To think that this isn't a normal reaction?

[SharkiraSharkira]

I was talking to a friend at work earlier about a very upsetting and traumatic episode in my life a few years ago involving my children and social services.

I thought I was ok talking about this subject as I have had counselling about it, and I thought I had moved on from this but I found that just talking about it triggered an extreme physical reaction from me: I was dizzy, shaking, felt sick and was crying uncontrollably.

It got me thinking about whether or not I need to explore more counselling or other treatment about this. I don't talk about it much as every time I do I tend to get the same sort of reaction, is this something I will always have to live with or can it be fixed? I don't want to feel this way forever

You had an anxiety attack, which is very common when discussing or thinking about a traumatic situation. Occasional anxiety attacks are NOT a bad thing. It is simply your body reacting to stress chemicals, as what happens during a fight or flight situation. The problem is, is that physically, you're not fighting or running away, which would then burn off those stress chemicals (cortisol). Instead, you are left standing or sitting there having to deal with this rush of hormone, and that's why you get sweaty, dizzy, nauseous, tingly legs and arms, whatever.

If these attacks are happening frequently and are affecting the quality of your life, maybe counseling will help. The most helpful thing you can do is to anticipate the anxiety, assure yourself you will be ok, because you will, and then allow the stress chemical to run its course and then ebb away. The book Dare: The New way to Stop Anxiety and end panic attacks helped me ENORMOUSLY and finally made me appreciate WHY these attacks happen. You can control it, and NO there is nothing "wrong" with you!