Every single night, when the house was quiet and everyone else was long asleep, there came a moment when my heart would begin to race. I’d break into a cold sweat, and my breathing would become shallow and very rapid. I didn’t know these events were panic attacks; I only knew my heart was about to burst out of my chest, and it terrified me. That’s it, I thought: Something is wrong with my heart. When I told my parents, they took me to a cardiologist immediately; he performed a number of tests, none of which indicated any heart problems. The doctor said he thought I was simply anxious, and he
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