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What Does Your Anxiety/panic Attacks Look And Feel Like?

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FindingMyself88

MyPTSD Pro
I've been thinking a lot lately about the differences between anxiety and panic attacks and how they are different for everyone. I have both and they seem to come with different levels. The worst are when I'm at work or in class.

Normally I have general anxiety over getting through the day (made worse with depression). This normally looks like me either isolating myself or being zoned out.

A full anxiety attack normally happens at work or class. I work at Chick Fil A and right now at work we are in the holiday season and it is hectic! This past March they promoted me to manager and a lot of the older employees who had been there longer did not like this to say the least! So I have had some huge hurdles to overcome with that. I have a very low self-esteem and so often time when pressure is put on, it causes great anxiety.

For example, last night was really bad. It didn't help that I had group DBT therapy before going into work and the therapist overseeing the group wants me to work on telling my dad what is going on and that I need some space. Then I get to work 15 minutes early from what I had been told was my scheduled time, but my boss tells me I was suppose to be at work an hour ago (which is when i was still in therapy)! A new director is making our schedules now and I told him specifically that on Tuesdays I couldn't work until after 6. Come to find out my boss had read the schedule wrong, but by this time I was already upset. Normally when regular anxiety attacks happen, no one can tell something is wrong unless they really know me or its a bad attack. I feel like there is a a metal grip on my lungs and i get very frustrated and disoriented. If they start to get too bad, I will excuse myself and go to the bathroom to calm down.

I typically only get panic attacks when I have flashbacks, nightmares, or someone says or does something that triggers me. For instance, my roommate was helping me dye my hair last month and when i was rinsing it out, she came in and saw I was missing a spot. She decided to step in and help and before I knew it she had grabbed the nozzle and started rinsing my head. It lasted only about 5 seconds before I began freaking out. My mom use to hold my head in the sink or shower and spray the water all over, not caring if it went in my eyes and nose which almost choked me. If I resisted, she would pull my hair or hit me with the nozzle. Thankfully my roommate let me go and I ran and got into my safety corner in my room, which is between my bed and the wall. I couldn't breathe properly, was crying insanely, and trembling. She has panic attacks herself, so she knew just to leave me alone.

I also have nightmares every night, well more like flashback nightmares. I wake up from these in the same state and end up either going outside or in the corner by my bed…

anyways, can any of you tell the differences? I use to think that I didn't really have anxiety until my therapist told me that I did..
 
I often wonder if people are describing different phenomena when speaking of these things. Other times I wonder if we are using radically different words to describe identical phenomena.

In my mind, panic and anxiety are distinctly different. A panic attack is an inflated version of what I feel when I am spooked by an unexpected event or presence. In a full-blown panic attack, folks I trust say I look downright dangerous; that I look like somebody's gonna get hurt and I won't be able to stop myself.

What I call anxiety feels like an electrical pulse originating from my solar plexus. Sometimes that pulsing can radiate throughout my entire body. When I am lost in that pulse -and its repetitive thoughts- those folks I trust say it looks like I am not even there.

In my mind. Also in my mind is that uncertainty of what, exactly, I am describing.
 
I'm not sure I can really help with distinguishing the difference for you but I can share my experience. I have problems with anxiety and would say that occasionally I have anxiety attacks but I don't believe I experience what I think of when I think of a panic attack. In general, I often have significant anxiety but am able to cope with it in a way that most people around me are completely unaware. There are times when my anxiety is increased, and it changes the way I am able to interact or be around others...I think of those as anxiety attacks. I don't think of myself as ever having something that is as severe as what I consider panic attacks. However, there have been a couple of times when I have been having a difficult time and would consider it an anxiety attack when a doctor or therapist who was present to witness at least part of it has insisted it was a panic attack. That just freaked me out and made things worse. I'm not sure why I'm so resistant to the idea that it is a panic attack...don't know if I'm attempting to minimize my symptoms or if it is all just a matter of semantics.
 
My panic attacks seem to come devoid of emotion. They feel like someone is squeezing my heart and I can't breathe. It physically hurts and my vision can cloud over and I get signficantly dizzy if it gets really bad.
 
When I have had a panic attack I speed up, my mind races, get ratty, physically race around in circles and get no-where, per se', start feeling guilty and then start to feel anxious.

When I have had an anxiety attack. My stomach knots up, instantly get heart burn, feel tight all over, have pretend heart attacks, my mind becomes foggy, lose my decision making skills, become paranoid, become e-rational and then go and visit psychosis for bit.

With the panic attacks, I found them short lasting and easier to control! The anxiety attacks can last for... How long is a piece of string? If I ride the emotion out and let it hurt, it takes me less time to calm down.
 
Fewer and further between these days but a panic attack for me is like regressing to a young state and feeling like I need help, sometimes even to get home. Not too long ago, waiting for a bus that didn’t turn up I felt panicked and suddenly found my mind racing with thoughts of who could come and get me.

A full on anxiety attack would cause me to dissociate which in turn could cause a stronger part of me to take over the situation. I cope through negotiation, co-operation, and compromise with myself.

Panic and anxiety in a stressful situation begins with an irritating cough and the feeling like I'm about to have an asthma attack. Closing my mouth and breathing slowly in and out through my nose helps. As does counting numbers in my head - distraction helps - most of the time.
 
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