Thanks

I dunno, I've had this kind of thing before and not had anything I was anxious about coming up on the horizon. Still, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced this. I don't usually get to bed until sometime between 3 and 5 AM (no, really) because my dad gets in from work late and I have to wait for him to get back in case he accidentally lets the cat out (I adore my cat, and there are ravenous foxes round here that have been known to eat them in the colder months, as well as gangs of teens who shoot them with air rifles, and of course the usual traffic hazards). Maybe that has something to do with it.

I just realised (thanks to this site) that a lot of what I described sounds consistent with a panic attack. The thing is, though, it didn't feel like panic as such. More like extreme exhaustion and despair. I was anxious and worried, of course - I was worried that I was losing my marbles - but I wouldn't describe it as panic, just overwhelming fatigue, physical weakness and faintness, as well as the extremely unnerving feeling of being disconnected from my body and from reality. Would this still count as a panic attack?

I just can't understand it all. A few months ago I was a relatively happy, confident, well-adjusted teenager. Heck, I even studied psychology for a year in college (though not in nearly enough detail to self-diagnose myself, of course).
I wanted to learn Japanese and travel the world. I wanted to join the Air Force, then maybe go into journalism or the computer industry. I wanted to live. Then suddenly, while I was in Islington with a friend last October, I suddenly felt like I was going mad, like I was overwhelmed with despair and worry, like I was losing touch with myself or reality, and I haven't felt the same since then. What the heck has happened to me?

MrPants (Ben)