Darren Criss did the best representation of a real anxiety attack on TV that I've ever seen.
I’m not talking about a panic attack. I’m talking about the more subtle anxiety attacks.
When the gunshots go off, he’s still himself. He’s helping Artie get safe and hiding himself. He is the first person to talk, and when he does so, the room of the people he loves so much all shush him. This triggers something in Blaine. The stress of the shooting AND having everyone in the room be “mad at him” is too much, and he goes into anxiety mode. He hugs his knees and folds in on himself without making a further sound, because in his mind, if he makes a sound, not only will his friends and loved ones be mad at him, but his friends would die and it would be all his fault. When they’re recording video messages, Blaine still doesn’t talk, not only because he can’t find the words, but because he’s still too afraid to. At the end, when the SWAT team calls “all clear,” he calls his mom and greats her with, “Hey, mommy.” Although it is uncertain whether or not Blaine refers to his mother as “mom” or “mommy” all the time, when somebody has an anxiety attack, they usually use simpler language when it’s over and revert to being a bit more like a timid child until they have calmed themselves a bit more.
Darren Criss is the only actor on TV that I’ve seen successfully show the world what an anxiety attack is like, and I am so proud of him for doing so.
