Can a movie bring on an attack?

[JavaJoy01]

I was panic attack free for about 2 months up until yesterday. I went with my husband to see Transformers, which was loud, had spinning and lots of motion. I was able to sit through most of the movie but I always felt like my body was jumping. Then I got a pain in my right eye. Once that started, my legs got warm and weak. I felt sick and had to leave the theater. Once I exited I paced in the lobby and it passed. I'm curious if all the motion and spinning in the movie could have brought it on (I'm thinking how a pulsating light can set off a seizure). It was either the movie or the pain in my eye set off my health anxiety. I was fine the rest of the day. Went home took my xannex and went to a car show. I had a slight headache and still have one, but for the most part I am fine.

Any ideas?

[charlotte83]

Panic attacks can happen in almost any situation really and sometimes the slightest thing can set them off that doesn't even seem that connected. It may well have been the noise and lights in the movie that set it off. I wouldn't worry too much, main thing is you got through it :)

[mabelina]

I can definitely relate. Many times ive been watching a film in the cinema and the noise makes me panic. Im the same with loud music but mainly just the beat of it. Weired huh?:shrug:

[Rachel424]

Noise causes me to have terrible anxiety attacks, especially thumping music. I never go to nightclubs, but sometimes go to the cinema, and I find the noise too much sometimes and it makes me jump. I prefer to watch films at home where I am in control of the volume!:)

[Gryphoenix]

I think it's being overstimulated, and that can set us off, perhaps. Maybe when there's too much going on, our brain starts to go "Wait a sec! Stop it!" But that's just what I think, lol.

When it's a movie I really want to watch, I just muscle through the panic and ignore it, lol. When watching Star Trek I nearly panicked through the Transformers trailer, so when I actually watched Transformers I thought I would panic but I didn't, and I really enjoyed the movie! (And I was only a few seats away from the screen so talk about over stimulation, lol)

What I do when I start to feel overwhelmed by a movie (I get dizzy, or I feel like my eyes are going weird and I can't take the movement and lights anymore), is I take a moment to close my eyes (and cover my ears if it's too loud) and just have a moment to calm myself.

[Stressed32]

Sometimes when I watch movies I get too into them and my anxiety starts. I watched that moving Knowing the other night and had to pause and take a break to stop my heart from beating out of my chest. Sometimes when I watch movies, I forget they are a movie and they really have an effect on my heart and thinking. Now I know this, so I don't let it control me.