Fear of panic attacks in public. *Trigger warning*

[Jabberwoxx]

I've had god knows how many symptoms pointing to all sorts of anxiety disorders (GAD, OCD, health anxiety, etc.) but a new one which has been causing me a lot of concern is a sudden fear of having a panic attack in public.

I get incidents where I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety that it stops me in my tracks, my head starts to feel funny and I get a crippling fear of either fainting or having a panic attack. However, this does not happen spontaneously - it only happens if I'm thinking about it. It makes me terrified that my own brain and my own self has the capability of doing this to me.

It all started when I was walking down the main road the other day and I had this awful urge or panicky feeling about throwing myself in front of a car. I suppose this is like a combination of harm-OCD and agoraphobia/panic disorder. It does not occur if I am with someone; I feel 100% safe.

I've been having an incredibly stressful time lately in my personal life so I'm wondering if it's a manifestation of that.

I have a very long train journey to Wales alone on Wednesday so I'm feeling rather apprehensive having started to read a little bit about agoraphobia. :(

Anyone have anything similar?

[Sharon123]

Hi!
I have something very similar. I also have a combination of many anxiety disorders(OCD, panic disorder etc...) and I can totally relate to the fear of having an anxiety attack in public. I also have an extreme fear of fainting due to panic attack and sometimes I feel embarrassed when having an attack in public and feel as if everyone is watching me! Similarly to your case, I go to a public place and automatically begin to think, "What if I have an anxiety attack right now!" And immediately I have one! It is very uncomfortable and annoying, I understand....but you are not alone! Also, I have learned something that has helped me a lot, and that is that it is nearly impossible to faint during a panic attack because your blood pressure goes up and not down. People usually faint when they have low blood pressure. That is why the body always goes into a "lying-down" position during a loss of conciousness because the brain wants to be the same level as your heart in order to receive more blood. When you are having an anxiety attack, the opposite is actually occurring; the heart palpitations are giving the brain more blood than usual and therefore making it nearly impossible to pass out. So unless you have a heart problem or any other condition already, I don't think you would faint due to an anxiety attack. But you might want to consult your doctor about that. Good Luck!:)