Anyone else gradually develop a mental/psychological issue? (people)

[Randomdude]

I havent really done much research on this, but I figured Id pose the question.

I am 30 years old, and over the past couple years, Ive started developing a reaction to crowded spaces and large numbers of people. Ive never been a "fan" I guess of that situation but, now Im to the point where I find myself having difficulty breathing, having to sit down, and having what seems like very mild panic attacks.

Im ok at work, and in the grocery store, even an airplane, but if Im at a concert, or a festival, or a very crowded amusement park, its very tough for me to handle. My wife looks at me like Im weird, or possibly faking it, but I know something physically is happening to me where I just need to be in an outdoor space without people around me.

Anyone else had something like this happen, where you just suddenly start reacting to a situation or scenario horribly bad at out of nowhere and unexpectedly? How did you handle it?

[sailordave]

Yes, happens all the time, especially to military veterans. My wife has accepted my aversion to crowded places. Still trying to get her to understand my sensitivity to loud sudden noises. My recliner is near the refrigerator. One night the wife left a soda can in the freezer too long and it exploded. I was so shocked by the sound I threw myself face down on the floor, crawled to the bedroom to see if she was OK, and called 911 thinking there'd been gunfire. After they left, that's when I found the soda can.

[Wembley]

What keeps me from thinking this is not abnormal is the sheer volume of people I have known personally who all said the same thing that the older they get the less they can stand crowds and going in Walmart on a Saturday is so traumatizing that they stay home. I suspect this could be from the country getting so overpopulated, especially in places that were once small rural towns now bustling with people that have moved in. So people who grew up in smaller settings are now being subjected to things only metropolitaners once had to deal with. I think it comes to a tipping point where there is just getting to be too many of us on too little land.