Originally Posted by ratbastid

Google "social anxiety disorder".

And don't freak out about the word "disorder" in there--it covers a very broad spectrum of behaviors, a range from mild and adaptive to completely debilitating. The point is: it's treatable, if you think of it as something to treat, rather than something you'd have to magically transcend and heroically "get over" somehow.

It sounds like you had a panic attack. A common symptom of social anxiety.