Random waves of fear

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Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
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That I'm normal?

A bit of anxiety is also normal. I'm stressed out about the next couple of days but I have a reason to be... so meh. This thread explains ALOT about the forum though.

....... That's the whole point. You are "normal" and probably don't suffer from the issues described in this thread, you may not know what it's like. However, instead of trying to learn and understand what these "abnormal" people go through, you shit all over them and call them "a bunch of pussies".

What's being described by more than one person in this thread is not "a bit of anxiety." Some have even named their potential issues (e.g. "anxiety attack" or "panic attack", "general anxiety disorder").

Guess PTSD and depression don't exist either.
 
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Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
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Two panic attacks (from what I read) don't necessarily merit running and getting help though. If it were a chronic thing happening over several weeks or months, then yeah.

Being stressed/depressed/panicked is a good thing, it's really the only way you'll learn to deal with it. Just because you have something like this happen once, doesn't mean you need to rush and seek psychiatric care.

I'm actually in agreement that prescription drugs should be used with a lot of care... But there may be potential treatments from a psychologist that doesn't involve drugs. So, just going to see a professional to see what the problem is can still be a good idea.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
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You guys ever get shortness of breath or feel like your heart is pounding when this happens? I've always been a somewhat anxious person but mostly managed fine. But, lately every now and then I'll feel like I can't get enough air and feel very panicked. The first time it happened I really thought I was having a heart attack. It has only happened bad the one time, but that one time put a fear in me and I feel like sometimes it is about to come on and happen again, but never progresses to that level, but I still feel uneasy at the time.

Yep. I used to have panic attacks so bad that I would end up at the ER getting pumped full of vallium.

And the fear of it happening is the worst part. It sets off the fight or flight thing and your brain starts doing dumb shit.
 

Kushina

Golden Member
Nov 22, 2010
1,598
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Are there support groups I can attend for these types of things? I feel alot better when I talk to people about it and I can see the light at the end of this silly tunnel or actually I can see it two feet from where I stand and I can see how "silly" I'm being.

Or even if I'm just with people who arn't pressuring/judging. I think I just need to be out of my own head, getting away from work would be nice too if I wasn't a contractor.
 

Kushina

Golden Member
Nov 22, 2010
1,598
2
81
You don't know anxiety until you aren't sure if you took your anxiety pill.

:biggrin: That would definitely be me if I am taking medicine.

Yep. I used to have panic attacks so bad that I would end up at the ER getting pumped full of vallium.

And the fear of it happening is the worst part. It sets off the fight or flight thing and your brain starts doing dumb shit.

What is this fight or flight stuff? Everyone seems to be mentioning it alot.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,002
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Yep. I used to have panic attacks so bad that I would end up at the ER getting pumped full of vallium.

And the fear of it happening is the worst part. It sets off the fight or flight thing and your brain starts doing dumb shit.


That's reassuring. I am supposed to have a stress test, I can't get it out of the back of my mind that something may actually be wrong with me. But logically I keep telling myself that it's just anxiety. I can talk myself down somewhat, but as you say, the fear of it happening again when you feel the uneasiness coming on is the worst part. It makes it worse and I really have to talk myself out of it. But, it only progressed to that level once, hopefully never again.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
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That's reassuring. I am supposed to have a stress test, I can't get it out of the back of my mind that something may actually be wrong with me. But logically I keep telling myself that it's just anxiety. I can talk myself down somewhat, but as you say, the fear of it happening again when you feel the uneasiness coming on is the worst part. It makes it worse and I really have to talk myself out of it. But, it only progressed to that level once, hopefully never again.

Oh man...I remember getting stressed out about being afraid. One of the things that really helped me was knowing that the worst thing that could happen would be I would pass out. So I would just relax and wait to pass out. I never did but it got me to relax. The other thing that really, really helped was talking to someone. It gets the oxygen flowing and it keeps you from manually breathing.

Now I'm on Celexa and it controls my out of control serotonin levels. I never had the psychological part of anxiety. I just had really strong physical symptoms.
 

Nograts

Platinum Member
Dec 1, 2014
2,534
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Oh man...I remember getting stressed out about being afraid. One of the things that really helped me was knowing that the worst thing that could happen would be I would pass out. So I would just relax and wait to pass out. I never did but it got me to relax. The other thing that really, really helped was talking to someone. It gets the oxygen flowing and it keeps you from manually breathing.

Now I'm on Celexa and it controls my out of control serotonin levels. I never had the psychological part of anxiety. I just had really strong physical symptoms.

This one time I was walking around and my friend stepped on a bomb and it tore his arm and leg off and put a nice hole right in the back of his head so you could see his eyeballs through the back of the head, and then a rock went through my other friends head from the bomb but he still had his limbs attached, and it ripped the face off another friend and he got thrown into a river. Then we went to go get my friends bodies but then another bomb went off and it tore my other friend in half vertically so his face was like soup with floating eyeballs and then my other friend had his arms AND legs blown off but his face was okay and he was the only one with his eyes open. So we started to get them too and another bomb went off but nobody was hurt but I was thrown back a bit, and then we ran and ran and ran some more. And I was pretty anxious but then everything was okay so I didn't get anxiety from it. I just convinced myself that 14 year olds in the middle ages probably had it a lot worse than me and that seemed to help a lot.

True story bro.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
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Anxiety and panic attack.

"This too shall pass." is a good mantra to repeat during these times.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
Anxiety and panic attack.

"This too shall pass." is a good mantra to repeat during these times.

Because why not:

Another interesting thing is your brain can only process one feeling at a time. So if you feel a panic attack coming on, jerk off. Or punch something. Or tell someone you love them. Or eat something really sweet.

Its a really weird trick that messes with your brain. Stupid brain.
 

Nograts

Platinum Member
Dec 1, 2014
2,534
3
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Because why not:

Another interesting thing is your brain can only process one feeling at a time. So if you feel a panic attack coming on, jerk off. Or punch something. Or tell someone you love them. Or eat something really sweet.

Its a really weird trick that messes with your brain. Stupid brain.

If you won the powerball and then I sprint-punted you in the nads what would you feel?
 

mizzou

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2008
9,734
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91
anxiety and panic attacks can happen to ANYONE.

My only advice to you, if you have panic attacks/anxiety, is to understand a few key things:

#1: You can never die from a panic attack
#2: You cannot control a panic attack
#3: You need to resolve the causes of stress that lead to the panic attack
#4: Don't worry, you are not crazy!
 

HTFOff

Golden Member
Oct 3, 2013
1,292
56
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What is this fight or flight stuff? Everyone seems to be mentioning it alot.

Your brain goes in to doom mode. It's like your head is on fire, you've been pushed out of a plane and a bear is eating you alive in mid air - all at once.

I had my first debilitating panic attack in january. It lasted for hours.

Xanax is a miracle and should only be used very sparingly. (emergency only).
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,662
13,834
126
www.anyf.ca
Reminds me of sleep paralysis, it's the weirdest thing. You'll be lying in bed but not really sleeping but kinda half sleeping, but you can't move, and there is this feeling of impeding doom. You try to snap out of it because you don't want it to happen but it's hard. Eventually do manage then you're fully awake and kinda don't want to try to fall asleep for a little while. It's almost like in a horror movies when the music starts to ramp up and you know something is about to pop up.

The weirder ones are when you see stuff, like someone standing in your room or something. The weird part is when it's that vivid it's not as scary as it sounds at that moment. It's after you fully wake from it and realize what just happened, where it's freaky.

Been a while since it happened to me actually. It's not really something that happens regularly to me but I get it once in a while. Some people get it all the time. A step up from that is night terrors. That seriously has to suck. Was watching a documentary on that once, people go completely insane from that. Basically scared to even go to bed, and never really get proper sleep, which just makes it worse and worse.
 

PlanetJosh

Golden Member
May 6, 2013
1,814
143
106
An hour or two? I hope they never last that long for me. Mine are seldom and only for a few seconds. I consider that lucky.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
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An hour or two? I hope they never last that long for me. Mine are seldom and only for a few seconds. I consider that lucky.

Its the vicious cycle:

Something sets you off
Your brain goes stupid and starts panicking
Your body responds to your brain
You brain sees your body responding (heart rate, faster breathing) and starts thinking something is wrong
Body responds even more because brain is telling it something is wrong


I meant it when I said I ended up in the ER. Literally the only thing they could do was pump me full of vallium (through an IV, none of that pill stuff) until I went nuh nite.