Is anyone else terrified to let people near them during a panic attack?

[EdwardP]

Hiya,

Does anyone else suffer from this terrible though when they have a panic attack?

I'm going to do my best to explain what I mean so please be patient with me.

When I'm having an attack I am terrified to be around my mother because I am already hysterical with panic, and then I can see her worried face, so I then get more hysterical because I'm thinking "Something terrible must be wrong because this is happening to me and she is looking worried and if she is worried and I'm feeling like this then something must be going to happen".

Am I the only one who has these thoughts during a panic attack?

[HeatherMc]

Hiya Edward

I can relate to this I am terrified of my daughter when I am like this she is 11 and I am scared that I will scare her.

Heather

[EdwardP]

Hiya Heather,

Thank god someone else understands these thoughts. I was convinced I was going out of my mind when they happened to me. I can understand how you would be terrified also. It's such a terrible thing to happen and the thoughts that come with it are just horrible.

[lennons_mammy]

I don't really mind my mam being around me when I have a panic attack. I have been having panic attacks since I was 11 so she has seen me in that state plenty of times before but I can't bear the thought of my Fiance or son seeing me like that. I usually go hide upstairs if I think I am going to have one.

[yanksforever]

::HUGS:: you all deserve some. You guys will be ok.

[EdwardP]

Thanks. I have a lot of shame associated with my attacks. When they are over and I am calm again I always feel so ashamed for having one and for the way I behaved while in the middle of one. It's a vicious cycle.

[panelman]

hi edward. i absolutly hate anyone seeing me or being near me when im having a panic attack. i cant understand why, but i would say if the truth be knowen, its probably the fact that i feel totally embaressed about not dealing with the fear asspect of them very well. the fear of loosing control etc etc.i honestly think if i could once get through one without running away, or if im at home either leaving the room or asking whoever is there to leave the room, i would see that other people have absolutly no influence on making my attacks worse. ;the panick attacks come from within ourselves; hope this helps and i wish you the best of look in dealing with them in the future.

[JodieT]

Hi Edward

I feel much the same. I don't like my partner being close when I have a panic attack. I usually go into a room on my own. He always tries to get me to sit and calm myself down but I always do the opposite and pace up and down until it starts to subside.

I also hate being near and talking to people when my anxiety is high, although not in panic mode. I think this is because I am so scared that I am dying that I have to be alone to think about things and can't concentrate or focus on anything else. I also feel angry sometimes that I am going through this and they aren't. When my brain is thinking logically again I would never ever wish this on anyone else but sometimes I just wish those close to me could experience it to understand it properly. Does you ever feel like this?

Take care.

Jodie x

[EdwardP]

Hiya Jodie,

I do almost the exact same thing as you. If I happen to be around someone when I have an attack I will also pace up and down (Sometimes when it's really bad I will run around the place with my hands on my throat convinced that I am going to stop breathing any moment) while they try to get me to calm down. I find myself getting angry too and once shouted at my Mother during an attack and told her that I couldn't calm down and that I hoped she suffered one so she would know how hard it is to stay calm. This was when I wasn't thinking straight and I did feel ashamed and regretful after it passed.

[EdwardP]

Exactly Rick,

When you see someone fearing for you while you are having one your anxiety just goes right through the roof.

[JodieT]

I once had an awful one at the dentist and was really freaking out, running round the room clutching my chest as I was sure I was having a heart attack. The dentist didn't have a paper bag for me to blow in so I was handed a rubber glove which inflated with every breath - can you picture the scene? I die slowly everytime I think about what the poor woman and her assistant must have thought of me. It did the trick though and I went onto have an abscess drained - lovely!! Amazing what a rubber glove can do! I saw my therapist today who has said I must try and stay with my partner when I have a panic and let him help instead of running out of the room - I just feel such a fool and convince myself he thinks the same too!

[EdwardP]

That must have been terrible for you Jodie. I once had one in a packed room and started clutching my throat and bolted up from my chair and ran around screaming that I couldn't breathe. One woman came after me and told me to take deep breaths and I shouted back "I can't even breathe, how do you expect me to take small ones? The poor woman was shocked that I shouted at her. I eventually did calm down and apologized to her for my behavior.