to help. In some cases, the well-intentioned could actually make the situation worse. Phrases like "calm down" are particularly unhelpful, invalidating the panic rather than addressing it. Offering water to someone who is hyperventilating can also exacerbate the situation by introducing a potential choking hazard. Likewise, Get a Hold of Yourself, Man! might prove effective in fiction, but in real life, it can be less than helpful with an actual panic attack.
Some will prove more helpful at bringing the sufferer out of their episode, offering a Cooldown Hug and simple reassurance. It's important to remember to ask the sufferer if they're okay with being touched, as too much stimulus during an attack can worsen it.
People who recognize that they are prone to panic attacks may take an active effort in the future to avoid triggers, lest they suffer a Burnout by Traumatic Job, or find themselves suffering another panic attack when there is no one around to offer help. Friends and family who learn that certain phrases or actions can trigger a bout of panic will go out of their way to avoid those phrases, and advise others not to as well (though some may do so anyway, either because they gave in to Schmuck Bait or because they did it on purpose For the Evulz).
Compare Trauma Button, Oh, Crap!, or (if experienced by a group) Mass "Oh, Crap!", which can all overlap.
Compare and contrast Heroic BSoD, where a person is paralyzed into inaction, whereas with a panic attack, someone may still be capable of making decisions, though often very ill-thought-out decisions due to the nature of panic and fear. Also see Anxiety Dreams.
As with any trope dealing with real-life trauma and psychological issues, there will be No Real Life Examples, Please!.
Examples:
- Martian Successor Nadesico:
- In the first episode, Akito has a panic attack while working as a cook at a restaurant during a Jovian attack. This gets him fired because the interface on his right hand marks him as a pilot on Earth, even though he got it for his job on Mars, and the owner fears he'll lose business if he has a cowardly pilot on staff.
- After returning from the Nadesico's disastrous effort on Mars, Akito suffers another panic attack while facing the Jovians near the moon, with the other pilots noting that he's losing it. He gets knocked to the dark side of the moon, where he's cut off from the Nadesico's power feed, and Yurika and Megumi go after him in a shuttle. Their presence and the danger facing them force him to pull himself together in order to save them.
- My-HiME: Reeling from the recent revelations that her mother may have been trying to sell her to the Searrs Foundation, as well as the fact that Shizuru kissed her when she was sleeping, and that it may have gone much further, Natsuki is overwhelmed and collapses on the streets of Tsukimori and is taken to the hospital.
- Your Lie in April: When Kousei is playing the piano, he suddenly stops in the middle of a piece due to the trauma he faces due to his mother's death. He gets better as the series goes on.
- In the Noonbory and the Super 7 fanfic A Bory and his Cat
, Debbie collapses at the beach, so the Super Sensors get into the Bory Buggy to take her to Doctorbory. Totobory then has a traumatic flashback of his mother's death and fears that Debbie may die. He has a panic attack, so Cozybory and Lunabory give him a Cooldown Hug, and the latter tells him to breathe slowly, and he successfully calms down.
- The Blue Dragon (Batman): Zuko ends up triggered when, during dinner, a bit of pepper juice accidentally ends up in his left eye. The pain reminds him of his father burning him. He ends up having a panic attack, with Bruce and the rest of the Bats working to calm him down. The attack ends relatively quickly, but it still helps Bruce decide to find Zuko a therapist as soon as possible.
- In the Yo-kai Watch fanfiction Canine Conundrum
, Manjimutt ends up Squashed Flat when he's hit by a car. Roxy, who does not know that he can't die due to being undead, angrily calls him out for scaring her like that and then begins to have a panic attack. Manjimutt then sits in her lap and has her pet his soft fur, which calms her down, and he apologizes for having caused her grief all day.
- The Door (Zootopia): When Russell first arrives in Tundra Town, he's still freaked out over his parents abandoning him and is now in a world full of animals. He has a panic attack in the middle of a diner, and is helped by a polar bear social worker who talks him through the attack while his brother calls an ambulance. On the ambulance ride to the hospital, Barry is able to get Russell to better tell him what happened to cause the attack. He starts having regular sessions with the boy after he's placed with foster parents, and is able to help him learn calming techniques.
- In the Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic Fractured Minds
, Kylie has a nightmare about the world ending and wakes up, having a panic attack, so Chip gives her a Cooldown Hug and she calms down enough to tell him about her dream. He tells her that they're getting close to the end and can surely save the planet from falling apart at this point, so this makes her feel better.
- Future Is Bright (Danny Phantom): Everything he's been through in his two years acting as Phantom has left Danny susceptible to panic attacks. Over the course of the story (thus far), he's had three attacks and came close to a fourth. For the near miss and one of the attacks, Cassandra Cain was there to help him (showing him breathing exercises). The other two times, he had Duke or Dick with him (with Duke reminding him that he's safe and that he can breathe and Dick giving him a comforting hug). During his (failed) first session with Black Canary, Dinah taught him a trick for easing his mind away from panic attacks by thinking of a place he likes.
- In the TMNT AU fic Gapped Knowledge
, Donatello learns that he was not only a human before being turned into a turtle mutant (instead of the other way around like he'd always believed), but that he's actually the biological son of Oroku Saki. This causes him to have a panic attack with blurred vision, heavy breathing, and the need to run. He ends up sitting on top of a building until he can calm himself and go home.
- The Great Dual Substitute Turnabout: Prosecutor Phoenix has a panic attack when he sees tape outlines of two corpses in a garage because it reminds him of the way his parents died. He refuses to explain this to the other characters, but Trucy hugs him outside until he calms down.
- Inter Nos: In Chapter 30, Shizuru is in bed with her lover, Natsuki, and is sleeping over her. Natsuki wakes and tries to get out from under her. Shizuru, thinking she's just engaging in harmless Romantic Ribbing, pretends to still be asleep, keeping Natsuki pinned. However, this is a very bad decision, as Shizuru quickly learns. Natsuki goes into a panic and then a fugue state. It is then that Shizuru remembers a piece of Natsuki's Dark and Troubled Past was that she had been found as a child buried under a pile of her dead kinsmen, making her the Last of Her Kind. Realizing her mistake immediately, Shizuru cradles Natsuki and starts speaking to her in a soft and soothing tone, reassuring her that she's safe and fine until Natsuki comes back to herself. Shizuru resolves to be very, very considerate of Natsuki's past trauma from that point forward, and reserves her Romantic Ribbing to verbal teasing from that point forward.
Relief flooded her when the girl finally nodded, breaths slowing and becoming quieter. She held her that way for a while, unmindful of the discomfort coming to her knees from the achingly hard and cold floor. All she could focus on feeling was Natsuki's body, loosening slowly from whatever dread nightmare had twisted it around itself and coiled the whole so tightly it had almost snapped.
- Moving On: When Claude reveals to Marinette that Adrien (who she sees as one of her betrayers) is Chat Noir, Marinette has a panic attack on top of a roof. She gasps for air, can't acknowledge anyone's voice around her, and only starts coming back to herself when Chat Noir is in front of her. She's still in the midst of an attack when she flees back to her room, but her new friends follow her. They're the ones to comfort her and help her fully calm down.
- My Brother Cain, My Brother Abel: While in the Human Realm, Caleb has to keep it together for the sake of survival. Once he moves to the Demon Realm, he has a chance to actually process the things that happened to he starts having frequent nightmares, often resulting in panic attacks. Evelyn is able to talk him down.
- In the Smile PreCure! fanfic Making Peace with the Past
, Yayoi feels distinctly uneasy while she's at Fairy Funland, but she doesn't know why, until she witnesses an Akanbe destroying a car. This finally unlocks her repressed memory of how her father died in a car accident while he was taking her to Fairy Funland. She mentally shuts down as reality around her evaporates from her point of view, and she hears voices echoing in her mind. She snaps out of it once her friends defeat the Akanbe.
- In the Murder Drones Post Canon AU comic series, N often gets panic attacks whenever he remembers something Cyn did to him back at the Manor when she is reassembling him as a Disassembly Drone, or whenever Uzi is gone for too long. The only way his panic attacks go away is when Uzi helps him calm himself down by breathing with him and telling him that she is here with him.
- In the Bug Fables fanfic The Price of Silk, when Kabbu sees Vi and Leif's injuries inflicted by him whilst under the control of pheromones, his heartbeat becomes far too rapid and he starts hyperventilating and burning up. Leif gives him a literal Cooldown Hug both to prevent Kabbu from potentially hurting himself and to cool him down with his ice magic. Kabbu soon breaks down into tears and stays in a low, melancholy state quite unlike his usual self for at least a couple of weeks. Later on, when the trio discovers a wasp soldier's abandoned spear in the Wild Swamplands, Kabbu has another panic attack, albeit a shorter one, as he's reminded of his Trauma Button regarding The Beast. He feels nauseous and helpless, freezes on the spot, and starts breathing rapidly. Vi lets Kabbu lean against her for comfort, although he doesn't get much chance to recover as they're soon attacked by Leafbug warriors.
- Scars as Badges: While visiting the mall for the first time with April, Casey Jr. is hit with intense culture shock and has a panic attack. He leaves April and runs completely blind through the city, narrowly avoiding being hit by cars and accidentally knocking down a young woman. He finally ends up in Central Park. Sitting among the trees reminds him of meditating with Master Michelangelo in the Resistance base's garden. The memory calms him down and helps him come out of the panic attack. Mikey speculates after this that Casey might need to visit Doctor Feelings.
- The Spectacular Spider-Man: Lost in Gotham:
- After Dick accidentally pushes his Trauma Button, Peter has a panic attack and races through the Manor before ending up in the Bat Cave. Bruce manages to calm him down with grounding techniques, followed by a Cooldown Hug. He gets Peter to talk about what happened. The rest of the family either sends encouragement or stays by his side as he recovers from the attack.
- After she escapes her abusive father, Mary Jane nearly has a panic attack. Bruce and May stay calm, telling Gwen not to hug Mary Jane when she makes it clear she doesn't want to be touched, and staying with the redhead until she's calmed.
- Spider-Ninja: After being triggered by a news segment on TV, Tony ends up having a severe panic attack. Michelangelo is there and manages to talk him through some grounding techniques. Once it's over, Splinter talks with Tony about what caused the attack, with the ninja master showing him breathing techniques and telling him that his PTSD won't go away on its own: he needs to talk to someone. Knowing he's right, Tony agrees.
- Two Shades Of Blue: After Leon wakes up from a nightmare (going straight into a panic attack), the 2012 Turtles all rush to help him. Donatello manages to help him relax, then tells the other Turtles what they need to do to keep Leon calm and help him sleep (which they accomplish with an Illness Blanket, a turtle pile, and playing the TV at low volume as white noise). This calms Leon enough to help him sleep.
- Finding Dory: Dory has a panic attack upon being told her parents are no longer alive. Dory becomes unresponsive, the audience hears voices echoing from her point of view, and her vision starts swimming. Thankfully, she ends up finding her parents.
- Inside Out 2: After accidentally injuring her friend during a scrimmage game, Riley (due to Anxiety's actions) begins to have a anxiety attack. The emotions all know that they need to calm Riley down. Joy's leading them in embracing Riley's "sense of self" leads to Riley calming herself through grounding techniques. After, when her friends come to check on her, Riley apologizes for hurting Grace and for how terribly she's treated them throughout the camp. They forgive her and become friends again.
- Monsters vs. Aliens: At the sight of an alien robot twice her now-gigantic size, Susan understandably starts to hyperventilate in panic at the thought of fighting it.
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: Puss has a panic attack upon seeing the Wolf (Death) again. Perritto follows him and finds him slumped against a tree, hyperventilating. Perritto lays his head on Puss' chest, getting him to calm down and talking with him about what's been bothering him.
- Toy Story 2: Jessie is sent into a hyperventilating spiral when she finds out that Woody still has an owner and plans to go back to him. As it turns out, her original owner Emily donated her to charity after abandoning her for years, and it's badly messed with her psyche; Jessie starts angrily declaring that she won't go back into storage and be trapped in darkness again.
- Toy Story of Terror: In the first scene of the short, Jessie (after the car hits a pot hole and gets a flat tire) gets shut inside a toolbox. Due to her claustrophobia (from the aforementioned Freudian Excuse of her owner abandoning her), she starts having a panic attack. When Buzz and Woody manage to get her out, she's still in the throes of the attack; her friends surround her and help her calm down.
- Wreck-It Ralph: Towards the end of the film, with The Reveal that Vanellope is actually the Princess of Sugar Rush, she decides to Troll her subjects by saying that all of the racers who were cruel to her will be executed. They understandably panic, and one of them is still hyperventilating when Vanellope reveals she was just kidding.
- Airplane!: A female passenger on the plane suffers a panic attack as the reality of the danger the plane is in begins to settle in for the passengers. Several individuals attempt to calm her with a series of Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!, with the passengers trying to calm down the hysterical woman escalating their efforts: the flight attendant gives her a firm shake, subsequent passengers slap her, double-slap her, all without success, and several more people in line waiting for their turn, including such implements as a wrench and a pistol.
- Airplane II: The Sequel: During a trial over Ted Striker's competency, the woman who had a panic attack in the first film is testifying. Apparently, reliving the incident caused her to lapse into a panic in the courtroom, with several people once again trying to apply Get a Hold of Yourself, Man! to calm her.
- Analyze This: Mobster Paul Vitti has panic attacks all the time; the first one he has, he is convinced is a heart attack, and he roughs up the doctor for telling him otherwise.
- Happens twice in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack! as a result of seeing daikaiju up close. The first is a man left nearly speechless after seeing Baragon dig his way through a highway tunnel, killing about a dozen bikers in the process; the next morning, the man is still catatonic, wrapped in a blanket, and can only stammer out that the monster had a "big head" and a "big mouth" before declaring the monster was Godzilla. Later, a girl is the sole survivor of her friends when Godzilla comes ashore in the Bonin Islands and destroys the village where they're staying; the girl is rushed back to the mainland with a broken leg, but must be immobilized as she rants and raves about Godzilla coming to get them. Unfortunately for her, she's right.
- Innerspace: After the shrunken Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton connects an implant to Jack's inner ear to allow them to communicate, Jack goes into a panic at the voice in his head, thinking he's been possessed. He's then seen performing a cooldown exercise involving elevating the rest of his body above his head and slowly touching his forefingers together to calm down.
- Money Monster: When Kyle Budwell, posing as a deliveryman, takes the titular show hostage, Lee Gates, the host of the show, thinks he's having a heart attack. It's Kyle who points out Lee is having a panic attack instead, and manages to talk him down.
- Sorry, Baby: After Natasha brusquely admits that she slept with Decker, this triggers a panic attack in Agnes, who had previously been assaulted by him. Unable to focus, she drives off the road and into the parking lot of a sandwich shop. The owner, Pete, helps her calm down (he knows how because his son also gets panic attacks) and gifts her a delicious sandwich afterwards.
- Them!: A little girl is found catatonic in the desert, all evidence that the rest of her family is dead. Dr. Medford, based on the evidence at the scene, uses the odor of formic acid to break the catatonia, with the girl screaming in a panic and saying in a sobbing hysteria, "It's THEM!"
- The 100: After getting the Flame removed and no longer being the Commander, 12-year-old Madi struggles to adjust, all the while having to keep up the facade of leadership. This culminates in a panic attack after being threatened by the season's Big Bad. In a rare Pet the Dog moment for his character, it is Murphy, of all people, who finds her and talks her down from it.
- 9-1-1: During his first year as a firefighter, Chimney was left behind at the station while the rest of the crew went out on a call. While alone at the station, an elderly couple drove in with the husband seemingly suffering from a heart attack. Chimney accurately diagnosed it as a panic attack. It started as indigestion, which he mistook for a heart attack, and his belief that he was having a heart attack caused him to have a panic attack.
- Buster from Arrested Development is described as suffering from panic attacks. In the Pilot, he suffers two:
- First when the SEC raids the yacht, he's asked to navigate it out to sea due to his taking a cartography course. While trying to read the map, he's soon overcome by hyperventilation and has to sit down (although not before determining that the blue on the map is land).
- Later, he's put in charge of the Bluth Company and attends a few business meetings. While trying to keep up with the other board members, he becomes overwhelmed and collapses. This time, the paramedics take him away.
- The Big Bang Theory:
- In a season one episode, as Leonard is preparing for a date with Penny, he begins to have a panic attack. Sheldon tells him to "calm down". Leonard lampshades just how unhelpful that is:
Leonard: If I could calm down, I wouldn't be having a panic attack, that's why they call it a panic attack!
- Sheldon suffers a panic attack during his birthday when everyone he knows, and Adam West, are invited to celebrate. Seeing all of those people at once proves too much for him. However, the guests are understanding, and Amy is able to help calm Sheldon down and coax him out of his room, though he's still mildly embarrassed about the panic attack in the first place.
- In the spinoff Georgie And Mandies First Marriage'', Georgie, under enormous amounts of stress at work, goes to the hospital thinking that he's having a heart attack, but is instead diagnosed with having an anxiety attack by the doctors.
- In a season one episode, as Leonard is preparing for a date with Penny, he begins to have a panic attack. Sheldon tells him to "calm down". Leonard lampshades just how unhelpful that is:
- Breaking Bad: Despite his bravado, Hank Schrader suffers chronic panic attacks as a result of his job in the DEA and the trauma of killing Tuco. He experiences them during high-stress situations like his promotion to the El Paso task force, seeing Tortuga's severed head, and finally upon discovering that Walt is Heisenberg.
- The Expanse: Shed Garvey starts having a panic attack on the Canterbury’s shuttle after the destruction of the mothership. It begins with him angrily arguing back against Holden’s plan to do an EVA to repair the antenna, catastrophising, and then hyperventilating. Holden manages to calm him down by reminding him that he knows the symptoms and guiding him through breathing normally.
- Everybody Loves Raymond: In a more realistic version, Ray has a panic attack at a seemingly random time after playing a round of golf. His symptoms are muted, in that he only feels strange and needs space from his friends. The panic attack is later connected to his deception of Debra which led to her giving him permission to play golf.
- House of Anubis: Implied; after Patricia was kidnapped by Rufus and only rescued at the last second by her friends, she shows signs of trauma, such as nightmares. When Victor brings Sibuna into his office unexpectedly, she begins to have trouble breathing when stepping in, and pleads to be let out as he closes the door; Nina tries to comfort her while Fabian frantically insists Victor open the door (with Amber unhelpfully panicking alongside her). When he reveals that they're there to have a video call with Joy, however, Patricia goes into Tears of Joy instead and rushes to talk to her friend.
- Matlock: Mattie has panic attacks on at least two occasions when the stress of leading a double life begins to get to her. In the first, she experiences arm pain, shortness of breath, and believes that she's having a heart attack and goes to the hospital.
- Mr. Robot: Darlene is subject to panic attacks, and suffers one in Season 4 that prevents her from flying to Budapest with Dom. On the other hand, while Dom—who was always less sold on the trip—sits on the plane and waits for takeoff, Darlene is able to soothe herself and prepare to go home.
- Murderbot: In "Command Feed", the team leader Dr. Mensah has a serious panic attack in the middle of a dangerous field mission, leading to a Friendship Moment where Murderbot plays its favorite TV show to calm her — specifically, an episode where the characters have to do a lot of synchronized breathing. Despite Mensah's annoyance, it helps.
Dr. Mensah: Sanctuary fucking Moon?
Murderbot: It's a soothing episode. - Never Have I Ever: Devi gets panic attacks whenever she plays the harp, as it reminds her of her father, who died in the middle of one of Devi's performances.
- Saturday Night Live: In the season 12 episode hosted by John Lithgow, John, during the monologue, mentions how the episode has been chosen to be submitted for a television award after he mentions having a great dress rehearsal. But the chances of winning the award go up in flames when a Visible Boom Mic appears in front of John's face. Upon seeing this, John freaks himself out into having a panic attack. He relieves himself by breathing into a bag before wrapping up the monologue.
- The Sopranos: The series, and much of the conflict, begins when Tony Soprano is recommended therapy to treat his panic attacks. While it is partially genetic, as proven by his father and A.J. experiencing them too, Tony's episodes are the result of the stress between juggling his domestic life with his career in the mob.
- Star Trek:
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Due to his severe claustrophobia, Garak often suffered panic attacks when in confined spaces.
- Star Trek: Voyager: In "Flashback", Tuvok has a breakdown on the bridge. When treated in sickbay, The Doctor informed Tuvok that he had suffered the Vulcan equivalent of a severe panic attack.
- Ted Lasso: Ted begins suffering panic attacks in Season 1 after it becomes clear that there is no way forward for his marriage except divorce. His first one is during a team karaoke night, but later he suffers one during a football match and has to hurriedly leave the pitch (which he excuses as "food poisoning" to the public, but the real cause is leaked to the press by someone in an act of betrayal). His symptoms are not obvious to other characters but are shown to the audience through audio and visual cues, and are signaled by focusing on his hands as he starts to clench and unclench them in stress. It takes him a long time to accept that therapy is the best way to find a solution for them.
- Life Is Strange: True Colors: Mac starts having a panic attack when he confesses to Alex that Typhon is coercing him to deny having received Gabe’s call. He starts breathing heavily and shaking when he talks about how his girlfriend and the whole town thinks he’s a murderer. The player can choose whether Alex helps him calm down or leaves him to his panic.
- Lost Records: Bloom & Rage: In Tape 2, when Swann meets Autumn in Fawn's Rest/Curse in the aftermath of the concert, where the girls learnt about Kat having leukemia, Autumn begins to spiral at the thought that Kat is going to die and Swann is going to leave, causing her to suffer a massive panic attack. Swann can help Autumn by asking her to take deep breaths and ground herself by looking at the objects in the shack.
- Panic Attacks are speedy mini-boss enemies in Psychonauts 2, first introduced when the PSI King has a panic attack due to spending 20 years as a dormant Brain in a Jar before being transplanted into a new body. The sheer glut of new sensations he experiences triggers his Sensory Overload, manifesting as Panic Attacks in his mind. Fittingly, the way to deal with them is to use the Time Bubble to slow them down.
- The Amazing Digital Circus: In the sixth episode, Jax has a panic attack after he's triggered by a difficult conversation with Pomni. He runs into the bathroom, turns on the water to act as white noise, then forces himself to breathe until he's calmer. Then, once the attack's past, he doesn't sit with the others, using the alone time to better calm himself.
- Batman: Wayne Family Adventures: In the episode "Strong Enough", Jason has a PTSD-induced panic attack after Steph drags a tire iron across the floor. Bruce is there to calm him down with grounding techniques, although he's still feeling the effects of the attack a day or two later. The rest of the family is with him the whole time, bringing him tea, treats, and anything else he needs. By the end, after a talk with Batman, Jason feels back to normal.
- Videos that help listeners overcome panic attacks are very popular in the ASMR community, even though there is inconclusive scientific evidence that they help treat anxiety.
- Dimension 20: Adaine Abernant of Fantasy High has an anxiety disorder, the result of her upbringing by Abusive Parents and their high expectations. Her player, Siobhan Thompson, coordinated with the campaign's Game Master, Brennan Lee Mulligan, to integrate this in gameplay, and during high-stress moments, she makes a "panic attack roll" to see if Adaine is able to keep her composure. Failure sees her enter a high-panic state that impairs her ability to move, cast spells, and gives her disadvantage on certain ability checks. (Eventually, the school's new werewolf counselor realizes her problem, assures her that it's not her fault, and promises to get her proper treatment. But as they're currently in a life-or-death situation, he hands her a bunch of pills and tells her to down them so they can get through that first.)
- BoJack Horseman: At the end of part one of Season 6 in "A Quick One, While He's Away", Hollyhock goes to a house party in New York with some friends but suffers a panic attack after getting overwhelmed by the scene. Fortunately, Pete Repeat gets Hollyhock to calm down by using a useful "grounding" technique he learned from therapy himself.
- Harley Quinn: Bruce Wayne suffers a panic attack when he tries attending the premier screening of a movie about the murder of his parents in the season 3 finale. Harley sees this happen and uses her training as a psychologist to help him calm down (due to having seen inside his mind in a previous episode, she knew how traumatized he actually was about it and was able to use that knowledge to assist him).
- Hazbin Hotel:
- Charlie Morningstar is often prone to this whenever her ideas or plans don't go according to what she was hoping for or whenever stress gets the better of her. Naturally, this makes the Princess of Hell look like she has gone mad (well, moreso than usual), but her friends, her girlfriend Vaggie specifically, are the ones who help Charlie calm down and get her back on track.
- In "Storyteller", after being told that Sir Pentious' redemption is indeed real and that they will not be seeking revenge on Hell for Adam's death, Lute has a screaming breakdown in an alley, punching a wall and breaking down crying while also hyperventilating, making it clear that she is not taking watching her worldview shatter in front of her well.
- Miraculous Ladybug: In "Derision", Marinette suffers such a severe panic attack on her date with Adrien that she is nearly akumatized. She is able to break the akumatization after confronting the source of her anxiety, and the next few episodes see Adrien calling Marinette in the mornings to check in with her until they both decide that they're ready to try another date (alas, that date ends up being crashed by an akuma, but is otherwise panic attack-free).
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Fluttershy is shown having one in "Hurricane Fluttershy" when she realizes that every pony will be watching the Pegasi create a hurricane that will take Ponyville's water supply up to Cloudsdale. She has a flashback of herself as a filly being made fun of by most of the other Pegasi which makes her extremely distressed.
- The Owl House: After learning the truth about his origins (and the Emperor's plans for him), Hunter starts having a panic attack. Eda gets everyone to give him space and offers him support. He runs out of the Owl House instead. Fortunately, in Hunter's next appearance, Gus is able to teach him how to calm down during a panic attack by having him take deep breaths.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Missing Identity", SpongeBob realizes his name tag is missing and hyperventilates to the point where he passes out.
- Steven Universe: "Mindful Education" shows Steven and Connie having troubles staying fused together as Stevonnie. Garnet helps the two meditate to find their focus by mentioning that intrusive thoughts can disrupt a fusion. Steven sees Connie's memory of how her recent sword training with Pearl had her instinctively throw a classmate in school when he unintentionally bumped into her. It put her on edge, and she starts to panic. Thanks to Steven being there for her, she's able to realize that it was a misunderstanding and the student wasn't harmed. Steven starts to panic the next day, with memories of what Steven did to Bismuth and Jasper starting to haunt him. This sends Stevonnie into a panic attack and forces them to defuse in mid-air. Connie is able to calm Steven down by repeating Garnet's words, allowing the two to fuse again and save themselves. As Stevonnie, the two once again promise to be there for each other for their problems.
- Steven Universe: Future: During his first-ever doctor visit in "Growing Pains", Steven learns that his C-PTSD (which comes from all of the traumas he experienced in childhood yet brushed off) is what's causing his powers to go out of control. This leads to him having a panic attack and one of his worst cases of Power Incontinence yet. He only starts to calm down when Greg arrives and gets Steven to talk about what's recently happened to hurt him like this. Greg manages to calm his son down and takes him home. He watches over Steven and gets him to talk about what happened.
