View Full Version : worrying about panic attacks.
Does anyone else's panic attack feel so weird that they cant even describe it . it just came out of the blue the other day when i was out walking i just suddenly felt all strange everything around me looked really bright and i felt disconected from everything around me .I couldnt think straight or focus on anything. i felt like i was gonna collapse and i felt like i would never make it back home because i was struggling to walk normally. i had someone with me but im so frightened to how much worse it would of been if i never. At the moment i only go out if i have someone with me as i am so scared of having panic attacks alone. now im over thinking this and im worried that thi was something else and not a panic attack .. it seems like i have different types of panic attacks some feel like this and other times i get the racing heart and fast breathing which i know is a panic attack . But i dont really know what this is ? i dont know if this is a panic attack beacause i never had the racing heart an it didnt build up an reach a peak like it does with the other panic attacks i get. x
Does anyone else's panic attack feel so weird that they cant even describe it . it just came out of the blue the other day when i was out walking i just suddenly felt all strange everything around me looked really bright and i felt disconected from everything around me .I couldnt think straight or focus on anything. i felt like i was gonna collapse and i felt like i would never make it back home because i was struggling to walk normally. i had someone with me but im so frightened to how much worse it would of been if i never. At the moment i only go out if i have someone with me as i am so scared of having panic attacks alone. now im over thinking this and im worried that thi was something else and not a panic attack .. it seems like i have different types of panic attacks some feel like this and other times i get the racing heart and fast breathing which i know is a panic attack . But i dont really know what this is ? i dont know if this is a panic attack beacause i never had the racing heart an it didnt build up an reach a peak like it does with the other panic attacks i get. x
The feeling disconnected from everything around you, the way everything looked bright and being unable to focus and feeling like you couldnt walk properly are all anxiety.
Feeling disconnected- Caused by your mind focusing inward, i bet if there was a near miss car crash further up the street and a car screeched you would for that few seconds be very connected to everything around you. Once your mind was on something other than how you feel.
I can remember once walking with my kids from school back to the car and feeling all that you described above. My youngest tripped over, screamed like they do and i quickly picked her up and comforted her, then it dawned on me that i wasnt feeling weird anymore, and as soon as i thought that- yep it came back.
Everything looking bright- Again caused by anxiety.When we panic our eyes let in more light, people who dont focus inward probably wouldnt even notice. We tend to notice everything and hang on to it.
They dont come out of the blue, they feel like they do but all it takes it one tiny little thought that you may or may not have noticed to start it all off.
Easy said but next time you have any of these feelings try and go with them, they wont harm you even though they feel so intense. :hugs:
Thankyou for your reply ! i need to beleive that nothing bads gonna happen from it..which is very difficult when you feel like your about to pass out and feel so weird . your right there must of been some thougtht that triggered it but i really dont know what. i remember having lots of scary thoughts while this was happening though! it was strange tho it almost felt like my heart an breathing an everything around me was slowing down .which is not like a normal panic attack? maybe that was all in my mind though.im a bit confused by this. The problem is after experinceing this im more scared to try going out alone feels like im getting nowhere. All i want is to be able to go out alone but im too scared and overwhelmed by the feelings i have when i try. i dont know how to feel safe when there is no one with me x
this site is just brilliant! never before have i ever read so much stuff i can totally relate to. i totally get all those "symptoms" you describe, quite frequently. i just wonder whether mine is panic or whether i am going mad!!!
totall agree with all comments buy when the panic strikes it strikes .. its like it knows how and when to hurt you my body freezes and jumps and makes me feel like i want to run but cant you will beat cos i have more than once and need to beat it again now .... keep reading on here you will get support advice and answers.
Thankyou for your reply ! i need to beleive that nothing bads gonna happen from it..which is very difficult when you feel like your about to pass out and feel so weird . your right there must of been some thougtht that triggered it but i really dont know what. i remember having lots of scary thoughts while this was happening though! it was strange tho it almost felt like my heart an breathing an everything around me was slowing down .which is not like a normal panic attack? maybe that was all in my mind though.im a bit confused by this. The problem is after experinceing this im more scared to try going out alone feels like im getting nowhere. All i want is to be able to go out alone but im too scared and overwhelmed by the feelings i have when i try. i dont know how to feel safe when there is no one with me x Nothing bad will happen to you lovey, i promise that!
The way you feel is horrible and so scary i understand so much how its hard to believe this is all anxiety, i really do. :hugs:
Thoughts can be so very quick, we don't always catch them. That goes for positive ones as well as negative ones.
Your feeling that your heart and breathing are slowing down is very much a part of an anxiety attack, i know we expect to have a racing heart and rapid breathing but when our body and mind is tired out, over loaded with anxiety it can hit us in so many ways, some very strange sensations can happen.
When i was at my worse i couldnt-wouldnt go outside the house at all. Then slowly i would with someone with me. Then i started to walk to my gate alone, stand there and felt the panic hit me, i wanted to run back in but told myself to stay another 20 seconds, then 20 more and so on..all whilst being hit with wave after wave of panic. I then walked to the end of my street.. it was hell but i did it every day until i know that it was all panic and not anything else. Then go further afield. The only way you will see for yourself that nothing apart from the horrible feelings is going to happen is to go out there and test it. Start small, baby steps..you can do it, you are stronger than you probably think, look what you cope with everyday already! :hugs:
what a brilliant post .... totally true
Thankyou everyone for your support and help :) sometimes thats all we need to help pick us up.
kwarly its definately good to know theres other people out there that understand .
JOHN55 i totally know what you mean when you say you wanna run but you cant like you feel frozen with fear. I guess thats the feeling i get when i start thinking il never make it home. How are you doing now? thats really good that you have beaten it before .. if you can beat something this intense and overwhelming..you can do anything!!
Mindful you have really helped me .thankyou:) you have made me see sense and now im accepting that this was a panic attack.. which happened to just feel different with different symptoms. you have done so well facing up to these feelings and your fears ..i wish i was as brave as you! i know i need to be to get better. i was the same as you not even able to go out even with someone with me at one point but then started doing it now i can :)..but still getting bad moments.
But going out on my own is feeling quite impossible at the moment and has been for quite a while now.i walk a few mins away on my own at best.How are you now with going out alone? does this exposure really get you over this problem? i need to set a goal even if its just walking to the lampost and stick to it everyday . this must be where im going wrong il do it for a couple of days then have a bad moment .. then i say theres no point i wont ever get better ..then i give up . This happens over an over again and im getting nowhere. x x
I get that feeling a lot. Have it now! Its called desensititazation de-realization or something. There is a good article on it on here. It is really really awful when you get it. However as you know, it does pass. For me sometimes what helps is if I am at home especially or work I would run my wrists under a cold tap, or stick them in the freezer for a few minutes or put something from freezer on my neck. I read that somewhere as a tip and it does work. It works somehow just as a distraction and the feeling of something suddenly shocking your skin and all the energy in you goes to the point of contact and takes the focus of your initial scary feelings. good luck.
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