Real Talk Co.

Today I’ll be explaining why you may have a panic attack when you see your ex.

A panic attack is never anything that could be considered good for your health.

It’s commonly a response to an anxiety induced situation.

But let’s look more into this.

Why do I have a panic attack when I see my ex?

There’s plenty of things that could make you panic in such a way. You might fear that you’ll mess things up with them when you’re in front of each other. You might be unsure about how you feel which stresses you out. Or even have a traumatic event with them that triggers that response.

Messing things up

There could be many different reasons why you’re scared to “mess things up” with your ex.

The most common thing that people in past relationships are worried about messing up with their ex is a second chance.

They might want a second chance at having a relationship because they think that’s the best person that they’ll ever get in life.

It’s sad because there’s so many other people in the world that could give you a better experience.

Depending on who’s the person that cared more in the relationship when it was still going strong, it could be more stressful for that person.

You might be trying to look for a distraction from the life you live today.

Depending on where you’re at emotionally right now, you might be wanting some type of support to get you through something unrelated.

And with that, you might think they can help with that void you’re trying to fill.

It works both ways, but someone might be looking for an ego boost.

You might have felt like a better person when you’re with them for whatever reason.

Understanding yourself

As we said before, a big reason that most panic attacks happen is from anxiety.

And anxiety is usually caused by fear – fear of the unknown.

When you’re unsure about where you two stand in terms of getting together again or even having a solid friendship, that doubt messes with you.

If you’re stuck on that feeling of doubt, it could be a reflection on how you cope with unfamiliar things.

Maybe you never felt this way before.

Maybe you’re the type of person that cares more about the feelings of others to the point where it breaks you down.

This is a lot harder of a scenario to pinpoint, because it really requires you to be honest with yourself.

You’re going to have to understand the type of emotions you’re feeling whenever you see them.

And that first comes with identifying them.

There’s a spectrum of emotions, but it’s easier to look at it like a scale – good or bad feelings.

The tricky thing is that either side could overwhelm you to the point of panic.

Maybe you’ve heard the saying “I’m crying tears of joy.”

Or something close to that.

If you have trouble with knowing that what you’re feeling is actually a good emotion, you could still go into a state of panic because of how intense the feeling is.

And obviously, there’s negative emotions, as well as feelings that could put you in a bad place.

Triggering Trauma

This may be hard to read if you’ve had this experience before, but abuse can be a reason why the relationship was ended.

Again, when you’re in constant reflection of negative thoughts, it can cause you to spiral out into a rage that’s hard to control.

Sometimes seeing your ex, and if they were abusive in any way could remind you about all of those times that stressed you out.

It could be the same as watching a really scary movie or having a bad dream all over again, and just them being near you messes with you.

It’s a hard situation to bounce back from.

The best thing that I would recommend you do is something as good as therapy.

Therapy will help you get the closure you need.

A licensed therapist will help you make more sense about why you feel the way you do, especially if you never got the law involved or felt like you had justice for your past.

Again, I’d like to draw more attention to the word closure, especially in terms of trauma.

It’s important to get this because you’ll never get over this hump unless you’re able to accept something about the relationship that didn’t work out.

Final Thoughts

So to sum things up, there’s plenty of reasons why you may have panic attacks when seeing your ex.

You might be scared to mess things up with them.

You might be unsure about what you’re feeling, and it stresses you out.

Or you may even be trying to get over a trauma that they left with you after one if you called it quits.

What do you think?

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.