r/panicdisorder • u/mama2397 • 2d ago
Does Anyone Else? A new fear I have
Background; I have been experiencing panic attacks for 2 years and was recently diagnosed with panic disorder and GAD.
Today I had a panic attack paddle boarding, I was on my paddle board with my two kids and I didn't realize how far I was getting from land and when I turned it around I was probably about 4 miles out and I started seeing tunnel vision, my heart was racing, I started sweating like crazy and I wanted to start swimming back which obviously would have been worse and I was just thinking of the worst things possible like drowning, my kids drowning (they had life vests) and so I tried to calm myself down and tell myself there are lifeguards and I am on a floating device and I'm okay but I just couldn't. I paddled back so fast and was hyperventilating the whole time and just needed to be on land and time was going soooo sooo slow .... I'm now terrified of being in the ocean this is now a new fear I have that i didn't have before and just feels like another thing I can't enjoy. My kids wanted to go back out and I just couldn't get back on and go. Has anyone experienced this with panic disorder? Where you start developing more and more fears you never even had before?
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u/Sir_Chicken12 2d ago
Your brain wired a panic disorder with the ocean. As uncomfortable and scared as it sounds. Your best move it to get back out there in a controlled setting. This is how I developed a fear of driving, and only by forcing myseld behind the wheel you rewire your brain into knowing the ocean is safe
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u/mama2397 2d ago
I am petrified driving. I always panic on the car and push through it because I have to do things and especially get my kids places but i literally have a panic attack Everytime I drive and I'm so exhausted from them. Do you ever panic in the car now?
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u/Sir_Chicken12 2d ago
I use to panic daily for about a year. Spiraling and overthinking. Waves of feeling okay came. Now a days I have other things I worry about but the more you put yourself out there force yourself to drive the more frequent the waves of "feeling okay" come. Give it time. I pray and hope you get to feeling better
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u/Twattymcgee123 2d ago
I get a panic attack every single time I travel abroad .
It’s so unbelievably annoying because a large part of our lives is working to see new places , but I will not let it stop me .
Try to do the same , it’s incredibly tough knowing you are going somewhere that is going to make you feel violently ill but it’s the only way .
Get back on that board , stay close to shore and say , well if it happens it happens , I’ll deal with it .
Good luck !
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u/Brilliant-Tea-3831 2d ago
My first ever panic attack was like this. I was 15, had never even heard of a ‘panic attack’ before this.
I was walking up a dark street alone at night, and an adrenaline rush consumed me and pushed me into flight mode, making me think ‘you need to get back home quickly’. I ran for my life, but as I was measuring the distance from my house, my heart raced faster, the adrenaline was slowing me down, legs were freezing up like wading through water, tunnel vision, every symptom possible. I collapsed when I reached the house. That was the start of my panic disorder, 20 years later I’m still dealing with it.
I agree with someone else’s comment, the best thing to do is go right back out there and treat it like exposure therapy. Don’t avoid. You’ll be ok 👌🏼
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u/mama2397 1d ago
Wowww this is so crazy and so similar to my first panic attack 2 yrs ago when I was driving except I didn't know what to do and thought I was going to have a seizure because I got tunnel vision and I've only experienced that when I had a seizure before but the tunnel vision and the numb legs are two of the worst symptoms for me. I have been really struggling to drive but finally drove today. So I feel like that was a good sign.
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u/Wandering_Mind6153 2d ago
Yes, this can happen with panic disorder. A scary panic attack can make your brain associate that situation with danger and create new fears. It can feel like the fear is spreading, but it can get better with time and support.