If your chest hurts or you are struggling to breathe, get medical help before you read on. Cleveland Clinic is plain about it: "If you have chest pain, trouble breathing or lose consciousness, seek emergency medical care." In the United States, NIMH says "In life-threatening situations, call 911"; anywhere else, call your own local emergency number. The NHS adds that "most of these symptoms can also be symptoms of other conditions or problems, so you may not always be experiencing a panic attack."
One person asked on Reddit's r/Episcopalian, "Can I ask for prayer for my panic attacks that are happening right now?" Another, on r/Anxiety, wrote "I don’t know how many more panic attacks I can stand." If you need something short enough to hold right now, here is one, from Psalm 121:
I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.
If you only have a minute
First
Chest pain, trouble breathing or fainting needs emergency care. In the US that is 911; elsewhere, your local emergency number.
Words to hold
Psalm 121:1-2 or Psalm 61:2, said slowly, one line at a time.
Between attacks
Matthew 11:28-30, an invitation to rest.
A psalm that names it
Psalm 55:4-5, "Fearfulness and trembling have come on me."
If it keeps happening
The NHS says to see a GP about symptoms of panic disorder.
Words short enough to hold
Some people keep a single line and repeat it. One commenter on Reddit's r/Episcopalian wrote, "when i feel panic i pray over and over the first verse of Psalm 121", quoting it in their own wording. That is one person's habit, and it is simple to borrow: the first sentence, then the question, then the answer, slowly. If you lose your place, start again.
Psalm 61:2 is another line short enough to carry: "From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed." David, named in the psalm's heading, is calling from far away, and the next words ask to be led "to the rock that is higher than I." Nothing in the line asks you to be calm before you call.
Something short enough to say without needing to read it.
A passage to come back to between attacks
For the hours and days between attacks, the passage this site offers for anxiety is Matthew 11:28-30:
28 Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus says it just after thanking the Father for showing things to "infants" rather than to the wise and understanding. It invites people who are already worn down, and sets no test first. Bible verses for anxiety and overthinking reads it closely and explains why Philippians 4 was not the passage chosen. If you want Philippians 4:6-7, the Greek word behind "anxious" and Psalm 94:19, they are on what the Bible says about anxiety.
A psalm that names the pounding heart
Psalm 55 is a prayer from a man under an enemy's oppression. Its heading names David, and it opens with him asking God not to hide, restless and moaning "because of the voice of the enemy." Then it describes the body:
My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me. I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest. Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.” Selah. “I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.”
This is an ancient prayer, and a panic attack is a modern clinical term, so the two are not the same thing. Still, a racing heart, death close by, trembling and the wish to be anywhere else are all in these five verses. If you find your own night in them, the psalm puts it into words and addresses it to God.
The storm, and the question after it
Mark 4:35-41 is the scene many people think of when fear takes over. It is evening, and Jesus and his disciples have set out across the lake:
A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?” He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
If somebody has used verse 40 on you, notice where it falls. It is spoken to disciples in a boat filling with water, with him in it, and it comes after he has calmed the wind and the sea: the storm stilled first, the question second.
The disciples woke him in the middle of the storm.
When the attack has passed
Psalm 116 looks back on a night like this from the other side. Its unnamed writer says "The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow," then remembers calling out: "Yahweh, I beg you, deliver my soul." A few verses on, the writer speaks to their own soul: "Return to your rest, my soul." It suits the shaky hour after an attack.
What a panic attack is
NIMH, a United States institute, describes panic attacks as "a sudden wave of fear or discomfort or a sense of losing control even when there is no clear danger or trigger." Mind, a UK charity, calls them "an extreme anxiety response" and notes they are "sometimes called 'anxiety attacks'." The NHS separates a single attack from panic disorder, which it describes as regular unexpected attacks followed by at least a month of worry about having more.
If you have been told panic means weak faith
Some people carry this question as well as the attacks. One wrote on Reddit, "The panic I suffered from wasn't actually a spiritual issue but a physiological one". Another began a post, "First, this is not a question that comes from a place of weak faith", and a third said, "I put my faith in God but the paranoia and racing thoughts still come up, I still have panic attacks."
Christian writers do not all agree here. David Guzik at Enduring Word, commenting on Isaiah 41, writes "Fear, worry, and anxiety are often sin." John Calvin, on Philippians 4:6, ties the anxiety Paul forbids to "distrust of Divine power or help" (CCEL). Both are writing about those verses, and neither mentions panic attacks. NIMH and Mind describe panic with no verdict on faith at all. The judgment between them is yours.
When praying brings the panic on
People describe this too. On Reddit's r/Catholicism, one person wrote, "every time I try to pray, I end up experience a severe intensifying of anxiety or just a full-blown panic attack where I nearly call 911." If that is your experience, the short lines above can simply be read, slowly, with nothing to get right and no prayer to finish.
Another Reddit commenter, on r/Episcopalian, gave a caution worth hearing: "If you're actually getting panic attacks, using just Bible verses or prayers could be dangerous". That is one person's view. The NHS says "See a GP if you've been experiencing symptoms of panic disorder," and NIMH says it is time to seek professional help when anxiety starts to cause problems in everyday life.
The hour after an attack can be slow and quiet.
Questions people ask
How common is panic disorder? NIMH estimates that 2.7 percent of US adults had panic disorder in the past year, from survey fieldwork carried out in 2001 to 2003. That figure is for the disorder, not for everyone who has ever had a single attack.
Why would a doctor examine me if it is panic? NIMH says a provider may do a physical exam to check that an unrelated physical problem is not causing the symptoms, and the NHS says a GP may examine you to rule out other conditions. A checkup is the usual route.
What if I am looking for someone else, like my child? NIMH's advice to seek professional help covers the anxiety of a loved one as well as your own. The emergency advice at the top applies to them just the same.
Where to go next
Keep Psalm 121:1-2 somewhere you can reach it for the next attack, or read Matthew 11:28-30 with the verses around it. The Anxiety topic keeps that passage with its setting. Or describe it in your own words, and Bible Nudge can suggest a single passage. Find a passage.
If panic has turned into thoughts of ending your life, please reach a person tonight. In the United States, call or text 988 for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, Samaritans is on 116 123. In Australia, Lifeline is 13 11 14. Anywhere else, Find A Helpline lists services by country.
Words that come up here
Tap a term to see what it means.
Panic disorder. A diagnosis for repeated, unexpected panic attacks with ongoing worry about the next one. A single attack is not panic disorder.