How can you explain anxiety and panic attacks to those who care about you but have never experienced either?

Let them know that panic attacks and anxiety produce very real psychical effects such as rapid heart rate, chest pain, muscle tension, headaches, overwhelming feeling of fear that something catastrophic is about to happen. Some people may think anxiety and panic attacks are all mental but have no idea the physical pain they cause

I look at it this way: All smoke detectors go off with smoke. Some go off because you burned dinner. Some go off because your house is on fire. Folks with anxiety disorder have a sensitive sensor. Sometimes I ask folks if they ever have had a nightmare where they are being chased and they get that fight or flight feeling. Now, imagine getting that feeling, but you're not being chased. Your baseline is that, and then when triggers impact to you, the response is off the charts.

Your heart starts racing, almost like it wanted to get out of your chest. You feel this painful knot in your stomach and your throat, this weight in your chest. It makes it so hard to breathe calmly, to keep your mind cool. Your head is filled with a thousand thoughts and all you want to do is hide and cry.

Imagine having a presentation in front of hundreds on experts on a subject you don't know very much about. You are not prepared at all. The imagined feeling you have when entering the stage in a scenario like that, that's anxiety for me. Only, there is no presentation, no experts, only me and my feelings which comes out of apparently nowhere.

There really is not set-in-stone way to explain it. People experience these things differently. But explain to them the physical rush of it, how it feels in your stomach, your chest. Explain how clearly or not clearly you can think while you're going through them.

Best way you can. Panic attacks feel similar to an asthma attack. You struggle to get your breath, which makes you panic more and then you struggle more. Anxiety is like feeling nervous and anxious, all the time. You can't help the way you feel.

Panick attacks are easy to explain because most people understand a heart attack. Just tell them that your heart races and you can't breathe, just like people having a heart attack.

It's very difficult to do, especially since panic attacks manifest themselves differently in different people. But I try to ask the person to pretend they are walking casually through the woods and all of a sudden find yourself face-to-face with a large bear. The feeling of panic and terror and the physical symptoms that go along with it are like a panic attack, but they come over us without without any bear and for no reason we can see or predict. It's extra stressing because you never know when it's going to happen. There could be a "bear" around every corner.

Take the time to realize how you feel during a panic attack that almost anyone can relate to. Like when you're on a roller coaster and in that moment before you head straight down from the very top, you're heart races and you might feel a little nervous, maybe you get a little shaky and get sweaty palms, and there are a lot of thoughts and emotions going through your mind in such a short amount time. Sometimes it happens for no reason, even though you know there's nothing to worry about, or you just don't know what the reason is for these reactions. That's just to give a basic idea of how you could possibly explain it. Everyone is different and will experience it in different ways. But personally I think relating it to something they've experienced is a good way to help them understand.

Stresses and worries about things that may or may not be real become overwhelming, and more than can be managed. The reality of the world seems too much, and often, anxiety becomes physical - eg raised heart rate, trouble breathing, shaking. Dread feels like it's hanging over one and consumes all. Even with knowledge that this is irrational, it seems impossible to escape.