Thankfully, my panic disorder is normally under pretty good control these days. I very rarely feel (abnormally) anxious at all anymore, and when I do I have ways of coping (including pharmaceutical help) that can ease me out of anxiety before I have anything close to a full-blown panic attack. When I DO have an episode of panic, however, I find that the effects of the isolated incident linger with me, and that the extent and duration of this lingering feeling scales proportionally with the intensity and duration of the panic attack. For example, today I had a very scary moment at the doctor's office involving insurance that might have cost me thousands of dollars. I had what I would describe as a minor panic incident - not a full-blown, the Sky is Falling catastrophe but a decent amount of distress that lasted for almost an hour and caused some tears. The triggering event with the insurance was resolved and I calmed down, and the panic itself stopped. But now I feel a familiar, lingering sense of dread and foreboding. I have a theory that it is chemical - that the panic attack itself released a bunch of chemicals into my noggin and now those chemicals are stuck to the receptors and aren't letting go. I've noticed this phenomenon a lot - if I have a small panicky episode this feeling of anxiety and physical discomfort might last a day or two. If I have a MAJOR panic attack, though, then this feeling can go on for weeks. Eventually, feeling anxious and on edge for weeks at a time can lead to symptoms of clinical depression. Does anyone know of any research on this? I feel like what I'm describing is both very generalized (everyone with anxiety feels crappy after having a panic attack), but also very specific (the amount and duration of the anxiety is always directly proportional to the original attack and the symptoms are almost always identical, and aren't relieved by addressing the original cause of the panic attack). Any thoughts, theories, articles or further sources would be most appreciated!