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Originally Posted by burnz
was there an "event" in your life??
i don't think there was for my wife, just trying to grasp it.
it was so sudden, heart race, sweaty, just want's to leave (shops)..oddly she doesn't like being alone either..
all this in the last 6 months and we are both middle aged, so i cant see her growing out of this.
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I dunno if there was a single 'event' Burnz. A childhood with a very volatile old man with heavy drinking tendancies plus primary school bullying possibly accumulated over the years. The first panic attack I remember was in 1992, I was in an old Pizza Hut and a heap of boys who always bullied me were on the other side of the room deliberately eating so much with the aim of throwing up on their table. It was initially a feeling of nausea once one of them finally popped and made a hell of a mess, then the confrontation as adult Pizza Hut staff tried to remove 11 year old boys from the room without success, the whole feeling of a situation that is out of control.
Being 12 and only weeks away from a daunting new world of going to a high school that was a known haven for delinquent kids from all over the district, including my pizza hut friends, plus having an old man who'd throw a fit of rage if I ever cried much less admitted to panic attacks, this whole thing went untreated til I was about 16, by then, the feeling of panic was so engrained into my thought process that almost anything could trigger it. Into my 20's starting work, driving, gaining independence etc has helped no end. I think this is because I'm now obviously in control of every factor of my life (except that I can't afford a new GT) where as growing up, just about everyone around me was able to dominate and control, that's part of being a kid, you ain't the boss of your life, teachers, parents and bigger kids are.
As for your wife, you say she won't grow out of it.. to that I say with only a 6 month history of problems and with the right help, she won't have a chance to grow into it! If I can turn it all around after a decade, anything's possible
ps: a crowded situation of drunk people is the last thing I'm yet to conquer. It represents the only remaining 'out of control' in my life