Even someone nottalking to me at the moment can cause me to panic, feel threatened, feel doom, etc.

I think it's an instantaneous process of asking ourselves a question (what is happening) and providing the answer based on something besides reality - we answer based on history and on our strongest fears. I think it happens so fast we are completely unaware of it, yet it produces the reaction we have that seems to come from true feelings.

It's late for me. I have no idea if that made sense.