What does it feel like when you have a panic attack?

For me, I can usually feel when I'm about to have a panic attack and it sucks because there's nothing I can really do about it. I feel like a sense of dread slowly growing in my stomach and my heart starts racing. I feel dizzy and nauseous and my chest and stomach start to hurt pretty badly. I usually start shaking and I get really hot. I feel like waves of disassociation, I guess you would call it, where it feels like I'm not even in my own body or I feel completely numb. I know what I'm feeling is usually irrational or pointless but I still can't help it or stop it. When its particularly bad I start tearing up and I feel like I'm going to pass out. I usually have headaches after.

Panic attacks are really common. They happen suddenly and you might feel like something bad is about to happen. Remember that no physical harm can come from having a panic attack! Stuff you might be thinking: I'm going to faint and pass out I can’t breathe I’m having a heart attack I’m going to be sick I’m going to choke I'm about to embarrass myself in front of people I’m going to lose control I have to escape. How you might be feeling: shaky and weak in your legs faint, dizzy or sick hot and sweaty like you're choking or can't breathe easily a really fast heartbeat or a sense that your heart isn't beating normally your vision going blurry like things around you have started to feel strange.

It's suffocating. My mind things too fast and too many things flood in my head. I overthink too much, I am too fast forward on things, Thinking something bad might happen. It's really draining. Sometimes my heart even palpitates.

My vision starts to unfocus, my arms and legs go numb. I start to feel as if my mental state is being pulled from my body, and I’m watching everything in 3rd person. I don’t understand what people are saying and I don’t make sense when I try to respond. I feel as though at any moment I will pass out, and I make rapid movements to make sure my cognitive senses are still in tact. The world becomes exceptionally bright, like I’m in a surgical room and most of the time I feel like I’m going to fall through the floor. I can’t breathe, I can’t seallow, I can’t lift my head without the fear of losing consciousness. It’s terrifying.

Often times, sufferers of panic attacks liken it to what they imagine a heart attack would feel like. A person might feel a quickening of their pulse, difficulty breathing, numbness, tingling, or shaking in the limbs and digits, and a feeling of dread, or fear. Some individuals might even have moments of depersonalization, where they forget who they are, where they are, and generally what's happening around them feels artificial. Each person's panic is unique to them. Some may experience all these symptoms, and some just a few, but every panic attack is very traumatic and stressful. They can occur for a variety of reasons, including triggers that remind the individual of past traumas, stresses at work or with academics, relationship troubles, to name a few. And for some people they occur without reason or warning. The brain triggers a fight-or-flight response that causes your body to become hyper aware and emotions to be felt much more intensely. They are very serious, and not to be dismissed!

It's different for many people. In my experience the first thing to happen is that im very aware of my surroundings. Any little thing makes me jump, then my heart starts racing. It literally feels like your heart is trying to rip through your chest. Then come the chills. My hands and feet get numb, it literally feels like i have millions of little ants crawling under my skin. It becomes very hard to breath and it might feel like you are going to faint. But the important thing to keep in mind is that its all in your head and that you will be fine. It is okay to have a panic attack, just know that you are safe.

it feels like I can not breath, like the air around me gets to thick to swallow and my vision fades out and it sounds like I am trapped in a tunnel, much of the nose around me is muffled

The experience can be quite terrifying. My heart starts to race, my legs and arms shake, I start to hyperventilate. You feel like the world is crashing down around you and there is nothing you can do to control it. I feel helpless and terrified that there is nothing I can do to stop it. The world spins and it feels like having a personal earthquake through out your whole body. Eventually I do calm down though and I have learned to stop them faster and not freak out as much like I used to.

It can be different for everyone. When I have panic attacks, I cry, hyperventilate, and I feel very confused, helpless, and unsure of everything. I also feel very paranoid and scared. My heart will race, and I'll eventually just want to shut down.

It feels like an overwhelming amount of emotions just crash down on you, and you can't beathe very well.