Extreme Stress Release After Being Startled

[Survivor526]

Over the summer my 19 year old step daughter (who I also think has traits similar to my narc mother) was staying with us and made huge and terrible messes in the kitchen. By "messes", I mean that every bit of counter and table space was in use, dishes were piled in the sink, bags of groceries were in the middle of the floor so that one had a difficult time even getting in for a glass of water! The first few days this happened I worked on cleaning the mess but eventually realized that I was acting like the maid and just started avoiding the room altogether. I was extremely agitated, however. It was consuming my every freaking thought! It was all I could do to not go in there and clean.  Finally, as I lay in bed one night trying to figure out if I was literally insane, my husband accidentally clicked on something on his phone that made a pretty loud noise and I reacted almost as if someone had shot me! I jumped and screamed and was about 10 times as startled as I should have been. And then I was calmer than I'd been in weeks. It's almost as if I was awaiting some tragedy to befall me and the shock of that noise had simulated the attack I'd been expecting. I don't know if that is a common occurrence or if there might be a name for it. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Could this also explain my enjoyment of scary movies and halloween haunted attractions?Might I be seeking that same catharsis?

[AmandaB30]

I don't know completely, but you said you were feeling very agitated (horrible feeling, I feel for you ) whenever I'm overly agitated with no release I'm ALWAYS extra sensitive to stimuli and it feels like it's only a matter of time before I have a mini "breakdown" where I have a panic like attack, cry a LOT (almost like a child it feels and even though I'm alone, I still feel ashamed) anyway after this release, I would feel SO much better usually, if not a bit better. It's happened a few times. It could really explain the scary movie/haunted attraction part too, but haha for me it's the exact OPPOSITE with that stuff! lol I can not even stand an advertisement on TV for a scary movie! For me, it actually slowly adds to this background feeling of agitation and increases my fight or flight response horribly. But I am extremely anxious on a daily basis. I know a few people who feel "refreshed" if that's the word haha after horror movies, so I definitely think it's possible.