Alice, I don't have time to dig it out but David Baldacci has made good use of this sort of ailment in his Camel Club series. If you just want to learn how to write that stuff yourself, you couldn't do better than to read them. (They're thrillers but with a most unusual set of characters.)
The guy who has the panic attacks is named Caleb. He's always nervous but always manages to be there when he's needed.
Your library will have copies. They're recent books.
Let me know if that helps. If not I'll try to pull something out for you, but it probably won't be today.
