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Hi Michele, Ugh!  Many of us would agree that picking up a dead mouse unexpectantly is gross ....but for you it triggered your flight or fight response, meaning that your body sensed that danger was present and it needed to respond to fight off the danger....in this case, a dead mouse.  However, panic attacks are "false alarms," in that the body is responding far more intensely than the situation calls for. Given that you stated that you have a fear of dead animals in general, you very likely have a specific phobia. Specific phobias involved having a excessive and unreasonable fear in the presence of as specific object, place or situation. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is highly effective for overcoming specific phobias because you can learn to break this stimulus (dead animal) response (panic) pattern and get your basement cleaned!   Let us know how it goes!   Regards,   Dr. Jennifer Fee www.thestressmasters.com