Did I just get a Panic attack?

Unstable

The weirdest thing happened to me today. It was an unusual day for me, I was taken out of work to do a 1 day course on safety in the workplace.

I taught, grand, an easy day sitting on my ass

So, I turned up to the place, there was a few others there iswell, we all sat down and the class started. The tutor introduced himself and then started the day's work. He started by describing in detail what could happen to you in the workplace... what diseases you are all prone to... what to do if a pen goes through your eye... what happened to people that got their hands chopped off by fax machines... etc etc

I started to feel a bit uneasy, but was totally unprepaired to what awaited me. I started to feel a bit weak, a bit light headed and dizzy. Thousands of little dots started appearing infront of me... my hearing then started to fade, I could not hear at all after 3 or 4 minutes, it was like my ears were full of wax, I could only hear muffles around me, no sharp sounds... I then started to feel extremely tired and then started to sweat madly (I dont usually sweat much). My forehead was full of sweat, my hands and arms looked like they had been just washed in water, and they were extremely pail. I can just imagine if I looked into a mirror, my face would of been the same. My heart was pumping really hard and I knew I was about to pass out, so I put my head between my legs and let the blood pump back into my head!

After about 7 minutes I started to see properly again and my hearing came back to normal. Luckly I was sitting at the back of the room and no-one really noticed what I was going through, but bloody hell, that really gave me some shock

The funny thing is, that after that panic attack I was fine for the rest of the day, not a bother?

Can someone explain what I just went through, is there something going on with my body or was it just a panic attack? or am I just sqwimish !!

This has happened to me before, I can specifically remember it happening to me three times, both times when I was getting my eye's tested and one time when I was in hospital when I was a lot younger.

viking

He started by describing in detail what could happen to you in the workplace... what diseases you are all prone to... what to do if a pen goes through your eye... what happened to people that got their hands chopped off by fax machines... etc etc

I know I get like you described when I see blood or a bad injury. Maybe thats what happened to you when the tutor started discussing injuries in detail.

It probably wasn't a panic attack.

viking

hedgetrimmer

Rather than a panic attack - which I used to get due to, believe it or not, eating the wrong food - this sounds more like a "standing faint" I think they used to call it. I'm not sure of the techincal medical terminology, but its smae thing you might experience in a crowded train with the heating up full, or rushing into work with alcoholo poisoning and it only hitting you when you sit at your desk.

Basically, your body reacted to something - something you ate, saw, drank or quite often lack of sleep. It's something like a defence mechanism. I'm sure others no more about it than me, my central point being if you were that aware of what was happening, then it wasn't a panic attack

Kambika

Hmm hard to say I think. It might just have been a reaction to what the mentor told me. As they mentioned before, some people get this when they see blood etc or are in an uncomfortable situation.
If you get this more often and if you start to get really scared it is probably a panic attack. But I think you know when you are having a panic attack so dont worry, just keep it in mind.

Graemo

Panic attacks occur usually because of stress. If as you've pointed out it only happens when someone is describing or looking for physical injury or threat I would suspect that this is your initiator.
The best way to combat this is when you feel one coming on take deep breaths and think of somthing really cool that happened to you somtime in your life. This approach is called "Grasping anchors" and is a recognised defence for both panic attacks and depression.Putting your head down during an attack is definatly a help.
You may have had a physical injury in the past that you never really got over properly and when you encounter a physical threat be it hypothetical or real it triggers your anxiety.
Good luck with controlling this a remember, it happens to thousands of people every day.


ps mayby you drink too much caffiene or red bull etc.