According to Global Medical Education, Anxiety Disorders affect 19 million adults and is the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. This number is astonishing, and yet the stigma behind mental illnesses such as Anxiety Disorders is rampant across the globe. For someone who has never experienced a panic attack, it can be something hard to imagine and even hard to believe. Tonight, I want to walk you through what a panic attack feels like for me.
Imagine it’s a Friday night and you out to dinner with friends. The restaurant is busy and you are enjoying chatting with the people around you. Your entrée comes to the table and everyone starts to enjoy their meals. Your food tastes great, but suddenly, you feel like you can’t swallow your food. You physically have to talk yourself into swallowing. The already noisy restaurant seems to intensify and all of the chatter and sounds of dishware clattering around the place blare in your ears.
You feel as if all the lights in the restaurant increased, you feel like a spotlight is shining directly on you and that everyone in the place is staring at you, knowing something is wrong. You try talking to yourself to calm down, reminding yourself that what you are feeling is in your head. It doesn’t work.
You heart rate starts to increase and you are sweaty yet cold. You start to shake, because now no matter what you tell yourself, you are sure that everyone is looking at you. You feel a pain in your chest, you’re sure you are having a heart attack. In fact, you are almost certain that you are dying.
Your fingers and toes start to go numb; they feel like they are asleep. You’re pretty sure the entire restaurant is spinning. You excuse yourself from the table and go to the bathroom. Once inside, you find a stall and sit, trying to catch your breath, placing your hand on the side of the stall, trying to steady yourself. You breathe in deeply and exhale slowly, talking yourself through the process. You know you’re not dying, you know this is just a panic attack, you know this will end. Maybe you take a medication to help. You struggle with the decision to go back to the table or sneak out through a side door. Even though your brain knows that everyone sitting at the table, the other restaurant patrons, and the waiters have no idea of what just happened, you feel like they would judge you somehow, that somehow deep inside they know what was playing out in your brain.
You convince yourself to go back and try to finish your meal after several minutes. However, your entire body is exhausted and all you really want to do is sleep. You make it through the rest of dinner, hurrying along so you can leave as soon as possible. When you get in your car, you still feel shaky, but you know you need to get home. You drive, still feeling somewhat short of breath, feeling like every car on the road is too close to you.
You get home, finally. You’re too tired to do anything and barely have the energy to change into your pajamas before collapsing on the couch. You don’t turn on the television; you don’t even look at your phone. You fall asleep within minutes. You fall asleep knowing you just survived another panic attack.
Some experts claim that over 70% of your bodily systems are used during an anxiety disorder including panic attacks. This statistic helps to shed light on why someone battling an anxiety disorder is often tired, physically sick, and emotionally drained. It can be hard to understand for someone who has never experienced an anxiety disorder, and that only feeds the stigma of mental illness. Phrases like “I’m having a panic attack” are thrown around and used in a way as to take away from what the disease really is. Through education and speaking with people who struggle with these types of illnesses, we can lessen the stigma and bring positive awareness to those with mental health issues.
Imagine it’s a Friday night and you out to dinner with friends. The restaurant is busy and you are enjoying chatting with the people around you. Your entrée comes to the table and everyone starts to enjoy their meals. Your food tastes great, but suddenly, you feel like you can’t swallow your food. You physically have to talk yourself into swallowing. The already noisy restaurant seems to intensify and all of the chatter and sounds of dishware clattering around the place blare in your ears.
You feel as if all the lights in the restaurant increased, you feel like a spotlight is shining directly on you and that everyone in the place is staring at you, knowing something is wrong. You try talking to yourself to calm down, reminding yourself that what you are feeling is in your head. It doesn’t work.
You heart rate starts to increase and you are sweaty yet cold. You start to shake, because now no matter what you tell yourself, you are sure that everyone is looking at you. You feel a pain in your chest, you’re sure you are having a heart attack. In fact, you are almost certain that you are dying.
Your fingers and toes start to go numb; they feel like they are asleep. You’re pretty sure the entire restaurant is spinning. You excuse yourself from the table and go to the bathroom. Once inside, you find a stall and sit, trying to catch your breath, placing your hand on the side of the stall, trying to steady yourself. You breathe in deeply and exhale slowly, talking yourself through the process. You know you’re not dying, you know this is just a panic attack, you know this will end. Maybe you take a medication to help. You struggle with the decision to go back to the table or sneak out through a side door. Even though your brain knows that everyone sitting at the table, the other restaurant patrons, and the waiters have no idea of what just happened, you feel like they would judge you somehow, that somehow deep inside they know what was playing out in your brain.
You convince yourself to go back and try to finish your meal after several minutes. However, your entire body is exhausted and all you really want to do is sleep. You make it through the rest of dinner, hurrying along so you can leave as soon as possible. When you get in your car, you still feel shaky, but you know you need to get home. You drive, still feeling somewhat short of breath, feeling like every car on the road is too close to you.
You get home, finally. You’re too tired to do anything and barely have the energy to change into your pajamas before collapsing on the couch. You don’t turn on the television; you don’t even look at your phone. You fall asleep within minutes. You fall asleep knowing you just survived another panic attack.
Some experts claim that over 70% of your bodily systems are used during an anxiety disorder including panic attacks. This statistic helps to shed light on why someone battling an anxiety disorder is often tired, physically sick, and emotionally drained. It can be hard to understand for someone who has never experienced an anxiety disorder, and that only feeds the stigma of mental illness. Phrases like “I’m having a panic attack” are thrown around and used in a way as to take away from what the disease really is. Through education and speaking with people who struggle with these types of illnesses, we can lessen the stigma and bring positive awareness to those with mental health issues.