[mvanessa1]

Has anyone had panic attacks as a response to a death? I have and it become uncontroble. I don't understand why.

[FourEyesAK]

Was the death unexpected?

After my father passed away unexpectedly several years ago of a heart attack and I started having panic attacks and having a high degree of anxiety when I thought about death and all the ways I could just up and die with no warning. I also developed a phobia of flying, which I strongly associate with death (even though my dad didn't die in an airplane, go figure). The panic attacks went away with therapy and time, but I still carry quite a bit of anxiety around with me especially about death. Death, for the most part, is out of our control and is a lot of times unpredictable. It took me a long time to accept that it is out of my control and I think it helps me to know that death comes to everyone and it's important to live my life fully because you just don't know.

It still causes me some anxiety, but I don't lose sleep over it anymore either. It may definitely be part of your grief process, but it may help to talk to a therapist and maybe get something to help with the panic attacks.

[CosmicRose]

I think grief can definitely cause anxiety or panic attacks. I'm so close with my dad that even just imagining his death has literally caused me to have a panic attack before where I started crying and everything. Grief is a very strong thing and it takes time to be worked through. Grief has many stages and the feeling changes over time. It is very normal to feel anxiety or panic after losing a loved one. It also really shows how much you loved that person or how much they mean to you. Death freaks me out and some days it really gets to me. I was just talking to my friend today about feeling weird all day after I watched a show about the morgue. So just know that what you are feeling right now is very normal, and give yourself the time to ride out the grief and love yourself and take the time to nurture you right now.