I recently had a panic attack and I was having intrusive thoughts during it that I might attack someone physically. Has anyone else had that combination of a panic attack and intrusive thoughts? What was it like for you? To me it was twice as bad as a normal intrusive thought.
Oh goodness, yes, you are not alone. When you experience a panic attack you're in the throes of ***trigger warning*** so-called, 'fight or flight'. Your amygdala is sending these signals because it thinks there is something scary and life-threatening happening. The problem is that, as OCD-ers/ anxious people, our amygdalas are hypervigilant and most of the time this is a false signal, sending them when there isn't any real danger. That's why when you feel anxious (or having a panic attack) you want to run away from the situation (flight) and/or have the sensation of preparing to defend yourself (fight). Again, your brain is just trying to protect you (and those you love). The interesting thing is everyone experiences this process when presented with a 'fight or flight' situation, it's just as OCD-ers and people who are more sensitive to anxiety, they may not have the levels of fear or physical sensations that we do; we notice it and we are aware that we noticed it, and we wonder what it means about us, avoidance of similar situatios (compulsions). Unfortunately, these compulsions serve to reinforce the obsessions (the fear of the situation occurring again and thoughts of harm), and the cycle begins again, potentially stronger than before. It usually happens to me, where they co-occur like that, on average about once a month. The first several times it happened it was scary, it's still scary, but I know what it is now, so that makes it a whole other level less scary, if that makes sense. I hate to simplify it like this but think of your favorite scary movie or roller coaster (or whatever your interest may be), it's still novel and scary but you now know what to expect and you'll only get better at handling it. One of the biggest things is to not get wrapped up in compulsions after it happens, that will help your recovery immensely.
Ugh that’s how my panic attacks came about to begin with, it was the first time I had scary intrusive thoughts. I was at work and had a terrifying intrusive thought of attacking someone and it scared the daylights out of me. I left work halfway through the day and I couldn’t tell my boyfriend what was going on cause I was terrified I’d get locked up in an asylum, I sat in my bedroom for 3 days straight having constant panic attacks from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. It was absolutely the lowest point in my life. In a way, I’m kinda happy that’s how my OCD journey started cause I started at the worst of it for me. It only got better from there! My doctor prescribed me beta blockers to help with the panic attacks and I haven’t had one since! :)
I'm so sorry, that sounds truly awful:/ but I'm so glad you got help and things are looking up for you now!
Yes! That’s how I found out I had OCD. I had thoughts of hurting my family and it triggered so much anxiety that eventually I had a panic attacks. I have panic attacks over my intrusive thoughts. When I have an intrusive thought of harming someone or losing control during a panic attack it makes it feel like that’s what is about to happen
I'm sorry that happened to you :(
@firefly512 How are you feeling now since the panic attack?
I'm feeling much better, thank you for asking 😊
@firefly512 If you don’t mind me asking what helped during the attack?
@Lilly2442! I did some paced breathing exercises! In the past I've also put my face in ice water, sounds strange but it works!
I have had a huge increase in Intrusive Thoughts this week. It’s making things super difficult for me, I am on my period but I also think I’m having more intrusive thoughts recently because things are going well for me right now. I just keep waiting for everything to fall apart because my mind makes me believe that I don’t deserve more than one good thing at a time. My mind is in constant fight or flight mode. I cannot stop thinking about every past mistake or how someone may have thought I had bad or malicious intentions when I didn’t. I keep thinking I’m going to get in trouble for something and go to jail, I’m especially scared about work and messing up someone’s check out and getting fired or arrested. I hate feeling this way, there is just so much going on in my head and I’m terrified and stressed all the time.
Every highly anxious person has to cope with intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are frightening thoughts about what might happen to you or someone you care about, or what you might do to yourself or another person. They seem to come from outside of your control, and their content feels alien and threatening. For some people, intrusive thoughts are part and parcel of panic or intense anxiety. In these types of intrusive thoughts, it feels like the thoughts come about as a result of the anxiety, and they function to add more fear to the anxiety you are already experiencing. The intrusive thoughts keep the anxiety going, and maintain the fear-producing spiral. So, for example, you might think, “what if I have a heart attack?” in the midst of an anxiety attack. You are already in the altered state of consciousness that I call anxious thinking, and your thoughts feel likely to happen. However, there is another class of intrusive thoughts that I call intrusive obsessive thoughts. These thoughts seem to come from out of nowhere, arrive with a distressing whoosh, and cause a great deal of anxiety. The content of intrusive obsessive thoughts almost always focus on sexual or violent images. Here are typical examples of intrusive obsessive thoughts: “Killing someone. Torturing a pet animal. Stabbing a child. Throwing someone (or yourself) out of a window. Jumping onto a train track as the train comes into the station. Molesting a child. Raping someone. Taking off your clothes in public.” This is not a complete list, but it gives you a good feeling of the content of these thoughts. People who experience intrusive obsessive thoughts are afraid that they might commit the acts they picture in their mind. They might imagine hurting someone or committing an act of sexual violation. Intrusive obsessive thoughts can be very explicit, and most people are embarrassed and frightened of them. There are a number of myths about intrusive obsessive thoughts. The greatest myth is that having thoughts of a sexual or violent nature mean that you want to do the things that come into your mind.This is not true. You do not want to do the things that enter your mind when you have intrusive obsessive thoughts. In fact, the opposite is true. People with intrusive obsessive thoughts are gentle and non-violent. FULL ARTICLE: https://drmartinseif.com/intrusive-thoughts/
Has anyone ever had panic attacks out of no where that then brought on the intrusive thoughts?
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