You're sound asleep, but your mind is wide awake. As you go through the string of dreams that pass through your brain at night, one sticks. This dream is different. It takes one of your worst fears and manipulates it into a live-action movie where you are the star. You're running from a vicious threat, hiding from a ghost, or trying to save a loved one. Possibly something worse. Things from your day that may be subconscious in passing, but manifest in your head without you being prepared for it, suddenly come out while you're at your most vulnerable. You suddenly jump up, either from a bitter end or from an ear-piercing scream. You're back to the real world, safe and sound. You're breathing heavy. You don't know what happened.
"Oh, it was just a dream," you say.
If you accept that, then you try to go back to sleep and wake up in a few hours, almost forgetting it even happened and continuing on with your day.
Now imagine this situation almost exactly the same, but for one important detail. Imagine this experience while you're awake. Imagine just sitting at work, looking over something on your computer and you suddenly pass a trigger — something that sets you off. Because of something that has been manifesting in your brain subconsciously, that trigger turns it into a reality. You see the real world in front of you but in your head, your worst fear is playing out. Something that feels so real that your body goes into shock and you can't move. Your stomach churns and your chest tightens. Your heart begins to race and you feel like you're about to throw up. All because your brain is showing you how your fear could come true.
Your brain is fighting with itself. While you try to regain conscious thought, your "fight or flight" instinct is running rapid, preventing you from even thinking straight. Finally, when you breathe enough to calm down, your daze is halted and you start to come around.
You don't wake up. There is nothing to wake up from. There is no signal that this is a dream or fake. There is no realization that it's the middle of the night and you can't go back to sleep. There is no way to recognize the illusion your brain made up.
This feels like reality. It feels like it's happening or will happen soon. You don't feel safe.
You just had a panic attack.
