Recent research into the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of panic states has emphasized (a) their biological basis, (b) the validity of the DSM-III diagnosis of “Panic Disorder,” and (c) behavior therapy and/or medication as the treatment modalities of choice. According to this literature, psychoanalytic psychotherapy with panic states is specifically contraindicated. This article suggests that the proliferation of action-oriented therapies with panic states can be viewed as, at least in part, a response to the atmosphere created by these patients of an urgent need for action that would bring relief. It goes on to focus, via a case presentation, on the unique contribution of the psychoanalytic approach to the understanding and treatment of panic states. Central to the case is the therapist's gradual insight into the countertransference response to the “atmosphere of urgency,” which enables both patient and therapist to tolerate better the anxieties attending the pursuit of a psychoanalytic inquiry.