Dear greenfairy,
You are not alone.
I also have a lot of problems with panic attacks. I went to get in the car the other day and felt very unwell,I could not breath etc etc and ended up throwing up. I know why I have this problem and I can trace it back to the past but it is so hard to persuade myself that there is nothing to be scared of now.

Anyway the good part of this story is that I did get back in the car and get to where I needed to go. I had to keep telling myself-what year it is, and how things are different now, and that bad things like that will not happen anymore. And I did it.

I hope this helps you. Take care.