Living with Panic Disorder
Take care of your panic disorder.
Sam keeps your attacks, sleep and resting heart rate in one place. You take the history to your next appointment.
Step by step: what panic disorder is, where a panic attack is felt and how it shows up day to day.
Panic disorder
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder. Panic attacks keep coming back, including unexpected ones, followed by lasting worry about more attacks or by avoiding them.
A human figure, seen from the front at an angle. The view moves slowly towards the upper body. Nothing is highlighted.
During an attack
A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear that peaks within minutes and passes. Body sensations such as a racing heart, chest pain, breathlessness, a choking feeling, dizziness, tingling hands or trembling can come in any combination.
Chest area / Head / Hands
The upper body, seen from the front. Soft indigo areas appear on the head, the throat, the chest and both hands, marking where sensations of a panic attack can be felt. The chest area throbs like a racing heart and the throat area slowly swells and fades with each breath; nothing flashes.
Day to day
Attacks can come at any time, sometimes even during sleep, and how often varies widely. Many people worry about the next attack, and some avoid places where one happened before.
Worth discussing with your doctor.
New or severe symptoms need a doctor. Chest pain, fainting or sudden breathlessness: call emergency services. Chest pain can also be a heart problem.
The view pulls back to most of the figure. The soft indigo areas on the head, throat, chest and hands stay; the chest keeps throbbing and the throat keeps slowly swelling.
Own simplified illustration based on the sources above.
The picture shows a reference body without organs. The coloured areas on the head, throat, chest and hands mark where sensations of a panic attack can be felt; they show neither a cause nor a measurement. The area on the chest throbs like a racing heart; the one on the throat slowly swells and fades like a breath, for the choking feeling. The tempo is an example, not a measured rate. Sensations felt across the whole body, such as trembling, sweating, chills or hot flushes, are not painted. Adult male reference model; figure and timeline are not to scale.
What Sam keeps for you
For people living with panic disorder who want a record for appointments with their doctor or therapist. Sam is not a medical device. It keeps what you and your wearable already produce and puts it in one place.
Your Apple Watch, Oura, Whoop or Garmin already records them, and you add what you log. Sam reads them from Apple Health and shows you how they shift against your personal baseline.
Note whether an episode felt expected or came out of nowhere, rate how intense the fear felt from 0 to 10, and check off which of 13 plain-language body sensations you noticed, like a racing heart or shortness of breath. You can add what helped and describe the situation freely - Sam records what you report, not an automatic verdict on what happened.
Once a month, Sam asks you to fill out the OASIS - the same short, five-question tool clinicians use to gauge anxiety severity and its impact on daily life. It's a quick snapshot you can bring to your next appointment.
Whether an episode was a panic attack stays your call - the attack log only records what you report, so what you see back is always your own account.
All of it can go into one doctor report as a PDF for your appointment.
Every Medical Program has its own doctor report as a PDF. You choose the period it covers and can share the report.
Sam is a wellness companion, not a medical device. The app does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any illness and does not replace medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical decisions.
Fear, and whether an episode was a panic attack, are outside what a smartwatch can record. Sam keeps your own account.
Doctor report (PDF)
Sam puts your attack log together as a PDF you can show in therapy or at your doctor's office. You choose the period the visit should cover: 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, or the whole record.
Report: panic disorder
Sample viewReport covers
At a glance
7
Attacks in the period
3
Of which out of the blue
Attacks per month
The current month is not included.
Attack days, last 30 days
Day with an entry
Panic attacks
Diary
12 May, 20:15
Attack - out of the blue - rode it out - 6 symptoms
04 May, 08:40
Attack - expected - left early - 4 symptoms
Self-tracked data, not a diagnosis.
Sam shows your values next to your entries. What they mean is something to talk through with your doctor.
You ask a question, Sam answers with your own numbers. For example:
The monthly report sums up your weeks - for appointments, applications, or simply your own record.
Monthly Report - June
Your Health Overview
Sleep
Stress level
Example values. Your report is based on your own data.
Further reading: what wearable data can show about everyday life with Panic Disorder - and where its limits are.
How heart rate and HRV respond during panic attacks, what your wearable can show about heart rate patterns during anxiety, and when to seek emergency care.
Panic attacks cause rapid heartbeat and fear. Learn about triggers, sleep disruption, recovery strategies, and managing panic disorder.
Panic attacks and constant worry both feel exhausting, but they're different anxiety disorders. Learn the pattern differences and how to find the right support.
Recognize panic attack patterns and document them effectively. Records help your healthcare provider understand your experience and inform your care plan.
No. A smartwatch records signals such as heart rate, not fear or whether an episode was a panic attack. Sam shows your Apple Health data (sleep, stress, heart rate, activity) so you can see your own trends. If you think you're having a panic attack or have chest pain for the first time, seek emergency medical care.
A raised heart rate has many causes: stress, caffeine, exercise, heat, illness, or anxiety. Sam shows your usual resting heart rate for comparison. If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or symptoms that feel new or concerning, do not wait: call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US) or your doctor right away.
Both can involve sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, and a rapid heartbeat, which is why early medical evaluation matters. A heart attack is a medical emergency; a panic attack, while very distressing, is not immediately life-threatening. Never assume chest pain is 'just' panic, especially the first time: seek emergency care if you're unsure. Your doctor can tell them apart once cardiac causes are ruled out.
Panic disorder is treatable through approaches including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), medications such as SSRIs or SNRIs, and lifestyle changes. The right treatment depends on your individual situation and is something to discuss in detail with your doctor or mental-health professional. They can recommend what's best for you.
If this is your first panic attack or you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or anything that feels medically urgent, call emergency services. Once a doctor has ruled out cardiac and other medical causes, grounding techniques such as slow breathing or focusing on your senses can help. A therapist or doctor can teach you coping strategies for panic disorder.
Tracking sleep, stress, and activity can be useful for self-awareness and for sharing patterns with your doctor, but tracking alone is not a treatment for panic disorder. Sam is a tool for understanding your own data. Real treatment typically involves a mental-health professional and, possibly, medication; talk to your doctor or therapist about how data tracking fits your care plan.
Yes, in the panic program for people with a doctor-diagnosed panic disorder. You log each attack yourself: whether it came as expected, how strong the fear was, which body sensations you noticed and what you did. Sam shows sleep and resting heart rate from Apple Health beside it, plus the monthly OASIS questionnaire. An attack appears in Sam only when you enter it.
Download Sam for free, connect Apple Health, and see what your data says about everyday life with Panic Disorder - compared to your own baseline.
Sam is a wellness companion, not a medical device. Sam does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any illness and does not replace medical advice. For health questions or concerns, always consult a qualified medical professional.