Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
I am a 51 Yr old female awaiting diagnosis. My work have been very supportive and have referred me through occ health. What led me to speaking out was the pain of panic attacks and what I perceive as an inability to overcome them. I am successful in many areas in my life and professionally however there are a few situations which absolutely floor me and for the life of me I cannot get to grips with them. This has been the case since I was a child so has plagued me for over 4 decades now. I try and rationalise it and tell myself it’s confidence or self esteem, I’m just wondering if others can relate to this ? Sadly I often berate myself and feel foolish hence getting a diagnosis will hopefully help me make sense of this. I would stress there are numerous other factors besides this which have led me to seek support and diagnosis. Thank you in anticipation
Panic attacks are usually Autistic meltdowns, they are normal. They are when things overwhelm us. you might need to make more adjustments. For example when people come to do work in my home like fix a tap I just go to the local cafe (before covid times as I am vulnerable to covid) , if I were to stay then I would have a meltdown as it would be stressful for me. Instead I have less stress and like going for a hot chocolate. So it is about trying to adapt things so you don't get overwhelmed. Meltdowns though will still happen sometimes, and that is okay as it after them you will start to feel a bit better again. A good cry is what was needed.
But just to say that if you are menopausal at all then panic attacks are normal and maybe part of the menopause too.
I am young but my friend who was 25 when she got the menopause so women of any age up to about 65 can start it at any age.
I hope that this helps you.
We are not all robots, thankfully we have emotions and panic attacks and meltdowns are part of that.
Men get panic attacks and the male menopause can happen for them at any age too.
So it is not really an age thing.
Work on planning what to do after your attack, so if you get an attack always plan to do something nice later on that day or the next day so that you treat yourself and feel better again.
The media are starting to see that panic attacks is something that lots of people have, we all just have to drop the stigma surrounding them.
I get them when on buses, but then I go into meltdown if the bus gets too crowded.
Once I was on a train and got a panic attack as it was too busy so I started getting past everyone I was in total meltdown getting of the train before it started off. And I ended up setting off other women into a panic attack, I am guessing I set off all the autistic women who were not liking the crowds and they saw my reaction as I was crying they started crying too. they were all upset. What had happened was that a man told me my seat was his, he bullied me it was not his seat, he had not booked it it was mine. no staff member was on board and he bullied me off the seat, and it was too crowded for me so I got off in a panice attack and meltdown and set all the other autistics into melt down. So the train took off while I calmed down on the platform and that bully of a man had to go all when way from Glasgow to London with all the autistic people around him in melt down! and he will never have been able to do the work he wanted to do on his lap top. serves him right. I never got to London, I ended up going for a nice orange juice, and when I calmed down and recovered, I started laughing at the thought of him with all the others in meltdown. sorry i should not laugh really, but it somehow made me feel better.