Another Anxiety Attack...Yay!

Post Reply New Topic

I am currently suffering from an anxiety attack. I had a meeting this morning at 0900 in a building I had never been in and with people I had never met. I left early to find the place and get checked in. I wanted to make it to the conference room early enough to sit down before most people and not be the focus of anyone’s attention.

Well, I got lost trying to find the building. The first route I tried was blocked off for an explosives test. The second route no longer existed, even though my map showed it was there two years ago.

By time I get to the building, it is 0930. I check in and take the long walk through the building to the conference room, which was like going through a maze it was so far and there were so many turns. The whole time I am getting anxious. I get to the door and it is locked. I listen to the door and hear some voices, but I don’t know anybody so I cannot recognize anyone. I can’t bring myself to knock. I’m over 30 minutes late. I’m wearing my usual loose clothing with a hat. I did have my sunglasses sitting on top of my hat, but really wanted them on because of the glare. I just can’t walk in like that so late.

So I go down the hall to the bathroom and try to calm down, but it is of no use. I ended up finding a side exit to the building and took off back to my office, where I took a Xanax and am now posting this.

It's funny, because I am confident to the point of arrogance about many things, but am a complete wuss when it comes to social settings like this.

I've had that exact same thing happen to me a couple times- where I'm late, the door is locked, and I get an attack and just can't actually rap my knuckles against the door that's only a foot from my face. The worst is when someone who knows you were supposed to be there steps out for a second and catches you hanging about outside. If someone asks me to expain why I wasn't inside, I'll completely fall apart when I'm like that. It sucks.


Sorry to hear about your morning. :/

I had that happen in my grade 9 picture day. First I got completely lost because I didn't know where the gym was (because I can't take gym due to low blood pressure), and then I was locked out for about ten minutes. I get extremely nervous before getting my picture in a normal situation, so by the time I found my way to the camera I was crying (And I had to use that picture for my student ID, which was embarassing!)

I hope you feel better, and know that their are other opprotunities.

I have those still once in a while. Golly, it really gets me mad when I have them. I tend to get them when I am on the road going back home, or getting back home by walking or biking, etc. don't really understand why. Few years back I would pick them up when my body gets a strange feeling, like a stomach twitch, sore chest muscle, shaking due to muscle fatigue after lifting heavy objects. It didn't take much to trigger something and then it took time to calm down, especially in the wee early hours.

Fast heart beat, sweat, clammy hands, and especially for me, yawning due to the brain heating up.

It is a scary yet frustrating situation for me.

It's so frustrating, because it is so lame to not be able to do such a simple task. People who don't have them, just cannot understand what it is like to feel paralyzed.

I get it too but mine lead to migraines. The causal chain is "I feel I can't control the situation because there isn't time, so I panic, this leads to anger and that to chemical/ hormonal imbalances in my body, and then migraine.

It usually ony leads to panic attacks when I'm in a situation where I feel I can't express my anger and frustration at the situation or it isn't one where there is such a time limit (I'm early at the interview bt still panick at the idea of facing other people and not knowing what to say).

Here is something you could try. I seems to work for me.

When ever I get anxious I fight it. I dig deep down into the part of me that that gears me up for a fight. I just fight the anxeity and after a while it goes away. I seem to have got stronger and overcome anxiety, I feel mentally tired afterwards I have fought my anxieties though.