Community Chat

[Yuban3]

I had a rather interesting experience yesterday while driving to work.

As I was heading south, I was keeping my eye on the big, black, dark clouds that hung low in the sky. I was expecting a flash of lightning to happen at any moment.

I told myself that if it rained, that I could handle it, but if it were to start hailing, I was going to pull over. After my little "slip and slide" last year on my way to work, which scared me to my very core, I have always said to myself, that if that situation were to happen again, hail while driving, that I was going to pull over, instead of trying to drive through it. Once was more than enough for me, thank-you very much.

About three minutes later, wouldn't you know it. Pink! Pink! Pink! Oh, no! It started to hail!

So, I did what I said that I was going to do. I pulled over to the shoulder of the road. I parked my little truck, threw on my hazard lights, and kept my foot on the brake, because I wanted people to see that I was stopped.

What surprised me was, when I took my hands off of the steering wheel, they were shaking, and I saw that I was hyperventilating, and I could feel the adrenaline going through my body. I was surprised by my body's reaction, even though I was not in any danger.

I told myself that I was going to sit there until the cloud burst passed, and that this too shall pass.

During the entire time that I sat there, I was the only person who pulled over for the hail. I was also praying that no one would slip on the hail, and slide in to me. And it was coming down hard. The hail was a little bit bigger than pea sized.

After about five minutes, although it seemed longer than that, the hail stopped, and I continued on my way.

It's just interesting how my body reacted even though there was no danger.

Things that make you go, "Hmmmmm".

[gazelle77]

Adrenalin is one powerful drug! I have had a similar experience and felt it in my body even many hours later! Just a strange odd feeling. Our bodies are designed to help us flee from danger and it gives you that extra boost you may need at a moments notice.

[kittymomNC]

It's the old "fight or flight" syndrome--your brain remembers what happened the last time, it stays in your subconscious-so even though you did not think you were in danger at the moment, apparently what happened before was controlling how your body reacted. I have had panic attacks in the past, and someone once said "they sneak up on you and hit you from behind when you least expect it" -- meaning that even though what caused the attack before is not happening now, your subconscious is sometimes triggered by something you don't even notice and makes your body react. It's really weird what your brain can do to you!

[Yuban3]

On 3/31/2014 kittymomNC said:

It's the old "fight or flight" syndrome--your brain remembers what happened the last time, it stays in your subconscious-so even though you did not think you were in danger at the moment, apparently what happened before was controlling how your body reacted. I have had panic attacks in the past, and someone once said "they sneak up on you and hit you from behind when you least expect it" -- meaning that even though what caused the attack before is not happening now, your subconscious is sometimes triggered by something you don't even notice and makes your body react. It's really weird what your brain can do to you!

It is interesting, isn't it?

Last year when I drove in hail, and ended up sliding all over the road (thankfully there were NO other cars around!) scared me so very, very much. I had never been that scared before. In fact, when the nice police woman came up to my window (yes, I called the cops on myself after my little accident) and told me to back up, (because half of my truck was in the grassy median, the back half was still on the road), when I went to push in the clutch with my left foot, it was rat-a-tatt-ting faster than it ever had.

The police woman said that I was almost out of the hail, and once I was out of the hail, I could pull over and collect myself.

But, I knew that if I did pull over, that I wouldn't be able to continue on to work. I was that scared. So I did continue on, but at a very slow speed.

As it was, for weeks, and about a few months after, if there was any rain, heavier than showers, half of my brain would be screaming at me to turn around and go home, because it wasn't safe to drive. My breathing would be quick and shallow, and I would have to tell myself, "Breathe! Breathe!"

The other half of my brain would say, "No. No, you can't go home. You have to go to work. People are expecting you to show up. People are depending on you being there.", so, I would continue on to work.

It took me the better part of a year to get comfortable again driving in bad weather.

I hate to use the word "traumatized", because I don't want to be melo-dramatic, but I guess yesterday, when I was faced with the same situation, my body remembered that fear, and reacted accordingly.

I guess my body had a flash-back.

[stilltamn8r]

sometimes I can actually "Feel" my adrenaline being released, I get a sharp pain right at the kidney when I am in those fight or flight situations...

[kittymomNC]

There was a time years ago when I was taking a break from a very arduous morning at work and went to a craft fair at a local mall for lunch. As I entered the mall and walked down past a few stores, I suddenly felt that I couldn't breathe, got shaky and felt somewhat dizzy. I kept walking, thinking that it would go away. I forced myself to walk down the mall, but it got worse --I saw a co-worker and started to say something to her, but then decided that wouldn't be a good idea. I managed to get back to my car, but had to sit there and listen to some soothing music until I could drive back to work.

Later on, I was talking to my doctor (I had had one or two episodes of panic attacks sometime before that), and he asked me, "Where was it that your mother worked at the mall?" And it hit me---the panic started as I walked past the store my Mom had worked at for many years - she had passed away a year or so previous to this. I was having no conscious thought of my mother as I walked past that store, but "bam", my subconscious was apparently on overdrive! And although it's been 29 years since she's been gone, just writing this is bringing me to tears.

Our brains are wondrous things, but they can do some hellacious things to us too!

[LilacTree]

It seems you may have developed a panic attack trigger. Usually the first time one has a panic attack, in whatever situation one is in at the time can sometimes become a trigger for future attacks. My first panic attack happened while driving on the NJ Turnpike, in a very wide area where I could see miles in front of me. I suddenly felt as though I was going to fall off the earth, that my body was somehow separating from the car. The fear and physical reaction is indescribable except to those who have experienced it.

I don't drive anymore, but until two years ago when I stopped, I could not drive on a wide open highway alone. If someone was with me I could do it because I knew if it started happening, the other person could drive.

During my five-year menopause I would get panic attacks indiscriminately. That is when my doctor prescribed Xanax for me which gave me almost immediate relief.

My youngest daughter suffers from it too, and I know my mother did even though as children we had no idea what was happening to her. She used to call them "spells."

Here's hoping you will not experience it again.

[straykatz]

Anxiety goes hand in hand with adreneline

[kittymomNC]

One thing I learned a long time ago about panic attacks -- people can sympathize with you but they can't really understand it unless it happens to them...for the simple reason that it doesn't even make sense to you. When I had them and tried to explain what happened to me to a friend, or a family member, it was kind of like "are you kidding"? They tried to be helpful and caring, but there was that underlying current of "really"? Ford1224, you hit the nail on the head when you said "The fear and physical reaction is indescribable except to those who have experienced it."

I spent my teens and early adult years in Maryland and drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge many times - of course that was many years ago before they built the twin bridge. When I had just started having the panic attacks, I had to drive across that bridge going on vacation--I was on the one where two lanes were coming toward me and only one lane was going toward the beach, I had a van in front of me, and could not see anything. The top span of the bridge is 200 feet off the water, and all I could see was girders going past me on my bridge and the one next to it. I pulled off when I got to the other side and my hands were white from gripping the wheel. We went on to Ocean City, and after a few days, I realized I could not drive my car back across the bridge. We had taken two vehicles, me driving one, and my friend driving the other (it's complicated), so there was no one to drive it back but me. The bridge authority said they could take you across "one time in your lifetime"--in other words, don't do this again! But they couldn't do it at the time we were going back due to the timing and the busy period on the bridge. I wound up having to enlist the help of my brother-in-law, we drove both vehicles to his place of business, and he drove my car back across the bridge. Told you it was complicated! Why this happened, I still have no idea, since I had driven it many times before.

To this day, I know that I would not be able to drive across that bridge again. I've been across it since then, but as a passenger, not the driver, and not looking down at the water! And I've had a very difficult time driving across a couple of other fairly long or high bridges.

So Yuban, if it makes you feel any better at all, there are many of us out here who understand exactly how you felt!

[terrier3]

As I have posted before...my office got new managers about 2 years ago. We had no idea that they were there to get rid of everyone with pensions and seniority in preparation for a big sale of the company.

Little by little, each and EVERY person in the office started having panic attacks - men & women.

Sometimes I would go in the ladies room and 3 people would be in there, crying or getting sick to their stomachs.

Finally I came to the realization that life is too short to be so miserable. I know it was affecting my physical health...I had that constant "fight or flight" adrenaline rush feeling Sunday afternoon through Friday at 5PM. My assistant had digestive problems 24/7...her doctor told her, after many tests, it was stress.

I left in November...since then 10 of my 12 co-workers have left...and one of those remaining guys is retiring in May.