Many of my panic attacks have been in work situations, so I couldn't really cry. I went through a period where I had two really awful bosses in a row. They were the cause of a lot of anxiety and panic attacks. It wasn't just me, both places had very high turnover because of them. I can understand how a release like crying could help, though.

Once I was in a meeting with the first awful boss, some co-workers and a representatives of a client company. I had agreed to take on a very limited role in the project, since I was busy with other things. My boss introduced me as the lead on the project. He liked to manipulate people like that. Agree to one thing and then gaslight or put us on the spot to accept more work. I started to have a panic attack. I had forgotten to turn off my phone and my husband called me right then. I said I need to take this call and left the meeting room. Fortunately, my husband realized I was not in a good place mentally and managed to help calm me down. I quit that job soon after. That was the 3rd panic attack I had due to dealing with that manager.

When going through all this, I had been pretty stubborn about not going to the hospital, but at my more recent job, my husband saw me one morning and convinced me to to go to the ER. I had been having panic attacks in that work situation too, wasn't eating and wasn't sleeping at all. The psych doctor that saw me told me I was lucky I went when I did or I would have likely continued to get worse.