The symptoms of a panic attack often come from hyperventilation caused by breathing too deeply or quickly. This is why breathing in to a bag can raise CO2 levels in the blood and get a person feeling normal again. "Take deep breaths" is exactly the wrong thing to do in the case of a panic attacks

submitted by magnora7 from en.wikipedia.org

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[–]magnora7[S] 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Holding your breath would also raise CO2 levels.

So if someone you know ever feels like they're having a panic attack, or if you feel dizzy and tingly and like you're losing consciousness, and feel like you're gasping for air, try holding your breath or breathing very shallowly and slowly, and you should return to normal over 5-10 minutes.

I just stumbled across this wiki article saying the primary cause of panic attacks is people breathing too quickly and deeply, causing hyperventilation and CO2 depletion, which ironically makes people gasp for air and feel like they can't breathe, so they breathe more deeply. This feedback loop is basically what a panic attack is, and it's why people sometimes pass out or feel like they're dying. The pH of blood actually changes because of the lack of CO2.