Fear of insanity with panic attacks

[Gamer]

I've heard that during panic attacks many people fear they are going crazy, but how common is it when you are panic-free? Ever since I had my first panic attack I had this intermittent fear that I was going insane, even though several doctors have assured me I wasn't. While this irrational fear has mitigated since my first attack, I still have this residual fear, and when it comes at full intensity, it will trigger another attack. (reading the Schizophrenia forum for me can sometimes be a trigger)

Outside of a panic attack, is the fear of going crazy common? I would like to hear other people's experience with this.

Thanks.

[rustygirl]

Hi I have suffered with panic attacks since my very early twenties, i know that you may feel your go crazy, believe me i felt the same. For some years i was on medication, which only worked for short periods of time.
I found by finding a good doctor, realising, when i could what triggered them then also finding a good therapist that helped me through without medication but breathing exercises etc. It took some years to have them fully under control but every now and again i have had one but been able to deal with it and come out the other side not thinking im crazy.
My most regular aniexty attacks would wake me up around 4am in the morning. It got to the point that i couldn't go to my bed and go to sleep because i would have a panic attack. My comfort is I have slept with the tv on for 26 years to help me go to sleep. I have never known anyone else to have their panic attacks while asleep. Is there anyone else out there like me.

:bighug1:
Rusty

[Gamer]

*Warning: This post could trigger*

Thank you Elad. I do feel a little better but I still have many questions. People will say, if you think you are going crazy, your not. But research into the schizophrenia prodrome seems to indicate that some in fact do have insight into their illness. I am aware that me being able to write something coherent rules out the thought disorders displayed in schizophrenia, but it doesn't rule out an early warning sign for later psychosis, and I have known some people with psychotic disorders who were quite articulate in reasoning, writing and speech.

The psychologist I spoke with said my fear is not common, which worries me and goes against what I heard, that many with anxiety disorders think they are crazy. (perhaps I should see another, or maybe she's right?)That said, I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder w/o Agoraphobia (with a mood disorder that I won't share yet), but my diagnosis is tentative.

What I hope to gain from this discussion is not to prove I have psychosis or "going crazy", because I don't think I have it, nor to scare others with the fear into believing they have it, but to engage in an open discussion of what makes us tick, in hopes that we can help each other get better by identifying commonalities, determining if it is a common fear among those of us with anxiety, or if we are outliers. And if we are outliers, to also have an honest discussion about whether our fears have any real merit.

@Rusty I've had nocturnal panic attacks from time to time, but they all seem to be at random times throughout the night. The last one I had scared me, and I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was dying. It sucks but I realize that it is just a surge of adrenaline. Hope everything is fine, and your not alone. :)

[xhyperyogix]

hey gamer - this is something i fear - i would imagine it would be common. I mean if you are dissociating all over the place in a massive panic attack, well to me it feels like my brain and body will never re-unite, and i'll be stuck like that forever. so, thats insanity because i've lost it, even though i haven't really!

not sure how that helps you other than knowing you're not alone in this fear!!

hyper xxx

[Mindful]

All i can add really is that i have been going ''insane'' for years, on and off. I am still here.

The way i see it is simple, we over think, we look inward all the time, the moments of respite are when we get distracted, sometimes for 10 seconds, sometimes for weeks. We stop obsessively looking inward and we are then quite sane. When we obsess again, yep we are now ''mental''.

The mind can and does play tricks, i have felt out of myself many times, in panic and out of it. I have had many times when everything around me seems alien, i feel like i am not part of the world around me at all. Thats because i am not part of it, i am observing it, not living in it.

[Mindful]

LOL i keep having these mad moments where i feel i am shorter than usual..or taller. WTF ! I am not sure why, its only for a few seconds, i can walk into, say, the kitchen and i just feel shorter, or taller and everything just seems out of proportion.. i just put it down to an over active, over alert, over tired mind. Dun Dun Dunnnn.... Or maybe the kitchen units are alive and keep crouching down when i come in to make me feel taller, then another day they stand tall and i feel small.. thats me booking my ticket to crazyville :p

[tiddleypom]

First of all, you're not alone. I have exactly the same issue as you. Even when I'm not outright panicky, I still have this constant fear that I'm going to lose my mind. What I've found helps is looking at this one of two ways:

1) Rationalise. I read somewhere (sorry, but I can't find the link) a psychiatrist who had worked with anxiety sufferers for over 30 years. She had treated literally thousands of people. Not once, not one single time did anyone she'd ever treated go mad. Not once. Panic disorder is just that: panic disorder. The fear of going crazy is a symptom of it, but it won't come true.
If you're like me, the mental symptoms of your panic attacks are much stronger than the physical ones and that overwhelming feeling that you're going to lose your mind is so, so scary. It's not surprising that it would stick around even after the panic has subsided.
But it won't happen. Schizophrenia is a separate illness to panic disorder and would have manifested itself in a different way.

or

2) Accept. This one sometimes helps me when I can't rationalise (because let's face it, being rational doesn't exactly come easy to us:D). Think, ok, what if I do have a break from reality? What's the worst that would happen? Life isn't like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. No men in white coats are going to come at take you away. You would have an episode, then get oodles of help from doctors and mental health professionals and you would put your life back together again.
I have a friend who has actually suffered a few psychotic episodes (don't worry, not from panic disorder, she has a separate illness). They're not nice for her, but she pretty much forgets them once they happen and she takes meds that control it. She has a daughter, a fiance and a good job - she's actually doing better for herself with her illness that I am with mine.
There are plenty of functioning schizophrenics out there who cope fine with their illness and have perfectly normal lives.

When you try this method, you take away the power from your scary thoughts. I'd go with the first way if you can, it's just that I appreciate when those thoughts are running through your mind, that's not always easy. But if you think, "Ok, so my biggest fear comes true. So what?" then you'll find it starts to subside because it stops being something you need to fear so much.