I know panic attacks from my perspective therefore I can empathize with others who have them whether ours present the same or not. But I want to know how they look to other people. What makes other people discount their seriousness, their gravity, their potential to do damage or even how the person is feeling.
When the world is spinning and you’re losing touch of feeling your feet on the ground. When you heart begins to race and your chest feels like it is going to explode. When tears are streaming down your face but you can’t get any words out. When you feel like vomiting because everything is so overwhelming. All you want is to be grounded again. If a person is there or your grounding techniques aren’t working and they don’t reach back to pull you down it feels like being swept up by a tornado and you don’t know when everything will settle or what damage has been done.
Just for once in my life I want the people that love me, that supposedly care for me to attempt, just try to understand what it feels like to be me. Minuscule situations that have the potential for maximum damage set off like an alarm in my brain. All I get is, “Don’t worry,” “Just don’t think about it,” “Settle down,” “The way you’re reacting makes it seem like someone died,” and the like. If my attempts for help are immediately shut down and belittled then why reach out at all? Why seek any help? It just hurts more when they don’t.
Dysfunctional Daily 