panic attacks real?

I have learned that for years i had panic attacks but at the time they happened, I did not know what was happening, I was worried that i was loosing my mind and that if i told anyone they would lock me up in funny farm and take my kids away. Since I learned that it is normal and that many people have panic attacks and each person deals with it in different ways. More common ones yoga, exercise, meditation, medication, therapy, ect. I feel the first step is to identify and understand what is happening to yourself, they try several things to find what works best for themselves. are we kook kook? if you ask then you are probably not.