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What does an anxiety attack feel like?

I have a friend who gets them often, and she has to leave the room and walk around for a while until it lessens. I always let her do what she needs to do and encourage her, but what is it like? What is going through her head? I want to understand her problem better. Do any of you have experiences with those?
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I suggest leaving her be, and not talking to her until after she's calmed down.
Americsson1776 posted over a year ago
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Try this- link
8theGreat posted over a year ago
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I agree with Americsson
Riku114 posted over a year ago
 shadowlover3000 posted over a year ago
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8theGreat said:
I have frequent anxiety attacks myself.
It can be a bit hard to explain to people who don't go through the same thing, but in short, it's fear. Pure unadulterated fear.

It's what I imagine drowning would be like. That same panic, that same sense of urgency.
Or like... you're about to be robbed, or drive your car head on into a tree. That same gut-wrenching, overwhelming fear.

Like... take anything you've ever been anxious or nervous about, but amplify that dozens of times over, and prolong the feeling.

It's like you think whatever problem you're facing is going to kill you. Not to say that during an anxiety attack you actually think the thing you're worried about it going to kill you, but it's that same sort of fear.

There's a lot to it, and I'm probably not explaining it very well, but in essence it's an extreme, uncontrollable fear that takes over you and stops you from functioning.

I don't know what's going through her head, because I imagine that it's different for everyone that experiences it. For me, it's like constant noise, and I'm thinking thousands of things at once, but all of those thoughts are screaming at me and I have to pay attention to every single one of them. It's like one giant, internalised scream that I can't let out. (It looks and sounds quite a bit like link for me, to be honest, particularly midway through it and at the end) It's like I'm the sole soldier against an army of terrible dragons, but those dragões are invincible and I'm screwed, and even the most reasonable things get twisted into knots and contribute to it. It's like nothing but my fear is real... like maybe I'm not real, too. And all I want to do is run away, go somwhere else and just stop. But you can't run away, because you can't escape yourself. (this is just me, though, it might not be the same for everyone)
It usually gets better when I cry, or if I talk about it with someone, or if I get pissed off and scream enough, or if I'm alone for a while depending on the situation at hand.

But it could be totally different for her, though the idea of an entirely helpless feeling is pretty much universal to my understanding.

I don't know how she copes with it, but if leaving the room and walking around is her way of coping it, that's what she needs to do, and it's best to let her do it. If she needs to talk, let her talk- listen, and don't interupt If she doesn't want to talk about it, don't make her.
Honestly, it boils down to her own coping mechanisms.
Just realise that she's fighting a monster that can't really be fought, and in that moment she's entirely within her own head.

TLDR; It's confusion. It's fear. It's helplessness. It's pain. You can't breathe, and you're entirely helpless to it. The best thing to do is let her cope on her own unless she asks you otherwise.
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posted over a year ago 
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I understand you, and it sounds awful. How can people cope with this? It must take some real strength to deal with this on routine. Thank you, it may not be exact, but I at least have a better idea of what is going on.
shadowlover3000 posted over a year ago
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This is convient timing after our message topic 8
Riku114 posted over a year ago
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@ArticWolf In the early parts, I like to be able to think por myself and try to calm down a bit so I dont end up spassing out to people. Generally, Id like to be around people though, and Id like to talk to people cause it helps a great ton
Riku114 posted over a year ago
Americsson1776 said:
It's like having several ropes around your throat, and they are all pulling you in different directions, simultaneously confusing you beyond hope, and suffocating you.
You are simultaneously too confused to do anything, and too suffocated to stay where you are.
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posted over a year ago 
boytoy_84 said:
I never had it but this may explain it.

Symptoms of anxiety attacks include:

A feeling of overwhelming fear
Feeling of going crazy or losing control
Feeling you are in grave danger
Feeling you might pass out
A surge of doom and gloom
An urgency to escape
Dizziness
Palpitations
Trembling
Sweating
Shortness of breath
Chest pressure or pain
Turning pale
Feeling detached from reality
Weak in the knees
Burning skin
Pins and needles
Hot and cold flushes
Numbness and tingling sensations

The above anxiety attack symptoms can be accompanied by:

Choking sensation, tightening throat, it feels like your throat is closing, it feels like something is stuck in your throat
Confusion
Depersonalization (feeling detached from reality, separate from one-self, separate from normal emotions)
Derealization (feeling unreal, in a dream-like state)
Dizziness, lightheadedness, unsteadiness
Emotional distress
Emotional upset
Inability to calm yourself down
Knot in the stomach, tight stomach
Nausea
Panicky feeling
Pounding, racing heart
borboletas in the stomach
Sudden urge to go to the bathroom (urinate, defecate)
Vomiting
Feel like crying
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posted over a year ago 
Riku114 said:
Uh. I was going to write it out as someone who has had them occasionally here and there myself, but 8 did a pretty good job explaining it herself. Reference hers as I can agree with it.

Generally speaking it feels kind of like the problem is eating you alive, swallowing you, encompassing you, and will soon destroy you and your very existence. Even if you can keep a calm mind and think "Its not that bad. Its not that danger. You arent in immediate danger. Calm down" its not much mais help than shortening how logn it lasts.

But since 8 decided to share her experience, for me it takes a very visual stand point where it crushes from the inside and the thoughts start running insane. Like the issue gets manifested into some kind of hyper realistic experience in my imagination and that paired with the constant panicked though starts to build upon eachother to make everything worse.

I actually have grown to get a pretty good control of it though where I keep a very calm portion of my mind trying to settle everyhting down and find the quickest way to coping and calming it down. Like anime, obsessions, talking about it, music, etc. Even though I think of myself as being pretty good at handling them, its hell.

Just refer to 8. She explained it better than I ever could (Partially since I cant explain exactly how its like for me to the open where anyone can read it cause I dont like people I dont trust knowing how to get into my head) XD Actually THaSlimJim did good too, even if it wasnt descriptive.
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posted over a year ago 
ArcticWolf said:
It's hard to explain because it's different for everyone. For me, my anxiety attacks were induced por stress until I couldn't take it anymore and suddenly I had trouble breathing. When something like this happened, it wasn't something I could physically control. Anxiety attacks were just as physical as they were mental. Because stress caused my anxiety attacks, I felt like the problem that was causing my stress would never be solved and would fall into self-pity and despair. My chest started feeling really tight and I couldn't stop crying. I felt like my anxiety was eating me from the inside and devouring my soul in the process. Personally, all I wanted was for someone to understand my problem and help me through my attack, and I got really offended when people would leave me alone and it would make me panic even mais because I felt like I was being abandoned. I know some people want to be left alone, but I didn't. I was told they "couldn't handle me right now" and it made me feel like they cared mais about their mental state than mine, me, the one having an anxiety attack. I wanted someone to help me through it, not leave me to handle it por myself (this was back when I didn't understand what was happening, though). Of course, my experience may be a bit skewed, because I've only ever had attacks at início around people I'm comfortable with.
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posted over a year ago 
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