A panic attack brought on by the stress of medical school

<p>"As I leaned against the pristine wall, my vision suddenly dimmed. Everything turned gray. I gulped for air. My arms and legs went numb. I felt that drowning sensation I’d had in third grade when a nun pushed my head between my legs to keep me from fainting in church on a brutally hot June day. Or like the time when I was eight months pregnant, took a hot shower at the university gym, and almost belly-flopped onto the concrete floor. I prayed that I wouldn’t pass out on my first day of medical school classes. I didn’t want those MDs-to-be, all smarter and younger than I, to know I couldn’t handle this, that I didn’t belong."</p> <p><a href="https://annemctiernan.wordpress.com/about-the-author/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anne McTiernan</a> is an internal medicine physician and epidemiologist. She is the author of <span class= "a-list-item"><a title= "Cured: A Doctor's Journey from Panic to Peace" href= "https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R22S418?ie=UTF8" target= "_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cured: A Doctor’s Journey from Panic to Peace</a>.</span></p> <p>She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "<a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/02/a-panic-attack-brought-on-by-the-stress-of-medical-school.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A panic attack brought on by the stress of medical school</a>." (<a href= "https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/02/a-panic-attack-brought-on-by-the-stress-of-medical-school.html">https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/02/a-panic-attack-brought-on-by-the-stress-of-medical-school.html</a>)</p>