>>707413
I'm a woman who has dealt with a very similar problem in the past. For me it would happen in any situation where I felt "trapped" either physically or socially. So church, theaters, airplanes, meetings, trains, taxis. For me the major underlying trigger was always some kind of major stress in my life – a big stressful move, a seriously ill parent, etc. When it was at its worst I was also anemic, though I didn't know it at the time.
I would suggest that your sister see a doctor and get her thyroid checked as well as a full iron panel (including ferritin, not just hemoglobin). Bringing my iron levels up helped me noticeably. After that, I would recommend that she see a therapist who has experience treating panic attacks. Some therapists will say you just have to do it and sit through it even if the panic is at a level 10, but this can be really hard. What worked better for me was challenging myself gradually. So try staying in the church service for ten minutes, then she can excuse herself and go to the restroom or her car to take a breather. It really does work if you just work up gradually.
With panic attacks, the fight or flight response goes haywire. The body is stuck in a panic mode and almost anything can set it off. It's a really difficult problem.
I would also add that prayer helped me immensely… Personally I became a Christian about two years ago and that actually cured most of what remained of my anxiety/panic. So I would definitely recommend that she spend a lot of time in loving, focused contemplation of Christ.
The other thing that helped me to re-regulate my nervous system was seeing someone who practices a technique called Somatic Experiencing. Though you have to be careful about the particular practitioner because some of them are kind of new agey. But the idea is to release old trauma that's stuck/stored in the body.
I hope this helps. God bless your sister and thank you for posting for her. As someone else mentioned it's a surprisingly common problem, especially for women… our nervous systems seem vulnerable to this kind of thing.