One morning on the way to work, as he rode the escalator from the subway to street level, Roman had his first panic attack. He clutched the handrail tightly, because he felt intensely dizzy and short of breath. Terrified that he would faint and fall from the escalator, Roman ran the last few steps off it to safety. He managed to work through the day, but over the next few weeks, he began to have panic attacks in other situations, such as while walking up stairs, riding the subway, and driving certain stretches of highway.

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