20 | www. Char l es tonPhys i c i ans . com | www.Hea l thL i nksChar l es ton . com I was 22 the first time I experienced a panic attack. It was September of 2001, several weeks after the attack on the Twin Towers. I lived across the river from Manhattan in Northern New Jersey and lost a friend when the Towers fell. I awoke in the middle of the night gasping for air. I felt like there was a semi-truck parked on my chest. I was sobbing, choking and I didn’t know what was happening. Corrigan Rutherford, a Charleston-based educator and school administrator, understands those feelings all too well. “All of your body systems shift into overdrive,” she said. “You might vomit, your heart races and you don’t know if you’re going to explode or not. You just know, ‘I have to get out of this place or I am going to die.’” ALL SYSTEMS CLEAR – CONTROLLING PANIC By Leah Rhyne
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