Really scary (mental health?) experience

[Barbs775]

And have no idea what happened today. I was sat in a drs waiting room. Looking around. It was quite quiet, hard to describe but like quiet murmuring. My hearing almost felt quite muted, and I had this weird sense that everyone was looking at me. I looked around and a woman was staring at me, then the man next to her, then another woman to my right. My heart was racing as I couldn't tell if it was real or not. It felt like a hallucination and I had to look at the floor and breathe deeply. I have had this experience once before when it was just me and my friend in my lounge, and I couldn't tell if he was looking at me or if it was in my mind. Its always a kind of dead in the eyes looking into your soul 'you've done something bad' kind of look. I was really quite scared today. I realise I sound nuts but has anyone else experienced this before?

Yes I totally recognise that description OP, I'm much older now but I remember maybe 3 episodes like that when I was a young adult. I did not have good mental health when I was younger. I think this particularly was a kind of paranoia resulting in a confirmatory visual hallucination.
You DO NOT sound nuts.
Hope you're OK.
Could you be overtired and stressed too? I think that sort of thing is much more likely to occur if so.

Have a look at depersonalisation/derealisation. It can sometimes happen when your brain gets a bit overloaded and can present in a number of ways. It's not normally anything that concerning but a sign that you're a bit overwhelmed. It can be very disconcerting though.

Oh thank god it isn't just me. I have a history of schizophrenia in my family (immediate) and my mind went all kinds of places. I'm going to look into depersonalisation. It was really, really scary.

Yes I remember it being very scary too.
Take care of yourself OP and maybe take it easy and see if you can avoid too much pressure and stress.

Did you describe it to your gp when you went in? Sounds like what I have taken to be panic attacks

I agree depersonalisation/derealisation. I too have the very uncomfortable T-shirt. It’s such a horrible feeling that can’t really be understood unless you’ve experienced it.

I wasn't panicking though on either occasion. I was hallucinating. I must have been. Three people were all staring directly at me and they were the only people facing me. In my mind I knew it wasn't real. The only separate occasion I have experienced the same is when I took magic mushrooms years ago (I haven't done since).

You don't sound crazy at all OP. Hope you're ok as this sounds very unsettling

I just don't want it to happen again. I literally froze. I must have looked so weird as I was looking around the room at people a bit manically.