No Time to Panic

Even the most fearless can be paralyzed by unseen battles. Can you conquer panic before it conquers you?

1. Panic Is a Misfire of the Brain's Emergency System

Panic attacks arise due to the brain's fear-processing center, the amygdala, going into overdrive. Designed to protect us, the amygdala assesses threats and triggers the body's fight-or-flight response. However, in panic, this alarm system activates unnecessarily, flooding the body with adrenaline and stress hormones.

The heightened state of emergency leads to physical symptoms like rapid heart rate, sweating, and difficulty breathing. While these are necessary in genuine emergencies, during panic attacks they feel life-threatening even when there’s no actual danger. This disconnect between a perceived threat and reality is what makes panic so overwhelming for those who experience it.

Matt Gutman experienced these attacks regularly, even in seemingly calm settings, like during live TV reports. The dissonance between his public image of composure and his private struggles made these episodes feel even more isolating.

Examples

• Misreporting details during Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash due to a panic attack.
• Feeling physically like he was dying during attacks, despite being in safe environments.
• Understanding from experts that the amygdala’s “misfire” can convince anyone of immediate peril.

2. Trauma Can Be a Seedbed for Panic

Gutman points to his father's sudden death in a plane crash when he was 12 years old as a potential root cause of his panic disorder. This early tragedy imprinted a deep fear and shaped his later choices, including pursuing a high-risk career in war reporting.

Trauma often leaves lasting impressions on the brain, particularly in forming an association between certain situations and fear responses. In children, these emotional imprints can carry into adulthood, manifesting as panic attacks when life stressors mimic those early experiences.

Understanding that panic may have roots in long-buried trauma helped Gutman view his condition not as a weakness but as a response to earlier pain. This reframing allowed him to pursue both therapy and techniques to embrace the emotions he had suppressed for decades.

Examples

• Filing reports from dangerous war zones like Gaza and Afghanistan while secretly battling panic.
• Grappling with the milestone of outliving his father at age 42.
• Realizing that unresolved grief could trigger his panic even when he wasn’t under immediate threat.

3. Anxiety May Have Evolved to Help Us Survive

Anxiety isn’t just a modern malaise; it has deep evolutionary roots. Neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky explained to Gutman that anxiety helped early species anticipate danger and take proactive steps to survive.

For primitive primates, advanced warning systems allowed them to flee before predators attacked. While this ability saved lives, the downside of anxiety in modern humans is that our brains often don’t differentiate between real threats and abstract fears. We worry about judgments, deadlines, and hypothetical dangers, activating the same stress response as if facing a lion.

This insight helped Gutman see his panic not as a personal failing but as an outdated mechanism working in overdrive. While it’s no longer serving its original purpose, its origins made sense biologically.

Examples

• Apes fleeing preemptively at the scent of a predator, conserving energy by avoiding last-minute escapes.
• Humans developing abstract fears like social rejection, which now trigger anxiety as strongly as physical dangers.
• Gutman realizing his anxious response to live TV wasn’t "crazy" but part of an ancient survival system.

4. Stigma Hides Panic Attacks in Plain Sight

One of the toughest challenges Gutman faced wasn’t just having panic attacks – it was pretending they didn’t exist. Decades of stigma around mental health, particularly anxiety disorders, prevent many from seeking help or even talking about their condition.

Gutman felt this firsthand when he tried finding support groups for panic disorder and came up almost empty-handed. Even mental health professionals historically treated panic attacks as shameful rather than legitimate (e.g., associating them with unconscious desires or trauma). This silence has created a cycle where society dismisses and misunderstands panic.

Discovering an online support group changed everything for Gutman. Realizing others had different but equally debilitating fears – like flying or driving – gave him a sense of connection and reduced his self-imposed shame.

Examples

• Matt hesitating to confide in others, worrying people would judge him.
• Early psychoanalyzers stigmatizing panic by tying it to personal flaws.
• Finding an online group where people shared how panic dictated their daily lives.

5. Tools Like CBT Can Help Reprogram Panic Responses

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has emerged as one of the strongest treatments for panic disorders. Experts like Dr. Michael Telch taught Gutman that re-framing his panic as a mental distortion, not a reality, could reduce its power.

CBT uses two main techniques. First, it educates individuals on recognizing that their fears, such as flying, aren’t inherently dangerous. Second, it involves exposure therapy, where patients gradually confront and desensitize their triggers. By practicing these techniques, Gutman began to see that his panic was something to be managed rather than feared.

While CBT wasn’t a perfect solution for Gutman, it provided practical tools to disrupt his panic's grip.

Examples

• Exposure to his fears, like public speaking, enabling Gutman to build resilience.
• Using knowledge to "talk back" to his brain and reframe triggers rationally.
• Recognizing panic as a learned cycle he could “unlearn.”

6. Psychedelics Open Portals to Healing

In his pursuit of deeper understanding, Gutman explored psychedelic therapy as a way to confront his panic head-on. Psychedelics can allow users to process emotional pain more freely by temporarily altering the brain’s fear-response systems.

Guided experiences with substances like ayahuasca and mushrooms opened Gutman to suppressed grief and fear. As he surrendered to these emotions in controlled settings, he found an unexpected release. Crying profusely and feeling his grief helped Matt realize the value of meeting emotions on their own terms.

This approach wasn’t a cure, but it gave him new ways to work with his feelings instead of avoiding them.

Examples

• Attending an ayahuasca retreat to experience controlled emotional release.
• Using psychedelics to access and explore "portals to pain."
• Embracing crying as a natural, therapeutic process instead of suppressing his grief.

7. Breathing Is a Fast, Effective Tool

Gutman learned simple breathing techniques could quickly dampen the effects of an oncoming panic attack. Shallow breathing, common during panic, can intensify the body's stress response due to imbalanced blood chemistry.

By practicing slow, deep breaths – inhaling for a count and exhaling longer – Gutman could intervene when his body began to spiral. Breathwork became a key in-the-moment strategy for relief during his attacks.

This revelation empowered him to feel less helpless when panic struck, knowing he had a reliable biological "reset button."

Examples

• Using slow breathing techniques during an on-air attack to regain control.
• Practicing breathwork proactively even when he felt calm.
• Experts explaining how breath regulates stress hormones.

8. Sharing Your Struggles Eases the Burden

During a flight, Gutman opened up to a stranger about his panic disorder and was surprised when she shared her daughter had a similar condition. This cathartic moment showed him the importance of speaking out.

Talking about struggles lifts isolated shame and often reveals connections we didn’t know were there. Whether through trusted friends, family, or therapists, verbalizing fear diminishes its intensity.

For Gutman, these conversations became part of his healing, replacing silence with shared understanding.

Examples

• Confiding in a stranger who resonated with his story.
• Finding relief through online support forums and shared anecdotes.
• Helping others feel less alone by being open about his condition.

9. Small Actions Build Big Change

Gutman ultimately realized that managing panic doesn’t require monumental effort – just consistent small steps. From walking to releasing emotions through exercise or crying, these simple tools helped him reclaim his life from panic.

Understanding that perfection isn’t the goal, Gutman emphasized the power of tiny wins. Whether it's attacking the stigma or tackling an attack, progress happens bit by bit.

This slow and steady approach gave him hope and a roadmap for his condition.

Examples

• Taking ten-minute walks to release endorphins.
• Reframing crying as healthy emotional metabolism.
• Remembering that panic lasts only 15 seconds to a minute during the worst moments.

Takeaways

1. When panic strikes, focus on slow breathing – inhale steadily and exhale longer to calm your body.
2. Open up about your experiences with someone you trust to break free from isolation and shame.
3. Incorporate small habits, like daily walks or emotional release through crying, to chip away at stress bit by bit.