Advice

Hi all. This is something I have been experiencing for a long time now. It seems to come and go. It isn't always there, but it never really goes away. Ok so this may sound strange.... but sometimes when I am out and out in public, especially in an area where there are other people, I find that (sometimes, not always) I feel like I am going to fall over and something terrible is going to happen, but I dont know what, and I want to get to 'safety' whatever 'safety' is, but I dont feel safe, and I need to be by a wall or something so that I dont wobble over. Sometimes I just have to stop wherever I am and try to breathe, pause and carry on. I feel unsteady on my feet. I suppose it's like how you may feel walking on a narrow platform, unsteady and unstable. Funnily enough (and I think this is something I have subconsciously taught myself), walking on grass/fields is fine, but concrete/pavement is not. 

This all started one day in 2011. I was part of a local magazine/media company and we'd been tasked with going out on a Saturday morning to sell this magazine at a local market. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the task (I was just a writer for the magazine, not a salesperson, but it was all voluntary, so we all got roped into all tasks and demands to make money). I remember feeling absolutely horrible but afraid to tell anyone. I didn't know my colleagues very well. I remember feeling like something so horrible, even worse than death, was going to happen to me, that I was literally seconds away from running into an estate agents (which I happened to be in front of at the time) and begging them for help. Help from what, I don't know. But I was terrified. I kept having to stop in my path. I kept feeling like I was going to die to get sucked into some horrible other dimension or something that I couldn't control. It was the worst thing I have ever felt. I said to my colleagues, when I could manager to speak, that I felt unwell, and needed to go home. They weren't sympathetic and mocked me for being a wuss. I scrambled home, literally, had to crawl some parts, just to get back and into safety.

Anyway, thats when it all started. Sorry for rambling.

Anyone experienced anything remotely similar? 

Hi Jane,

Your symptoms sound very much like 'Social Anxiety' and 'Panic Attack', google for more info...

All the best

Hi Jane, I feel like this from time to time, it is so very scary isn’t it? Another form of anxiety I suppose. When I feel this way, I am afraid I am going to pass out, go crazy, or die. All I want to do is find a safe place and hide where no one can see me suffering. I don’t know why I developed this but hoping someone can help me figure it out. I go to see a psychiatrist early October! I really hope he can help.