Lack of Empathy, Panic Attacks, Etc

[@mellonlord4616]

My roommate and I both got kittens around the same time but we wanted them to bond with us. So we took turns caring for them, their food, their litter, etc but strictly pet and loved only our cat. My cat bonded with me, hers with her. I had to leave my cat with my roommate for a year. When I came back she froze in her tracks at the sight of me in the window. I packed her in my car for days long journey, she sat staring at me in her crate for a long time. Then settled in with a sigh and went to sleep. She didn't cry once for the four days in the car. She was so happy to be with me. I think she knew I had come to get her and bring her home. I miss her so much.

[@bashmeesh]

I'm sorry. Lovely story. ❣

[@powerstation0872]

I had my first panic attack when I was a teenager. I was panicking so hard that I passed out one time. It's really frustrating hearing someone say "oh I went to a haunted house once and it was so scary I had a panic attack!" Like no. A panic attack is all encompassing. For me I have an incredibly irrational fear of one particular illness, and when I feel something in my body that relates to it, like Dr. Kirk says, train leaves the station, your entire thought process becomes "I am going to die". And you truly, truly believe you're going to die. That's the biggest marker for me when I'm having a panic attack. When my brain starts saying "I don't wanna die" over and over. It's horrific. Absolutely horrific. I feel for anyone out there who has to deal with it.

[@saloni9006]

About animals meeting attachment needs- I lived with an emotionally abusive, physically intimidating, and neglectful family for 20 years. Like I’d live 5 feet away from a 10 person household and sometimes I’d go 3-4 months without anyone speaking to me, and that was an extended relative safety period for me because making myself mute and invisible was how I could avoid offending someone into justifying attacking me. But I’m pretty stable and have no anger etc and I’m pretty sure it’s because I started rescuing and feeding and having relationships with stray animals as a teenager. I had this mini community of 4 dogs and 3-4 cats that absolutely loved me, I’d rescue them from trees and rooftops and rainstorms and attacks, feed them thrice a day (out of pocket, my family accused and abused me around “stealing” their food to feed my animals and I could never get them to believe I got it myself lol) and they’d follow me around all day every day. If it weren’t for those animals I wouldn’t have had my emotional needs met and I’d have a looooot more issues today, if I survived at all. I know people go through a lot worse and maybe I’m just sensitive but it was very emotionally jarring to be treated either as a hostile intruder or invisible in your own home. I would “hide” out in the street in the middle of the night surrounded by large stray dogs and that was the safest I would ever feel

[@DrLC.]

I admire your drive to get through all emails by the end of the year 👏 I’m thoroughly enjoying them. Thank you!

[@bashmeesh]

Same!

[@justine4339]

This is one of the reasons why I cam get through my lonely nights.

[@Wandering_Nowhere]

Being perfectionistic has been a total hinderance on my productivity and drive in life to the point where I'll just give up entire projects and shit on opportunities in case I don't live up to others' expectations least of all my own. I'm at a point where I avoid more of life than take part. Been this way for as long as I can remember yet it's still a problem. The rage inside from failing anything is exhausting.

[@bashmeesh]

Damn. Well said. I severely relate.

[@jagger8357]

My first panic attack happened at work while I was in family court for a client. I suddenly felt like I was going to pass out. I was sweating and nauseous and legit thought I was going to fall out of the chair. I ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on me. After that I had panic attacks almost daily. Sometimes several times a day. Sometimes I thought I was going to die and sometimes I thought I was going mentally insane and would lose all control over my thoughts and body. It’s absolutely terrible. It’s so sudden and so all-consuming. Several years of therapy + medication and I haven’t had one in months. FINGERS FUCKING CROSSED it stays that way.

[@bashmeesh]

Really happy for you for your progress, I hope for you for no more. ❤

[@CandiceWilson-u9p]

A lot of people with schizophrenia can seem to exhibit no empathy at times just bc how their symptoms are. My partner and my father struggle with this and I think it's important that ur addressing the fact that lack of empathy is not immediately narcissistic or anti social

[@bashmeesh]

Panic attacks almost make me feel like I'm hallucinating but I know I'm not when it's acute. I've also had panic attack for days, my mom took me to a talk therapist to bring me down. They're no joke. Thank you. Doctor Honda.

[@Isinita]

Great to hear that ocpd is on your deep dive list! I really look forward to that one. I seem have developed it as a defence to adhd in combination with strict (ocpd) parenting.

[@Phoenixx1127]

Thank you for this! I been having panic attacks for 2 days now and I'm lucky I got the day off!

[@Xxbubbly10]

I’ve been having a lot of panic attacks since my cat got sick the last time I think last week lasted two days and it made me start in a way hallucinating and seeing things wrong with him that weren’t there then I started thinking things were wrong with me it’s so horrible when it sets in I have to sleep to reset but since heart is pounding so hard and your brain is raising it’s hard to sleep or eat horrible thing to experience

[@bashmeesh]

I'm so sorry. I know a little how you feel, I feel like I hallucinate as well when I'm in acute panic. I will pray for your cat.

[@literarykitten]

insert shocked Pikachu face here. I was dizzy for over 6 months straight last year. Went through the whole MRI, brain specialist, etc. and no one could tell me what was going on. I gave up. Then I noticed that I got more dizzy (like, ok, I need to lay down or I will fall) when I am anxious. If only a single one of my docs knew about paresthesia and psychosomatic disorders, it would have given me a little hope. (Thank God I was working from home then because I would not have been able to work at all for that entire time as I did not feel safe driving)

[@whoknows7593]

This is almost the same that has been happening to me. It usually happens when I’m about to take the bus or if I’m walking by myself. I’m totally fine and all the sudden I think yo to myself “omg, what if I faint right now I would hit my head so hard because there is nowhere where I can sit down to calm down”. The reason why is because sometimes I get dizzy, cold sweats and I feel like I’m gonna faint (it has happened). I got an MRI, heart monitor and other test done and they all came back clean. Te he doctor told me not to drive until all my test came back because they thought I was having seizures but that is not the case. It si so frustrating and scary.

[@literarykitten]

@@whoknows7593 so scary! It's like, yes, I'm "calm" and grounding myself but you saying that I should be calm while the world is shifting under my feet is not helping. That impulse to tell someone to "calm down" comes from a severe misunderstanding of what is going on, but a sincere desire to help (usually, lol - sometimes severe douchery). I hope you're OK and that you find a doc who will actually help you out!! ❤️

[@presidentamanda7468]

Look up Malcolm Brenner. He had a full on relationship with a dolphin. He has done interviews about it on KZbin and I don’t remember the details, but he says it’s because of bad experiences with humans.

[@chrissmithz314]

Post attempt 7 or 8, please work. I just don't get what's doing it. I'll try changing more things that might be causing it to get filtered out 😥 Aw, I'm sad. I wrote a fairly lengthy reply and it's gone. This has happened before, where only I can see it when logged in, and it's not visible when I'm logged out. This time it's gone gone though. I've had hundreds of panic attacks, thankfully haven't had one in awhile. I think there's a strong connection between B sugar and panic attacks, and anxiety in general as well. There's a p u b m e d study that talks about high glycemic diets and GAD, se arch pmc four nine six three five six five Best way for me to get a panic attack was to raise my B sugar too fast, and to freak out about the symptoms when they were coming on. Maybe I had a chromium deficiency, or some other deficiency which caused my B sugar to go up too fast, and my body had to send out massive amounts of adrenaline to keep my B sugar in check, thus causing the panic attack. Or at least that's the impression I got from some research I did years ago. I've also heard your body sends out adrenaline when your B sugar gets too low, which could also make you more susceptible to panic attacks. So best way to reduce anxiety and panic attacks might be to try and keep your B sugar as stable as possible, and try and stick to a low glycemic diet. Also recognizing the symptoms when they came on, and telling yourself it's only a panic attack, relax, you're not about to have a heart attack or something. So try and stay as calm as possible, and the panic attack won't be as bad. Easier said than done though. Worst panic attacks were when I hadn't had one in awhile, and I would freak out when the symptoms started. Sorry for writing so much, my hope is that this might possibly help someone, or maybe cause them to look at things from a different angle.

[@bashmeesh]

Thanks for sharing

[@jmorphiscave]

Dr Kirk , if you could, would you consider writing a book about yourself?

[@bashmeesh]

Attachment theory for pets 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯