system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why do panic attacks cause disorientation?

So I've suffered panic attacks for over a decade and I'm kind of used to them but recently noticed there is one effect of panic that I don't understand the physiological basis for.

When I get a panic attack or am under extreme stress, I get a strange delirious feeling like my proprioception is getting confused - for instance, it may feel like my head is floating above my body, or sometimes it feels like my arms are where my legs are and my legs are where my arms are, or sometimes it feels like I have no torso. It is like my mind 'forgets' where my body parts are and my internal model of them gets jumbled up. This stops, of course, if I look down at my body or touch something almost to 'remind' my brain where my body parts are, but if there is no reference point, they get mixed up and I get a bizarre feeling of disorientation.

I assume this isn't actually useful in a crisis situation and is more of a byproduct of fight/flight? How does adrenaline work to cause disorientation of this kind? 

EDIT: I just double checked to make sure I had used the word proprioception correctly....still not sure I have...but while doing so discovered there has been some kind of link made between vestibular/proprioception difficulty and agoraphobia. If anyone can explain that link that would be really interesting - I have agoraphobia and also have a history of inner ear problems leading to perforated eardrums, difficulty balancing, and the habit of falling over if there isn't enough of a light source for me to orientate myself to (i.e. I think I over-use vision for balance) - all of which I had assumed was down to my history of ear problems. How the hell do these things link to agoraphobia?
gpt
Panic attacks have been shown to cause pretty strong dissociative symptoms such as depersonalization or derealization. The dissociation is the brains defense mechanism against the feeling of a panic attack. This would explain the feeling with your body, which to me sounds a lot like depersonalization.