Is this an anxiety attack?

[Rose94]

Hi my name is Rose,
I've been struggling with bouts of depression over the past few years. Lately I've been having what seem to be panic attacks, but when I read about the symptoms, they don't seem to match. I'm looking for help identifying what these attacks might be so i can better deal with them. 
When a worried feeling starts to build up and I am in a situation where I feel trapped, the feeling intensifies and i feel like my body is closing up. When this happens in the company of my partner, I try to talk but become frustrated that I cant explain myself. This leads to half finished sentences until eventually i cant talk but only make sounds. I will then lose that ability and stand exactly where I am, unable to move. I start to cry and the sounds around me become very loud and agitate me further. I also scratch and rub around my face and neck repeatedly as well as pulling at my hair. I dont like to be touched and cannot be coaxed away from my position until I have calmed down enough.
I do not ever feel dizzy, short of breath, feeling like I am going to faint or sweaty as are often listed as anxiety/panic attack symptoms. 
Any help on what this might be or how I/my partner can better deal with it would be so so greatly appreciated 

[Beltane]

Yes it's a panic attack.

Panic attacks are exactly as you describe. A worried feeling starts, and it builds and builds. Our body thinks there is a danger going on so it releases stress hormones such as adrenaline to prepare to "fight or flight" (have you heard of the fight/ flight response?). So it prepares us to run or fight the "danger". In reality, there's not really a danger. A panic attack is when our body THINKS there is a danger, but there's not really.

This is where therapy and medication can help us. The therapy re-teaches our brain what really is a danger, and teaches us coping mechanisms to deal with this worried feeling so that it doesn't build up to those levels and cause those symptoms.

Depression, anxiety, and panic attacks can often go hand in hand. If you have one, you're more likely to have one of the others. I have all three. But I don't suffer from them anymore- i got treatment and this has made me better. I used to have panic attacks every day and spent every day living in severe anxiety and depression. I still see my counsellor to talk about issues that are bothering me, so that they dont begin to cause severe anxiety.

Now i'm happy, calm, stable, and i cant remember the last time i felt significant anxiety, depression or had a panic attack. It has been many months I think.

Panic attacks can cause a HUGE range of symptoms. And no two people are the same. I also didn't think what i was experiencing was panic attacks. I didnt get dizzy or hyperventilate like the information brochures say are symptoms- instead i got a racing heart beat, cold sweats and nausea so bad i'd sometimes vomit. Those certainly weren't in the brochure! I even convinced myself at one point that i had brain cancer!!!

in the end i saw a good doctor who explained that panic attacks (and anxiety in general) can cause an enormous range of symptoms. I didnt really understand until i got onto the anxiety medication i'm on now, and got a good therapist, and those symptoms all went away. As i said, its been months since i experienced those symptoms and i've coped with many stressful situations in that time and still not had any distressing symptoms. I just... coped...

So hopefully that gives you some hope. Go see your doctor and have a chat about getting a therapist (funded by medicare) and/ or medication.

Good luck!