Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. You're listening to the Friday fix.

Every Friday, I share a quick mental strength strategy that can help fix the thoughts,

feelings, and actions that can hold you back in life.

Before I talk about today's topic,

I wanted to share something amazing with you. We won a Webby Award for the Best Health and Wellness Podcast episode of the year. There was something like 70 million podcast episodes

released last year. So we're beyond thrilled that one of our episodes won. It's the episode where actor and the host of America's Got Talent, Terry Cruz, shares his story with us.

We're honored that he chose to do so because that's how we start breaking this stigma surrounding mental health issues by talking about them.

If you haven't heard that episode yet, check out episode

174, break free from shame with actor and host Terry Cruz. Thank you to everyone who's been

supporting this podcast. Now let's dive in today's episode. Today I'm talking about panic attacks.

You've likely heard someone say,

I had a panic attack the other day.

You might have even had one yourself.

Or maybe you don't know if you've had one.

There are a lot of misconceptions about what panic attacks are

and how to deal with them.

So I'm going to explain what a panic attack actually is,

why they happen,

and a really cool strategy that can help if you or someone around you is having one. Panic attacks are an intense fear that triggers

physical responses in the body. People who experience a panic attack might experience symptoms like

...