my panic attacks were triggered by the first time i choked on food (baked potato)--the first full blown one after that was during the week that i started my first teaching experience--it was before the students even showed up, but i was so paralyzingly nervous that i started panicking, especially when it came to eating. that week, i couldn't eat at all around other people. i'd have to take food to my room and eat tiny bites swallowed down with water. i remember going to see forest gump with a bunch of fellow "teaching assistants" and having a panic attack; i ended up standing at the pay phone, holding the receiver and pressing my finger on the 9, so i could quickly dial 911 before i died (i was sure i was going to die). that was 13 years ago. this summer, driving in the car, i took a swig of water and it splashed against my throat, triggering a HORRIBLE panic attack that lasted forever, it seemed--but my panic attacks suddenly seemed to make sense because i realized that the reason i freak out about throat issues is due to being molested at age 5 (i know i was molested, but that sensation of the water on my throat at that particular moment suddenly forced my brain to make all sorts of connections it hadn't made before). i'm thinking of trying buspar for anxiety (ironically, i am a teacher, and the fall is always hell for me. i usually take betablockers but they dont' seem to work anymore...)