Indian entrepreneur Anupam Mittal recently opened up about his struggle with panic attacks on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast. The Shaadi.com founder shared the instances when he faced panic attacks and how he has learned to manage them. Mittal said that the first time he experienced a panic attack was when he was in his 20s and working in the United States. In the midst of the Dotcom crisis he lost his job which triggered his anxiety and one day, it morphed into a panic attack. He explained panic attacks as the “scariest thing” he had experienced.
Mittal elaborated on the debilitating feeling of the panic attack as “You feel like the earth will eat you whole, the walls will crush you, you have difficulty breathing. On the outside, you look calm, but inside, there’s a volcano erupting. At that moment, you are prepared to do anything. If someone told you to shoot yourself, you probably would. It’s so scary.”
The Shark Tank India judge said that his second panic attack happened in 2008. He added, “When you are a problem solver by nature, panic attacks can make you feel helpless. You feel like a complete failure, useless. If your baseline anxiety levels are high, you can get a panic attack easily.”
He eventually decided to get professional help as his panic attacks became regular. He started therapy in 2012 and has stuck to it since then. He also armed himself with knowledge and information on panic attacks and anxiety which further helped him manage his condition.
In India, anxiety is a fairly common issue but it is not discussed freely. A 2020 study done by Delhi-based The Center of Healing, a preventive healthcare platform, found that 74 per cent and 88 per cent of Indians admitted suffering from stress and anxiety respectively. Perhaps Mittal’s confessions about his mental health struggles and how he learned to cope with them can inform more people about anxiety disorder and panic attacks.
It is important to note that even though anxiety attacks and panic attacks have some common symptoms, they are different things. Panic attacks are sudden and intense episodes of fear with symptoms like intense chest pain, difficulty breathing, lightheadedness, hot flashes, nausea, etc. Panic attacks often resemble a heart attack-like feeling. Panic attacks usually last between 5 to 20 minutes.
On the other hand, anxiety attacks are marked by a consistent and moderate feeling of unease, shallow or rapid breathing, sweating, upset stomach, and lack of concentration. Unlike panic attacks, anxiety attacks are more predictable and last longer.
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