Why does anxiety make no sense?

[Fay13]

So, obviously I’m aware that my anxiety/panic attacks aren’t rational, but today I realised how inconsistent they really are. I struggle with train journeys, because I feel trapped, and I worry that delays will cause the train to be stuck between stations for ages etc. Even a train slowing down between stations is enough to make me panicky and if a train ever actually stops I struggle to avoid a full meltdown.

However, today I was driving to work and spent two hours sitting in stationary traffic on a slip road off a dual carriageway. There was no way I could leave, I had no idea how long I’d be there (both things that make me so anxious on trains) and obviously I didn’t have a toilet. (I normally sit by the toilet on a train as for some reason I feel better as panic often makes me very nauseated). But I was completely fine in the car.

Considering what I have always thought to be the triggers for panic on a train, or anywhere else really, (no control, being trapped, not knowing how long I’d be there and not having access to a toilet) this really surprised me when I got to work and realised I hadn’t felt anxious. Have I been wrong about my triggers?? Or was the fact that I was alone in my car and therefore had a bit more privacy and maybe felt a bit more in control, even though I wasn’t at all, enough to quell my panic? I feel like if I could figure out what it was about this situation which meant I was ok, then I could try and use that in other situations? Or maybe this is just a sign that the anticipation of the anxiety is the worst part and that because I didn’t see this coming or worry about it in advance, it had less of an effect?

[Darksky]

Well I can't answer for you because everyone has their own triggers and mind sets but if I put myself in your situation, the answer ( for me ) was immediate. It would be because I was alone in the car. No one to see the meltdown, no one to see or hear me calming myself down. Cars are like little shells we can cover ourselves with.

[pulisa]

Are you worried about having a meltdown in front of other people? In your car you are in your own little environment( even though you haven't got a loo!) and if you are in a queue at least you know and can see what is going on. With trains you don't know and are at the mercy of the driver and the guard as to what is actually going on.

I think you did really well today. I can't bear queues and waiting. I think you do have more of a sense of control in your own car but you're right, anxiety doesn't follow set rules and can be very illogical.

---------- Post added at 14:01 ---------- Previous post was at 13:59 ----------


Well I can't answer for you because everyone has their own triggers and mind sets but if I put myself in your situation, the answer ( for me ) was immediate. It would be because I was alone in the car. No one to see the meltdown, no one to see or hear me calming myself down. Cars are like little shells we can cover ourselves with.

You and me both, Darksky!:D

[cattia]

I have issues with driving, especially on motorways because I worry about being ill and losing control of the car, or having to stop and not being able to do so, whereas on a train I know I could get help if I passed out or something. I also have trouble with the tube because of being stuck in the long tunnels! Makes no sense at all. When my anxiety is really bad I sometimes struggle with stairs because I worry I'm going to pass out on the stairs and I can't stop until I get to the bottom! When I type it out I can see how irrational it all seems, but I think it's my mind trying to protect me from a perceived threat, in my case passing out. The crazy thing is that although I feel faint a lot with my anxiety, I've never passed out!

[Juggar]

I have issues with driving, especially on motorways because I worry about being ill and losing control of the car, or having to stop and not being able to do so, whereas on a train I know I could get help if I passed out or something. I also have trouble with the tube because of being stuck in the long tunnels! Makes no sense at all. When my anxiety is really bad I sometimes struggle with stairs because I worry I'm going to pass out on the stairs and I can't stop until I get to the bottom! When I type it out I can see how irrational it all seems, but I think it's my mind trying to protect me from a perceived threat, in my case passing out. The crazy thing is that although I feel faint a lot with my anxiety, I've never passed out!

I’ve had that fear of passing out, yet it never happens and probably never will. Anxiety is so weird. The struggle and stress is real though.

[up a ladder]

I’ve had that fear of passing out, yet it never happens and probably never will. Anxiety is so weird. The struggle and stress is real though.
I think you have hit the nail on the head there. "it never happens and probably never will" and yet every time I have a meeting or fly I spend days before worried and restless that I am going to do something (pass out-cry-wet myself-have a bout of tourettes - or whatever) to make myself look stupid. It has never really happened. I have run out of a meeting 23 years ago, but nothing since and yet here I am.
Anxiety is a crazy but cruel thing.