It is a very common, but dysfunctional and wrong believe that you might go mad or crazy if you have panic attacks. In the moments of the severe anxiety you think you might loose control or might get a stroke or any other possible severe brain condition or heart attack. But this is mainly caused by a rather normal acute alarm reaction of the body. This physiological response to acute danger activates the whole body and was very well suited to activate your body to fight or run away from an enemy or wild biest.

In such an acute danger it is not important to have a cool mind and to be able to think of all the pros and cons of a situation. The only important think is to activate the body.

Such an alarm reaction usually is time limited and will last for about 30 to 60 minutes. You might feel not perfectly o.K. after this time because there is still a stress reaction going on. But this acute stress reaction will not cause any harm to your brain. It is very unpleasant, but not at all dangerous. It is a physiological reaction, which is not very appropriate to our modern life.

Some patients have derealisation and feel very unreal if they have an anxiety attack. Again, this is unpleasant but not at all dangerous or a precursor of any brain disease.