[peaches100]

About 4 times this past year, I've been struck with a sudden, awful sense of dread and fear. It always happens in the morning. It usually strikes when I am in the bathroom blow drying my hair, or when I am getting dressed in the bedroom, although this past time, it happened when I was driving to work in the morning.

What happens is that I suddenly have a weird deja-vu feeling, as though I am remembering something scary from my past, but I don't know what. There is just the sense of horrible fear and a thought like "I've felt this before" or "This has happened before." My heart starts pounding, I feel sort of dizzy and sick, and I have to sit down because I have a feeling of unreality. It usually passes within a couple of minutes, but it is so scary not knowing why this happens or what it could mean.

Does anybody have any insight about what this is? Is it a panic attack? Some kind of memory trying to come up?

Any thoughts are welcome.

[internettie]

I've had this happen before myself. I think for me it was a repressed memory. The situation I was in was similar to one a long time ago and it just flipped a switch that caused the panic/anxiety. I removed myself from the situation and tried to do some deep breathing and relaxation to help me to get through it. It feels horrible at the time because it seems to come out of nowhere. So sorry you are going through this. I can relate and I feel for you.

[avlady]

i also get deja vous every single day alot everyday too. it's not scarry but i can't even explain the way it feels, I'm not scared just flabergasted and overwhelmed. Sometimes I even like it if it is happening in a good situation, sometimes when my husband talks to me and what he is saying and i have one it is just plain irritating and I wait for it to go away.

[LavenderFruitNinja]

This happens to me sometimes, too. It usually appears when I'm in an area that resembles a scary experience. For example, every time I see an enclosed space with a dark corner, I start feeling scared and backing away stammering, feeling dread and thinking that a hole would appear, spiders would crawl out, and I'd be dead. After a few minutes it does pass, thankfully, but it is still an uncomfortable experience. I just try to distance myself from the trigger as much as I can, trying to control yourself enough to sing or hum something ususally helps. Closing your eyes and trying to shut off your imagination, though it is hard.