Understanding and Managing Anxiety: A Scientist's Perspective

[LightbulbSun]

I have this weird anxiety. It occurs even though I don't think about it. I can't seem to attend my class because of it. Whenever I'm going to class my throat gets dry, my body gets tense, and I get nauseous. It becomes so overwhelming that I just let it overcome me by not attending class. There have been a couple of times where I have attended class, but even when I'm in class I can't shake it off. It's still there. One time it got so overwhelming that I had to walk out of class and actually puke. It's weird, whenever I leave class my body no longer feels that way and I feel fine. This doesn't happen at any other time except for before I go on amusement park rides, but it goes away during the ride. What could be the problem here? I try thinking of good, relaxing thoughts, but even that gets undermined.

I haven't had this problem until this year. I've gone to my classes last year without any sweat. Any explanations? Because this is really bugging me.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I have this weird anxiety. It occurs even though I don't think about it. I can't seem to attend my class because of it. Whenever I'm going to class my throat gets dry, my body gets tense, and I get nauseous. It becomes so overwhelming that I just let it overcome me by not attending class. There have been a couple of times where I have attended class, but even when I'm in class I can't shake it off. It's still there. One time it got so overwhelming that I had to walk out of class and actually puke. It's weird, whenever I leave class my body no longer feels that way and I feel fine. This doesn't happen at any other time except for before I go on amusement park rides, but it goes away during the ride. What could be the problem here? I try thinking of good, relaxing thoughts, but even that gets undermined.

I haven't had this problem until this year. I've gone to my classes last year without any sweat. Any explanations? Because this is really bugging me.

It sounds like a "panic attack", not that I know much about this. Anyway, you should definitely see a doctor because it's interferring with your ability to attend classes. In the meantime you can google panic attack and see how much of the description seems to fit your case. Other possibilities are that it's an allergy to something in the classroom, or a form of seizure activity in the brain known as a simple partial seizure, which is affecting your autonomic system alone, and is triggered by something in the classroom:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1118775

It's impossible to say, those are just things I know about that might manifest this way. A doctor will do several tests for certain, eg: blood tests, looking for anything out of whack, and take it from there.

 

[Moonbear]

You will need to ask your physician these sorts of questions. If you get a specific diagnosis, feel free to come back and ask questions about why those symptoms are associated with that particular problem.