Panic Attacks

I'm just wondering if anyone here who has panic attacks has feelings like everything is fake around them? A good example would be, I can stand in a crowd and all of a sudden everything seems surreal. Does anyone else experience this? I'm trying to figure out if this is part of my anxiety.

I feel like that all the time. It is called derealization.

I have never told my P Doc about this should I? You know my meds have made me feel like myself, but today I was reading other forms about the dissociation, and I'm thinking this is somewhat me, but different. What do you do when this happens to you?

Yes... all the time, unless I am taking my happy meds. You are not alone sweetie

You should tell your P Doc about this. I have yet to figure out how to deal with it myself....

do you have derealization too?

JerryMichele...

I agree that this definitely sounds like derealization. I get this too. It would be a good idea to talk to you Pdoc/T about it and just let them know what you are experiencing.

Some tricks that I have learned from T and practice is, when I start to get the feeling that things around me are surreal, I do some grounding activities in my head. They are pretty easy to do, you just have to remember to do them when it's happening and do your best to stay focused.

Example.....one day I was standing on my street and the house across the way just looked fake. My head was telling me that it wasn't real. It didn't feel real. It felt like I could walk up to it and it would just be a big piece of paper that I could rip down and that it didn't really exist. What I did....I walked up to the house and touched it. I thought about what the house felt like. I thought to myself....the siding of the house is cool to the touch. The texture of the siding is rough. The siding is hard. If I knock on it it makes a thumping sound. And then I moved on to something else, like the railing of the porch. It was made of metal...and again, I touched it and I really acknowledged what it felt/sounded like. After doing this for a minute or two, that perception of "this is not real" started to fade and I began to feel better.

I told my T about the experience and she said that I did exactly what I should have done. I told her that I felt weird touching somebody elses house and I was afraid I was going to freak my neighbors out. She said "so what....what business is it of theirs? If they ask, just tell them you were just looking at material for an art project or something." She said the most important thing to do when you begin to feel this way is to challenge those perceptions with your senses.

I hope this helps.

No... just extreme panic and axioty... combimed with PSTD... when I am alone I am totally fine if someone else is home... just can't deal at all being alone.... Anycase... clad you are here...

I left a message with my P DOC so I'm sure she will call back. You know I think that I've had this crap almost my whole entire life. I remember having these feelings when I was a young girl. Really strange. Something else that happens to me is that when I have these episodes I get these terrible migraines. Anyone else have this also?

I know those stupid feelings suck. I hope that your meds are starting to work. My meds took about a month to kick in, but now I'm good.

I have tried this but it never works for me....I keep trying to tell myself things are real and my mind keeps fighting back saying not real not real

jerrymichele:

Thank you for this post. I 've never thought of doing that. I have used some breathing exercises, tapping my face, snapping my wrist with a rubber band etc. to get things back into perspective. But this is new. Always open to new...

[quote=Elysium3006;1066896]

oops my bad, thanks should have gone to Elysium3006. My apologies.

But JerryM without your question I would never have learned this new technique

I do, especially in stores and restaurants. I'll just be standing, and everything will just seem...different, I guess. It's hard to describe for me, but I know exactly what you're talking about. With me, I'll be in a restaurant or somewhere, and I'll become aware of everyone else around me and their conversations. It makes me feel like someone I know is there, and I'll be embarrassed if I see them

Suec we are all to help one another. no apologies needed.

Do you feel like they are not real? That is how I feel 24/7, including that I am not real (depersonalized) disconnected...

I hope that you are on meds. Anxiety really, really sucks. I am on paxil. Since I have been on this I am pretty much symptom free. I actually feel like me. I know what your talking about when your out somewhere and you feel like your having a panic attack right in front of everyone. You know it is really sad that people who don't have a mental disorder want to call people CRAZY when they do have one. Well my mom's side of the family has done this to me. My friends see nothing wrong with me. I don't have anything to do with them anymore because of this, along with other things that I could write a book on. You just can't worry about what people think about you. If someone makes you upset all the time, you might need to reevaluate the relationship with them. Just look at it like this, when someone judges you that person probably has something wrong with them too! My daughter has anxiety, and I don't think she will take meds because she doesn't want to be labeled CRAZY. Anywase next time you have a panic attack try to take 5 deep breaths in, and 5 back out counting to 5. I had to do this until I was adjusted to my meds. Keep posting.

Thank you I don't really know if my anxiety is bad enough to be on meds. My biggest problem when I'm at school, especially, is sweating a lot. My panic attacks are less severe, but it still sucks God, I'm so afraid of going back to my old school this fall because of the anxiety. Do you think this sounds bad enough to be on medication?

No, I just get this strange feeling, like surreal almost. I don't think it's that bad, though. I'm just nervous a lot when I'm at school.

No .. not really.. just extreme fear... that makes me totally unfunctional

IMO if your having panic attacks just thinking about it, then I would at least go to the Dr. From the way your talking then it is a possibility that you need meds. If it's just your school maybe you just have some type of fear about it. If your having anxiety every where you go then I would say that you do need meds. Some people only need meds for a little bit of time, then they're fine. If you don't mind me asking what happened at your school? Something has happened to you to have these feelings. If it is to hard to talk about I understand. I'm just now able to start talking about some of my fears because it would trigger me, and I don't want you to be in pain. You can pm me if you would like. k

Otherlifegirl I can see that your in a lot of pain. Have you been to your Dr. lately? If your meds aren't working good for you then it's time to go back to the Dr. We all want you to feel better.

Thanks I do meet a psychiatrist in August. I don't know for sure if just thinking about it gives me the panic attacks, but I've been noticing it more frequently lately. I mean, it's mild. I don't even have one every time I'm in public, but a certain restaurant that always has a large amount of people in it will usually set it off.

I don't get to see my psych. again until the 27th of July. He is available by phone though. I called him yesterday and he said to up my Seroquel another 1/2 tab and see how that goes.

I hope that you took the other half. I know that this is so painful for you, but we are here for you.