PhronesisWe apply the Displacement Framework to Panic Disorder, formalizing it as a second-order fear wrong attractor — a disorder about panic rather than merely of panic. The anxiety regulation ground state S°_calm is defined as calibrated anxiety: fear responses proportional to actual danger, bodily sensations processed as information rather than threat, and the capacity to tolerate arousal without catastrophic interpretation.
A panic attack is formalized as an acute D(ξ) spike generated by the Clark (1986) cognitive cycle: sensation → catastrophic interpretation → increased arousal → more sensation → attractor reinforcement. Panic Disorder emerges as the wrong attractor W_panic — anticipatory vigilance for panic cues — with three interlocking components: interoceptive hypervigilance (scanning one's own body for danger signals), catastrophic interpretation readiness (low threshold for threat assessment), and behavioral avoidance.
The body becomes the threat environment: D(ξ) is generated endogenously rather than by external stimuli. Agoraphobia is formalized as progressive landscape modification — the accessible region of the landscape shrinks as avoidance eliminates contexts where panic could occur, preventing disconfirmation and deepening the wrong attractor. Safety behaviors reduce within-trial D(ξ) but deepen the basin between trials by preventing learning.
Nine formal propositions are derived covering: S°_calm definition, panic attack as D(ξ) spike, W_panic formation, interoceptive inversion, agoraphobia as landscape restriction, safety behavior paradox, and the counterintuitive return path — exposure runs through panic rather than around it. CBT with interoceptive exposure is formalized as return path activation; benzodiazepines are identified as a safety behavior risk.