Aa
Is there something wrong with me? I'm confused and a little scared.
I was somewhat hesitant to ask this because one particular detail, which should be obvious when I bring it up, sounds fairly random and made up, but please bear with me and help me if you can.
I'm 16 years old and a few months ago I started having some kind of panic attacks. I'm not sure if that's the right term or if it's what I'm really having, but that's kind of what I'd like to find out. They started one night during a week that I had an especially large amount of homework and stress and they've been happening sporadically ever since, even when I'm not stressed. I know this sounds odd, but they usually begin with me thinking of a cartoon character. I can never seem to figure out if it's a particular character or situation or something I've seen, but I'm quite certain it's a cartoon character. After that I start thinking stuff along the lines of "something isn't right" or "this can't be reality" or "nothing is real", and I get light headed. I then get a stabbing headache, I breath a little heavily, and I start to shake a bit. I also feel like I really need a glass of water. I recover fairly quickly, but I normally feel thirsty afterwards, and I might still shake slightly. I don't know if I'm just good at containing it or if it's all in my head, but no one else seems to have noticed yet. I'd really appreciate any help you can give me.
I'm 16 years old and a few months ago I started having some kind of panic attacks. I'm not sure if that's the right term or if it's what I'm really having, but that's kind of what I'd like to find out. They started one night during a week that I had an especially large amount of homework and stress and they've been happening sporadically ever since, even when I'm not stressed. I know this sounds odd, but they usually begin with me thinking of a cartoon character. I can never seem to figure out if it's a particular character or situation or something I've seen, but I'm quite certain it's a cartoon character. After that I start thinking stuff along the lines of "something isn't right" or "this can't be reality" or "nothing is real", and I get light headed. I then get a stabbing headache, I breath a little heavily, and I start to shake a bit. I also feel like I really need a glass of water. I recover fairly quickly, but I normally feel thirsty afterwards, and I might still shake slightly. I don't know if I'm just good at containing it or if it's all in my head, but no one else seems to have noticed yet. I'd really appreciate any help you can give me.
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Worrying is something we are conditioned to believe prevents a certain event from happening. But that is not the case. The truth is, worrying doesn't prevent anything! It only makes you feel worse. So why worry? There is no point.
As for your cartoon character type of thoughts, my guess is that it goes a little deeper than you are aware of right now. Sometimes we have memories stored so deeply within our unconscious mind that we do not know why something rubs us the wrong way, or gives us a "bad feeling."
I can definitely relate to your feelings of unreality, or detachment to the world around you. This is something I've been familiar with my whole life. Honestly it is more of a positive quality than you might realize right now. I may come off sounding a little too spiritual for your taste, but these feelings of unreality are usually a signal that you are self-aware. This is a good thing. Usually this feeling becomes more comfortable when people define it. If you want any more details about that, don't hesitate to send me a message.
All the best,
Brittany