You don't have to visit the Serengeti in Africa to understand what a panic attack feels like, but it is a good visual of what is going on inside of you when you do.
Consider the Antelope. They are eating with head down, grazing in their favorite place among friends or family. Suddenly, something perks their attention. The following is a short summary of what happens next: Antelope graze, lion attacks, Antelope run, Lion stops, Antelope graze.
In short order there is order to how the Antelope responds to danger: Recognize threat, run, no threat, return to pre-threat life. Currently people are being bombarded with multiple threats of danger. We are being warned that at any minute we might "catch Covid-19" or we hear "food shortages expected," or we experience fear over "the rising cost of gas and fuel" and "will I have a job tomorrow?" Our heads are looking in all directions for the next threat to our security and as long as we are terrified, we're not able to return to a life we knew before the threat was known. Remaining in this heightened state of alert is damaging because you never get to relax and eventually your mind and body will begin to break-down.
Panic attacks are a physical response to a threat that is not real. Constantly we are offered "what if" scenarios and we try to answer those questions as if they were current problems (which they aren't). The possibility of your thoughts runs ramped as you contemplate all the possible directions you could run. But there is no lion approaching, there is no impending attack, only you constantly planning your escape. All around you other people are calmly grazing, living life free of fear. They are not playing the what if game and you wonder why THEY are being so reckless, why aren't they afraid, why don't they feel what you are feeling? That's because they have looked around and don't see the danger you FEEL. There is no true threat of a lion because they have looked for the lion and found he is not present in their life. So they have no fear. They know if a lion did come, they would run. They know what they would do to escape the threat, but they don't dwell on the possibility of a threat that is not present. They live by a "What is" not "What might be" perspective and so can live their life being present to enjoy the blessings around them. Death is always a possibility for the living, but...
If you stop eating so you can keep your head up looking for danger,
you'll most likely die of starvation before a lion attacks.