So to preface, I have a history of panic/ anxiety attacks. I get them under high stress situations. Almost physical altercation with my estranged father, father yelling at me while teaching me to drive on the highway, etc. So far only two people have been able to get me to a point where I’m crying, breathing heavily and sorta flailing my arms trying to calm down. My estranged father and my MIL. My MIL has never seen me get to this point as I run out of the room as soon as I start panicking and breathing heavy while upset. Anyway yesterday she and I are talking about our move and visiting arrangements for her grandkids. This conversation quickly escalates as she starts getting irritated and yelling about how we’re taking too long to move and she doesn’t know to continue the trash service etc as their moving out of the house as well. We’re moving about the same time but my family of almost four leaves first in two weeks. I kept answer calmly telling her we can’t move until we get an answer from my husbands district manager about a transfer to the different location we’re moving to. She just keeps saying the same things. “I don’t know whether to pay to keep the electricity on, trash service, etc” and she’s getting more and more stressed out. I kept saying I didn’t want to argue and apologizing for the stress we were putting her through but she keeps going. I should’ve ended the conversation and left but I wasn’t sure if we were talking in circles or making progress and I wanted more of an understanding of things before I left. (We were also discussing our relationship with each other and recent problems). She eventually starts to cry and yelling at me at the same time and tells me to leave. I apologized and left but she kept yelling at me while I was walking away so I told her that her own actions made her get to this point and left. Was this a panic attack? Am I completely at fault here or was it some sort of manipulative tactic? Our arguments have never caused her to start crying before.
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None of the above. Next time it escalates. Politely say goodbye and go.