How do you deal with fear?

Very occasionally, seemingly out of the blue, I get struck by fear, an anxiety of sorts, a momentary, yet crippling feeling of wanting to flee, and having nowhere to run to. My question to you is if you ever experienced something like this do you have a proven method to stop that fear dead in its tracks, or does it just have to “pass through” you? Is it normal to feel intense fear like this (happens once or twice a year, tops)? (for the record I don’t do nor have I ever done drugs, and I am generally quite content with my life)