Panic Attacks

SeñorAmor

What causes them? Are there any common causes?

This evening, I've had a half dozen cases of déjà vu followed immediately by a short panic/anxiety attack. They seem to be triggered by random events (my mom talking to me on the phone, my son asking me to carry his blanket, an episode of Modern Family), and it's unbelievably disturbing. I get tightness in my chest and a terrible feeling of panic/dread and I just want to get into the fetal position until I calm down (I've done it a few times already).

What the hell is wrong with me?

Wassermelone

First off, see a doctor. If it IS panic/anxiety attacks then nothing is wrong with you.

Panic/anxiety attacks are incredibly common and don't always have to have a rhyme or reason to when they hit. Obviously heavy amounts of stress is a big trigger but I've also had panic attacks when doing something really really innocuous. Again, see a doctor, they might prescribe you something that will help.

cabsy

For me it can range from impending schoolwork to health problems to something as small as my fiance doing something unimportant but unexpected like getting out of work a little early. It's not necessarily a super stressful trigger so much as sometimes anything can flip the switch on your underlying anxiety. If it's a new problem a general doctor can be helpful in giving you help or you may want to see a therapist or if you can afford to, both.

Frei

You might want to try to work out if those small things you mentioned are tied to any other events in any way. Mindfulness is pretty important when you're dealing with clinical anxiety, also. But yeah, pretty much everyone will say that there isn't anything wrong with you and it'd help to see a mental health professional to talk about stuff. They'd likely also prescribe you some sort of benzo for extreme panic attacks but I'd recommend only taking those if you absolutely must.

humblebumble

I still get panic attacks, but not as bad as when I was a kid. I didn't seek treatment from a psychiatrist until I was a sophomore in high school - couldn't sleep and would get panic attacks during class. Once I got the proper med combo, I stopped having panic attacks as frequently.

The problem with having a panic attack is that you feel that something is wrong with you or rather someone else will see that there's something wrong with you. I'm guessing that you feel what's known as dissociation, which is when you feel like you're not in control of your body - like you're floating outside of your body watching someone else control your body's movements and thoughts. This weird feeling causes you to believe that there's something seriously wrong with you which causes your heart to race. You feel a sense of doom, and you're not sure why.

It seems that you're too focused on your body or maybe you have some anxiety or OCD that's somehow related to panic attacks.

I definitely think you should see a psychiatrist.

ihmmy

There's almost always a reason behind a panic attack. It may not be a logical or reasonable thought, but it's there. for me, it's almost always linked to worry about disappointing my family. Your instances all reference family in some way, so perhaps there's some linkage there.

Long-term: find a good counselor, talk to them, find the source and ways to manage.
Short-term: deep breathing, yoga. Some people find it best to distract themselves from whatever was bothering them (music, dancing, video games, reading), others have to un-knot what caused the episode and logic themselves out of it (I started with distraction but now only unknotting works)

See a doctor if they continue to bother you regularly, but if they're rare for you other than the one night of disaster, you may not need medication. There's also a wide variety of options when it comes to meds for anxiety - some treat it only when it pops up (I think Xanax and Valium fall under this grouping), others are taken daily to provide a better base rate to start from (SSRI's like paxil, which I'm on!) I also have a prescription for propranalol, a beta blocker which mildly helps with panic attacks when they flare up (I haven't had a full fledged attack since I started on paxil, but I'd fought with them for a decade before trying medication)

SeñorAmor

Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

It's been smooth sailing since the initial attacks, so I think it was just a freak occurrence. I suspect the deja vu just really freaked me out after a hectic weekend. If it recurs, I'll consider seeing a doctor, but for now, I think I'm fine.

Thanks again.

Lankysean

SeñorAmor wrote: »

Thanks, everyone, for the advice.

It's been smooth sailing since the initial attacks, so I think it was just a freak occurrence. I suspect the deja vu just really freaked me out after a hectic weekend. If it recurs, I'll consider seeing a doctor, but for now, I think I'm fine.

Thanks again.

I saw a doctor about my panic attacks and he told me something that really helps... the longest a panic attack will generally last is 20 minutes (they can last longer but it's not common). So whenever a panic attack rears its ugly head I do my best to keep my eye on the clock and sure enough they always subside before the minute mark... now is it because I'm trying to concentrate on the time or because of biology? I have no idea.

Rderdall

I used to get them quite a bit, and I wrote up my experience here for someone else who posted about having them a couple of weeks ago.

Creagan

It could be a reaction to a generally stressful life style. A couple of years ago, I was taking an incredibly heavy course-load at college (18 papers in 10 weeks, plus regular homework.) I got about 4 hours of sleep a night on average. That on top of my usually high level of anxiety lead to rolling panic attacks throughout the day. Heart palpitations, racing heartbeat, phantom choking-syndrome, trouble swallowing, loss of appetite, shaking, chills, nausea, and constant headaches during finals week.

Those things happened seemingly at random, because I wouldn't be don't anything specifically to stress me out, but I had an incredibly stressful life-style. Reducing my stress level has really helped stop a lot of those things.

The important thing though is not to just write this off & ignore it. Pretending it's not an issue will make it worse & leave you blindsided with anxiety when stressful life shit happens.