flashback? nightmares?

Hi...I'm brand new here, but strange things have been happening to me and I'm hoping I'm not going crazy. For about a week now I've been waking up at night heart racing, feeling like I can't breathe. I also seem to not know where I am, or anything else. I don't really remember the episodes, either. My friend just says that she has to tell me where I am and kind of help me calm down. She says that it sometimes takes 30 minutes for me to get back to not being so panicked and knowing where I am. What is going on? Has this ever happened to any of you before? I am so afraid I'm going crazy...There is a lot going on in my life right now, but it seems strange that stuff from my past relationship with my dad would be bothering me like this. Thanks for anything you can offer.

High levels of stress can cause higher degrees of symptoms in mental disorders. Try using some relaxation techniques and time management techniques. Don't worry about going crazy it is not as bad as it seems. If things don't improve real soon see someone about it. Heck maybe you should see someone even if things get better. It is helpful to have a professional give you advice on how to cope with the past in healthy ways.
Zen<font color=blue>

Progress is nothing but the victory of laughter over dogma.--Benjamin De Casseres

Sorry to hear you are having these troubling symptoms. I know it can feel like you are going up the wall-I have often thought it about myself. When symptoms come on so fast and what was normal life for you is interupted it is scary and feels like everything is uncertain and awry. Hope I make sense. I think it's important you get help from a mental health worker who is in the field of PTSD so you can get more answers and relief. They often have support groups with others who are going through the same things and it can be relieving to be with others offline too who know what it's like. I, too, have PTSD for the longhaul. With good help and support you can get a lot of relief. I now understand better what is going on with me when I have the nightmares and flash backs, and numb and other related feelings. I take medicine now that provides some relief and surely takes the edge off so I can not feel so overwhelmed all the time like I did for so long-I suffered for a long time and did not get help right away. To understand PTSD, too, has taken away a lot of the fear of what is going on with me. There are also a lot of good books available on it. Best wishes to you.

<font color=purple>Peace to you.</font color=purple>

Me Very Sorry too

not crazy, but sounds like a normal reaction to trauma...if that is what you are referring to when you wrote "stuff from my past relationship with my dad." seems like your body is trying to work through the pain you've kept hidden inside of you. what do you think?

<font color=purple> Man can will nothing unless he has first understood that he must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth. Jean-Paul Sartre </font color=purple>

sounds like 'night-terrors'---triggered by stress. it often just goes away.
talk therapy on issues with your father should help. it's a form of panic and often doesn't show up until we're older. i know it's very hard to handle when it hits, but i found tranquilizers a bigger ultimate problem---so i'd sure try cognitive, not drugs. but that's me. good luck and be carefull with meds if you choose that route.

pirate