Panic Attacks?

Question

they started in high school. this sounds weird but i would be walking down the hall of school and if i was walking directly in front of someone i start to panic and feel like i was going to faint. it was really embarassing. every time i'd go to school it would be a battle to not panic and die. everytime i turned the corner i would be so scared and shaky that another one would come. they are the weirdest feeling too because your body feels really shaky and weak and like you are going to faint and you have no control. now im in college and they have gotten better but i think it was just because i was in a closed in area in high school and now college is walking outside so its not as nerve wracking and claustrophobic. but i feel like if i go somewhere thats closed in i might get the attacks again like a mall for instance. i feel like the attacks are triggered by people being around me and i get them when people are walking towards me its weird..any suggestions

Answer 1

No you have a form of claustrophobia and your panic attacks are pretty severe--I too suffer from them and I am on medication.

Please make an appointment with your family doctor ASAP. Explain everything like you did above, and I'm sure he will give you medication to help but he also should refer you to a therapist so that you can learn to "deal" with some of your triggers- like crowds of people. See your local college nurse since you probably are away from home- she can then refer you to an MD that is local to help you with the medication need. But you really need a therapist too because there are techniques you must learn to deal with your phobia and make it less excessive-- between the therapy and the meds you will be fine...promise...I still don't like elevators though......

Answer 2

I had panic attacks periodically from the age of 15 to 60. I noticed that I was better when I was doing something I really enjoyed, especially when I managed a day and residential program for mentally ill/mentally delayed senior citizens for ten years. It was a passion for me and kept me too busy to even think about being nervous. Then I retired due to rheumatoid arthritis and found too much time on my hands. The panic attacks came back with a vengance. Four and a half years ago, my doctor prescribed Paxil and Xanax. I've not had a panic attack since.
There is help out there and I hope you find it because living with panic attacks is awful!

Answer 3

This happened to me when I started my first job, same symptoms you described. Mine, I think were caused by fear of not being able to take care of all mt customers (I was a waitress) I also HAD to go out side and get some air, like everything was closing in. They went away after I got use to the job, a month or so, I think. They came back about 5 years later when two airplanes in Cerritos California collided with one another. I would wake up in the middle of the night when I heard jet airliners flying overhead. I thought that planes were going to crash and kill my family and I,due to the heavy air traffic in Southern Ca., They went on for about a year and when I moved from So. Cal to No. Ca they went away when there were no more planes overhead to worry about! Maybe some medication, a valium to help calm you.

Answer 4

This might help you in understanding your problem as per WHO:

CD-10 Criteria

The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1992

F43.0 Acute Stress Reaction

A transient disorder of significant severity which develops in an individual without any other apparent mental disorder in response to exceptional physical and/or mental stress and which usually subsides within hours or days. The stressor may be an overwhelming traumatic experience involving serious threat to the security or physical integrity of the individual or of a loved person(s) (e.g. natural catastrophe, accident, battle, criminal assault, rape), or an unusually sudden and threatening change in the social position and/or network of the individual, such as multiple bereavement or domestic fire. The risk of this disorder developing is increased if physical exhaustion or organic factors (e.g. in the elderly) are also present.

Individual vulnerability and coping capacity play a role in the occurrence and severity of acute stress reactions, as evidenced by the fact that not all people exposed to exceptional stress develop this disorder. The symptoms show great variation but typically they include an initial state of "daze", with some constriction of the field of consciousness and narrowing of attention, inability to comprehend stimuli, and disorientation. This state may be followed either by further withdrawal from the surrounding situation (to the extent of a dissociative stupor), or by agitation and overactivity (flight reaction of fugue). Autonomic signs of panic anxiety (tachycardia, sweating, flushing) are commonly present. The symptoms usually appear within minutes of the impact of the stressful stimulus or event, and disappear within 2-3 days (often within hours). Partial or complete amnesia for the episode may be present.

Diagnostic Guidelines

There must be an immediate and clear temporal connection between the impact of an exceptional stressor and the onset of symptoms; onset is usually within a few minutes, if not immediate. In addition, the symptoms:

1. show a mixed and usually changing picture; in addition to the initial state of "daze", depression, anxiety, anger, despair, overactivity, and withdrawal may all be seen, but no one type of symptom predominates for long;
2. resolve rapidly (within a few hours at the most) in those cases where removal from the stressful environment is possible; in cases where the stress continues or cannot by its nature be reversed, the symptoms usually begin to diminish after 24-48 hours and are usually minimal after about 3 days.

This diagnosis should not be used to cover sudden exacerbations of symptoms in individuals already showing symptoms that fulfil the criteria of any other psychiatric disorder, except for those in F60 (personality disorders). However, a history of previous psychiatric disorder does not invalidate the use of this diagnosis.

Includes:

* acute crisis reaction
* combat fatigue
* crisis state
* psychic shock

Answer 5

I also suffered panic attacks, but in different way. I am very scared of death. Every time I think about it, I chill and my blood presure rise-up, and I feel the symptoms of heart attact and stroke. and I have to go to the hospital.Sometimes I experience it untill now. I undergo psychiatric treatment for three years, but to no avail. What makes me well? Daily jogging, one to two hours everyday.

Answer 6

Try to think of something when you see someone walking your way. The closed places go and face your fear if it still does it after awhile go see a doter. for really my mom has panic attacks sometime. The first time i had to take to the hospital so get something seen about it, if facing your fear don't work...

Answer 7

Hello, I hope the link below will help you..I was just studying this subject here at my office / half the clients I work with have this disorder. You can get through this...think positive...we are all here for you!


http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/tc/Panic-Attacks-and-Panic-Disorder-Topic-Overview