what happened?

[misslady]

i'm in school, and today while in the hall waiting for someone, my heart started to race. It felt like it was about to beat right out of my chest...it was pounding. I had a little shortness of breath, and then everything started to feel weird...like a sense of impending doom.
I was walking to my class and everybody walking by made me feel so squished. I wanted to get out of there. I started to get hot and it felt almost as if things were going by in a haze. When i got to class i was lightheaded...and then it went away.
What happened?
Can someone please explain this?
It has happened to me before. It just suddenly comes out of nowhere; it's not just social situations. It has happened when i was alone in my room. It's a sudden wave of paranoia with a racing heart and i just feel so freaked out.

What's happening?

[Harmonium]

What you describe is panic attack, maybe with more pronounced claustrophobic features. You can find more information if you google 'panic attack' than I could possibly tell you.

Good news is, you can control this. It doesn't have to keep happening. And yes, these can occur anytime, usually out of the blue.

[misslady]

I thought panic attacks were more severe, with the feeling you're having a heart attack?

[Harmonium]

I thought panic attacks were more severe, with the feeling you're having a heart attack?

They certainly don't have to be more severe than you describe. Really, your description is textbook. Also, remember that people perceive the same things happening in different ways. What to you may not be as severe as a heart-attack-feeling, to another is sheer horror. That light-headed, heart-racing, shortness of breath--some people's minds automatically jump to the conclusion that they are having a heart attack. Others just want to flee, still more thinks they are going crazy. There is a lot of individual interpretation of the same basic chemical response. Also, for some people panic attacks last up to an hour or so, for others they are momentary. It just depends.

Did you look up information about this on-line?