Can a Single Panic Attack Justify Taking a Day Off Work?

A First Panic-Like Episode Should Be Triage-First

A single severe panic attack can affect work capacity, but the first question is not only whether it feels severe enough for a day off. Chest tightness, shortness of breath and a racing heart can overlap with other medical problems. When a person is genuinely unsure what is happening, urgent assessment can be more important than certification. Once urgent causes are not suspected, the GP can assess whether the episode has left the person unable to work safely for the relevant period.

• First episode versus known recurrent panic

A person with an established recurrent pattern and a first unexplained episode may need different assessment.

• Work after the acute peak

Driving, public-facing duties and high-responsibility work can remain difficult after the most intense symptoms settle.

• Ongoing care

Repeat episodes should lead to a treatment plan rather than repeated certificate-only consultations.

The Physical Symptoms That Get Mistaken for Something Else

Chest tightness, a racing heart, shortness of breath and a sense of impending doom are common panic attack symptoms, and they overlap closely with symptoms people associate with cardiac events, which is part of why a first panic attack is often so frightening. If you're ever genuinely unsure whether what you're experiencing is a panic attack or something else, especially with chest pain, treat it as a medical emergency and call 000. It's always the safer call.

Steadying Yourself in the Hours and Days After

The exhaustion and jitteriness that follow a panic attack are real and often underestimated; it's common to feel physically drained for the rest of the day. Slower breathing, grounding techniques like naming what you can see, hear and feel around you, and avoiding caffeine or alcohol in the immediate aftermath can help settle the nervous system. Gently returning to normal activity rather than avoiding the situation that triggered it altogether tends to prevent the anxiety from generalising to more situations over time, though working through avoidance patterns is best done with professional support rather than alone.

If Panic Attacks Become Frequent

If panic attacks recur, ongoing management is better suited to your regular GP or a mental health professional, who can investigate underlying anxiety or panic disorder and arrange longer-term support. If you're having thoughts of harming yourself, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, or in an emergency call 000.

What the Research Says About Panic Disorder

Anxiety is the most common group of mental disorders in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that more than one in six Australians aged 16 to 85 had a 12-month anxiety disorder, which is 17.2% or around 3.4 million people. Rates were higher among women, at 21.1% compared with 13.3% of men, and highest among people aged 16 to 24, where 38.8% had experienced a mental disorder in the previous 12 months.

Ongoing Support for Anxiety and Panic

For a broader look at panic attacks and work capacity, see Beyond Blue and Healthdirect's overviews, which are good starting points for ongoing support. Visit the Panic Attack Condition page for more information and a WorkCover Capacity Certificate.