Fear or caution/anxiety

[sadgreeneyes]

I read that fear is related to a number of additional cognitive and emotional states including worry, anxiety, terror, horror, panic, and dread.

And I read further about distrust. In distrust is it common to be silent when feeling cautious or mild fear even the fear is not a real threat? When I get this feeling I get silent and just look at the person and probably look like when an animal has become aware that it is about to be attack by its predator.

[lynn22]

anxiety suggerers are too afraid, they have the habit of being very afraid, read up about the fight or flight response this effects us

[sadgreeneyes]

Thank you for reply, I´ll read about it...interesting because this is how I feel at times, when it happens its only for some seconds and then it goes over till next time. But I still get quitet longer than the feeling last,I get the feeling like something is blocking my will to speak.

[jimmyfay2]

I used to clam up whenever I'd get in trouble with my family. It drove them crazy! I never really thought about it, but, looking back, I was so afraid of expressing feelings and emotions that I'd just freeze! It is absolutely the fight or flight response. I don't know if we're just hard wired to jump to the worst conclusions in our minds or what, but, I know that as I learned to calm my body down, through meditation, exercise and reading up on how the fight or flight response manifests itself in physical terms, I began to be less afraid of speaking up for what I need. The 'deer in the headlights' situation you're describing sounds exactly like what I used to do. What I started to do was to treat myself as an experiment. By that I mean that while I was experiencing these feelings, I would try to mentally document all the sensations I was having at the time. Numbness in my hands, feet and mouth, dry mouth, shaking, heart palpitations, racing thoughts and so on. I'd then let the feelings wash over me without judgment, and without trying to make them stop. They'd pass, and I'd be able to look at the situation with a clear head. It's not easy to do, but, eventually I started to trust that there was nothing wrong with me and I started to drift away from those feelings without really noticing. Suddenly, one day, I noticed I wasn't having that 'freeze up' moment when I'd be in situations that would've normally triggered them. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to look back on anxiety!! I hope some of what I'm writing helps you out...

[sadgreeneyes]

Hi jimmyfay2,

thanks for sharing I am glad you were able to overcome this by own help and awareness. When I get this "freeze moment" I get an increased heart rate like you did and my head starts to analyze the "possible" fear because it feels like a threatening situation, then I get insecure and silent...get the fight or flight feeling. When I calm down after many seconds I slowly starts to ask a couple questions to the person who was the main part why I felt insecure, asking what was it all about. I do this to feel more secure that the "for me threatening situation" wasnt anything to be afraid of and that I can continue feeling secure, that nothing bad actually did happen. I´m not sure how to be less afraid yet but to try analyze why I think and feel like this and be aware of it like you did I think is a good start:)

[anonimous2]

In the past I have been that way upon waking up. In recent months it hasn't really been as bad, but for whatever reason I was waking up in a full blown panic. To the point that my eyes were huge & I really just didn't even know where I was. It would take me a minute to wake up & realize what was going on around me.

[sadgreeneyes]

Hi Taybkc88,

yes you probably had a panic attack during sleep, I have had that in between too, but not as bad as you not knowing where I am but it always take a while to get relaxed again, get normal heart rate and be able to sleep.

[anonimous2]

when i start to get nervous about any situation that i am about to be in i am very quiet. usually it happens to be in the car on my way to whatever event/family gathering I am going to at the time. Those are always the quietest of car rides. It's like I'm so caught up in my worry that I forget to even make conversation with whoever I am with.

[sadgreeneyes]

I´m sorry to hear you have it like that to the extend you forget to talk. I think thought its quite common to be very quiet when one get nervous, I think most of us do. I do too when I get nervous.