Why does he feel “dying” so often?

  Mr. Z is a cheerful, shrewd and decisive businessman, who went into business 10 years ago. He felt a sudden attack of fear, panic, chest tightness, fidgeting, and had to stand up and walk out immediately. The strange thing is that every time the 120 emergency vehicles brought him to the hospital, the electrocardiogram and other tests did not reveal any problems, and usually Mr. Z dared not go out alone or take a flight anymore because he was worried about sudden attacks. Later, he was diagnosed with “panic attack” after being advised by a cardiologist to go to the clinical psychology department.  Panic attacks are a relatively common psychological disorder in outpatient and emergency departments. In this case, the patient was engaged in normal activities, such as reading a book, eating a meal, having a meeting, or doing housework, when he suddenly experienced a strong sense of fear, as if he was about to die or lose his mind. This nervousness made the patient feel uncomfortable. At the same time, the patient feels palpitations, as if the heart is about to jump out of the mouth; chest tightness, a sense of pressure in the chest; or difficulty in breathing, throat blockage, as if unable to breathe, a sense of suffocation.  As a result, shrieking and calling for help. In some cases, there are hyperventilation, dizziness, non-real sensations, excessive sweating, unsteady gait, shaking, numbness of hands and feet, gastrointestinal discomfort, and other vegetative symptoms, as well as motor restlessness. This kind of seizure,; lasts for a short time, usually 5-20 minutes, rarely more than an hour, and can resolve on its own. After the seizure, everything returns to normal; however, it can recur suddenly soon.  Most panic attacks originate from psychological factors, psychological conflict, it is a functional disease, will not cause psychosis, not to mention the rapid heartbeat and cause death, such patients should seek psychiatrists as soon as possible, based on drug control of anxiety, psychotherapy. The patient in this psychological case was hospitalized after psychoanalysis to find out the root cause of the psychological conflict, then cognitive-behavioral therapy, and combined with drugs such as Benadryl, and was discharged after more than 20 days of treatment.