Hi Gina I don't know if you are doing the panic program on this site, but the first bit of it is all about what happens to our bodies during a panic attack, like in your book, and, yes, basically it is an entirely natural physical reaction. If we were living back in cave man times this kind of reaction could save us from danger by preparing us to run away! The trouble is that people like us have this reaction at the wrong times to situations that aren't supposed to be threatening,or at least that most people wouldn't find threatening, but for some reason our minds are telling our bodies that there is a threat, or danger. When I think about it like this I start to feel a lot calmer as it is something that is supposed to happen in nature! Wierd huh?