[Joe Hupp]

Hi all!

Just wondering what triggers your anxiety/panic attacks - would appreciate all answers, no matter how small!

My triggers are:

• Being put into a unfamiliar situation
  
• Needles - top spot
  
• Heights - mostly conquered by helicopter joyflights!
  
• People at me all the time for trivial things

[Tessaroo]

- Being alone to face a social situation

- one on one conversations with a stranger

- Being put under pressure

- Being questioned by a superior

- Having to make final decisions

- The thought of being alone forever

- Needles, Horses, Bats, cloudy water like at the beach

- Having to type out what causes my anxiety..

[weeza1979]

Situations where I am not in control

Things that I can't change

Situations where I know nobody

Stammering and people finishing my sentences

People thinking the worst of me

[missozzy]

being home alone (bad seens as i'm moving and gonna have to get used to it whilst hes working)

fire and anything that may cause it even candles and plugs

busses (not the bus itself but the people on it

busy places

walking home from work in the dark

afraid of what people think of me

scared of what i think of me

get anxcious about thinking the wrong things or saying them

not being given my space and feeling crowded...

blah the list goes on and on and on......

[Lee]

....

[Joe Hupp]

Thanks to everyone who has submitted their responses so far - I can tell being put on the spot is one of our major triggers....

[VickieBrennan]

Being in social situations that include more than six people(excluding myself)
Being around certain persons who seem to be a bad influence
Anything to do with someone's SI and/or sucide threats

[KWaggs]

I haven't been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but I know I get really bad anxiety with my phobia of severe weather. Anytime it is cloudy or extremely humid outside, I have all the symptoms; rapid heart rate, hyperventilating, mind racing, an extreme feeling like I'm going to vomit. I pace the house incessantly. I feel suffocated. I stumble over my words, and my thinking is completely irrational. I think it stems from what many of you are saying, which is fear of not being able to be in control of a situation. I most definitely can not control the weather, and that's the most terrifying thing in the world. --Christina

[Invisible]

There are so many things that cause me to panic.
A good idea to write them down so as it might help someone feel like they are not the only one.

My triggers are...

*Fire, especially bonfires
*Fireworks
*Clocks ticking
*Phones ringing, or having to make a phone-call
*Answering the front door
*Unfamiliar situations
*Crowds of people
*Having to talk to people I do not know
*Small spaces, especially shops
*My partner been longer then she said she would be when she goes out
*Strange noises
*The Dark (or more specifically the hallucinations in the dark)
*Eating
*Certain things on television...Horror, violence
*People who are drunk, on drugs etc
*Chavs especially groups of them
*Missing important dates like appointments etc
*Letting people down.
*People shouting at me, or even too close to me.

I think those are enough. Those above are the main ones for me though.

To those who suffer with panic/anxiety.

[Raven]

most things that trigger me, are being alone in a empty house it get really panicky of this. To many people i don't know at partys really loud music dont help either. Ticking clocks. People in general make me anxious . Not knowing what happens next, small spaces that are croweded (bues/trains/shops)

[silentcliche]

Social situations in general. I've been getting better at them but a lot of the time I still get rattled and shaken up by them especially if I have to talk about myself.

[Lee]

.....

[Jenniflower]

I have absolutely no idea what triggers mine as some days are so much better than others. but I struggle with;
* loud unexpected noises
* odd numbers
* new situations
*situations where I can't hear (which is quite a bit due to a hearing impairment that no-one seems able to diagnose or fix!)
* my parents
*social isolation

no idea about the rest

oh NEEDLES!!!! which is silly as I'm training to be a nurse!

[Joe Hupp]

Jenniflower, on 07 July 2010 - 08:17 PM, said:

oh NEEDLES!!!! which is silly as I'm training to be a nurse!

Jenni,

You're not alone - had to go to the doctor last week for a bad tummy ache.... had blood taken for the third time! I could not stop my arm from tensing up and, as a result, the site where the blood was taken bruised badly. I need to realise that there are times when they need to take blood for testing but it does not help not liking needles!

Joe

[Jenniflower]

yes! i hate needles, and have now got to the point where I actually get physical symptoms such as a rash, black outs, hyperventilating etc etc!

[Verity]

Wow! Ive just read through your posts and my triggers are very similar especially

loud noises - If I hear things that start making me anxious I have to put my ipod on in my flat - I feel like a freak
being home alone - I live on my own so can't avoid this one
groups of scary teenagers
speaking in large group or to new people
crowds - hence loving rock music but am scared of the crowds at festivals and gigs
being attacked or hurt - don't ask me how many times I check my front door is locked
the dark, I have the hall light on and my bedroom door open
Drunk people - they scare the hell out of me, too unpredictable
Letting people down and feeling like a bad person
Parties and clubbing - I used to be albe to do this now I feel anxious with all the people around me
Being out at night - hence the no clubbing anymore
Not being able to cope at work - I couldn't work for years before I got my job and even though I have been there for nearly 6 years I am still afriad I will go downhill again.
Relaspe - I do relaspe and get quite ill here and there, usualy triggered by some sort of stress either personal or work
My Garden - Ok this is an odd one, but If I don't mow my lawn regularly I get so anxious I cant cope! Long grass horrifys me!
Loud men (even if they are not agressive) - I just think they are going to hurt or attack me

I'd best stop now or I will be here all day lol

Verity
xxx

[Invisible]

I think a lot of anxiety comes from feelings of 'losing control' so a lot of the triggers that people have (including myself) are situations or other things you have no control over...eg crowds, drunk people, loud noises etc etc.

On many occasions people have called me a control freak but I think growing up with everyone else having the power made me need the control even more.

Sorry I am rambling now.

So yes basically as anxious people we crave some control in our lives, the things we can not control freak us out and make us feel really anxious...Just my theory.

[curiousN]

Hi all,

My first time here... hello all.
I suffer extremly with anxiety/ panick attacks so I thought I'd comment..

My main trigger is conflict, or even the thought of conflict. If a person is angry I fgo into anxiety and panick. If they are verbally abusive and or bullish in their responses the anxiety rises even more. I cant defend myself and sort of freeze...my body becomes extremly tense and I feel shivery all over.nothing soothes me and I just have to ride it out-sometimes this takes days and once a whole week.

I have been trying to get to the root of this with my therapist and for me it goes back to my childhood. Abusive parents who terrorised me by shouting, hitting and calling me names amongst many other abuses. hence my fear of conflict.

Another way I look at it is by calling it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), just as soldiers have flashbacks if they hear loud noises, fearful situations which reminds them of the original trauma of combat then my anxiety/panick attack are a flashback which triggers my fear and somehow I think I am going to be attacked as I was as a child..as a child I thought my parents abusive anger was going to result in them killing me.

Just wanted to share

Bye for now,
CuriousN