How to Help Someone Having a Panic Attack

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This article details the best current measures to take to relieve someone suffering a panic attack. Come to the support of friends, family, and other members of the community when they suffer from an unexpected panic attack.

Steps

1. Understand what a panic attack is. A panic attack is a sudden attack of extreme anxiety. It can occur without warning and for no obvious reason. The symptoms are listed under the tips sections of this article. In extreme cases, the symptoms may be accompanied by an acute fear of dying. Although they are quite distressing, panic attacks are not usually life-threatening and can last from 5 – 20 minutes. It is important to note that the signs and symptoms of a panic attack can be similar to those of a heart attack.
2. If this is the first time the person has had something like this, seek emergency medical attention. When in doubt, it is always best to seek immediate medical attention. If the person has diabetes, asthma or other medical problems, seek medical help.
3. Find out the cause of the attack. Talk to the person and determine if he or she is having a panic attack and not another kind of medical emergency (such as a heart or asthma attack) which would require immediate medical attention.
4. Establish if there is a cause for the fear and either try to remove it or consider taking the person away from the source of distress to a quiet area. Sometimes a person with panic disorder will already have techniques or medication which they know will help them get through the attack, so ask them if there is anything you can do.
5. Speak to them in a reassuring but firm manner. Be prepared for the possibility of the person having an intense desire to escape. Try and get them calm down (and in order to do this, you need to remain calm yourself). Ask the person to remain still, but never grab, hold, or even gently restrain them; if they want to move around, suggest that they stretch, do jumping jacks, or go with you for a brisk walk.
6. Do not dismiss their fears in any way by saying things like “there’s nothing to worry about” or “it’s all in your mind” or “you’re overreacting”. The fear is very real to them at that moment, and the best you can do is help them cope – minimizing or dismissing the fear in any way can make the panic attack worse. Just say “it’s OK” and move on to breathing.
7. Stay calm and don’t pressure the person. This is not the time to force the person to come up with answers or to do things that will make their anxiety worse. Minimize the stress levels by being a calming influence and let them get into a relaxed state. Don’t insist they figure out what caused their attack as this will just make it worse.
8. Encourage them to try to control breathing. Regaining control of their breathing will help eliminate the symptoms and will help calm them down. Many people take short, rapid breaths when they’re panicking, and some people hold their breath. This reduces the oxygen intake which will cause the heart to race. Use one of the following techniques to help bring their breathing back to normal:
   • Try counting breaths. One way of helping them to do this is to ask the person to breathe in and out on your count. Begin by counting aloud, encouraging the person to breath in for 2 and then out for 2, gradually increase the count to 4 and then 6 if possible until their breathing has slowed down and is regulated.
   • Get them to breathe into a paper bag. If the person is receptive, offer a paper bag (see warnings), but be aware that for some people, the paper bag itself may be a trigger of fear, especially if they’ve had negative experiences with being pushed into it during previous panic attacks. Also, since this is done to prevent hyperventilation, it may not be necessary if you’re dealing with someone who holds their breath or slows their breathing when they panic. If it is necessary, however, this should be done by alternating around 10 breaths into and out of the bag, followed by breathing without a bag for 15 seconds. It is important not to overdo the bag breathing in case carbon dioxide levels rise too high and oxygen levels fall too low, causing other more serious medical problems.
   • Get them to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, making the exhale in a blowing fashion like blowing up a balloon. Do this with them. to help them focus.
9. Keep them cool. Many panic attacks can be accompanied by sensations of warmth, especially around the neck and face. A cold object, ideally a wet washcloth can often help minimize this symptom and aide in reducing the severity of the attack.
10. Don’t leave them alone. Stay with them until they have recovered from the attack. Never leave someone who is struggling to breathe. A person with a panic attack may seem like they’re being unfriendly or rude, but understand what they are going through and wait until they’re back to normal. Ask them what has worked in the past, and if and when they have taken their meds.
11. Remember that the feelings are real and that their thoughts may be racing. Reassure them that you will get them help, do not leave them alone but do not hesitate to seek immediate medical attention including an ambulance. They may be acting on feelings, but they can act in ways that put the person in immediate risk of serious harm.
12. Seek medical help. If the symptoms do not subside within 15 minutes, consider seeking urgent medical advice. Some panic attacks, however, may last for hours, and bringing the person to a hospital could make things worse. If this is the first time he or she has had a panic attack, they may want to seek medical attention because they are frightened of what is happening to them. If they’ve had panic attacks in the past, however, they may know that getting emergency care will worsen their state. Ask them. This decision will ultimately depend on the individual’s experience and your interactions with him or her.

Tips

• Palpitations or chest pain
• Speeding up of the heart rate
• Rapid or over-breathing
• Headaches
• Backaches
• Trembling
• Tingling in fingers or toes
• Sweating
• Dry mouth
• Difficulty swallowing
• Dizziness/Lightheaded/Feeling like you’re going to pass out. (This is usually from hyperventilating.)
• Nausea, abdominal cramping
• Hot flashes or chills
• Less frequent symptoms include:
  • Disturbing or negative thoughts
  • Racing thoughts
  • Feeling of unreality
  • Feeling of impending doom
  • Feeling of impending death
  • Blotchiness
• If someone close to you has panic disorder and the panic attacks are frequent, it may strain your relationship. How you deal with the effects of panic disorder on your relationship is beyond the scope of this article, but it should be addressed with professional help.

Warnings

• Check that the cause of poor breathing is not asthma is an entirely different condition and requires different treatments.
• If using the paper bag method, the bag should only be placed around the nose and mouth sufficiently to ensure the expired breath is re-breathed. Do not ever place the bag over the head and plastic bags should never be used.
• Panic attacks, especially to someone who has never had one before, often seem like heart attacks. But heart attacks can be deadly, and if there’s any question as to which one it is, it’s best to call emergency services.
• It should be noted that many asthma sufferers have panic attacks. It is critical that these people re-establish control of their breathing. If a person fails to restore their breathing to a normal pattern of respiration and they do not seek emergency medical attention in a timely manner, the resulting asthma attack can have dire consequences and in some cases may lead to death.
• Breathing into a paper bag causes the rebreathing of carbon dioxide, which can result in respiratory acidosis. Respiratory acidosis is a dangerous condition which disrupts the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin (blood). Any such attempts to control panic attacks using a paper bag should be closely monitored, or not used at all.

Things_You’ll Need”

Things You’ll Need

• Paper bag (optional)

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

• VideoJug Video demonstration of dealing with a panic attack. Original source of article. Shared with permission and appreciation.
• Panic Attack Help Information for dealing with a panic attack.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Help Someone Having a Panic Attack. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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CALM YOURSELF WITH VISUALIZATION

Here is some you may want to try for panic attack treatment.

The purpose of visualization is to enable you to quickly clear mental stress, tension, and anxious thinking. The visualization can be used when feeling stressed and is particularly useful when your mind is racing with fearful,
anxious thinking. This visualization process, when practiced frequently, is
very effective for eliminating deep-seated mental anxieties or intrusive thoughts. To gain maximum benefit, the exercise must be carried out for longer then 10 minutes at a time, as anything shorter will not bring noticeable results. There is no right or wrong way to carry out the visualization.

Be intuitive with it and do not feel you are unable to carry it out if you feel you are not very good at seeing mental imagery. As long as your attention is on the
exercise, you will gain benefit. It is best to do this exercise in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, and then when you are more practiced you will be able to get the same positive results in a busier environment such as the workplace. You should notice a calming effect on your state of mind along with a sensation of mental release and relaxation. Either sitting or standing, close your eyes and move your attention to your breath. To become aware of your
breathing, place one hand on your upper chest and one on your stomach. Take a breath and let your stomach swell forward as you breathe in and fall back gently as you breathe out. Take the same depth of breath each time and try to get a steady rhythm going.

Your hand on your chest should have little or no movement. Again, try to take the same depth of breath each time you breathe in. This is called Diaphragmatic Breathing. When you feel comfortable with this technique, try to slow your breathing rate down by instituting a short pause after you have breathed out and before you breathe in again. Initially, it may feel as though you are not getting
enough air in, but with regular practice this slower rate will soon start to feel comfortable.

It is often helpful to develop a cycle where you count to three when you breathe in, pause, and then count to three when you breathe out (or 2, or 4—whatever is comfortable for you). This will also help you focus on your breathing without any other thoughts coming into your mind. If you are aware of other thoughts entering your mind, just let them go and bring your attention back to counting
and breathing. Continue doing this for a few minutes. (If you practice this, you will begin to strengthen the Diaphragmatic Muscle, and it will start to work normally—leaving you with a nice relaxed feeling all the time.) Now move your attention to your feet. Try to really feel your feet. See if you can feel each toe. Picture the base of your feet and visualize roots growing slowly out through
your soles and down into the earth. The roots are growing with quickening pace and are reaching deep into the soil of the earth. You are now rooted firmly to the earth and feel stable like a large oak or redwood tree. Stay with this feeling of grounded safety and security for a few moments.

Once you have created a strong feeling or impression of being grounded like a tree, visualize a cloud of bright light forming way above you. A bolt of lightning
from the luminous cloud hits the crown of your head, and that ignites a band of bright white light descending slowly from your head all the way down your body, over your legs, and out past your toes. As the band of light passes over you, feel it clearing your mental state. It is illuminating your mind and clearing any disturbing or stressful thoughts that you may have been thinking about. Repeat this image four or five times until you feel a sense of clearing and release from any anxious thinking.

In finishing, see yourself standing under a large,luminescent waterfall. The water is radiant and bubbling with vitality and life. As you stand under the waterfall, you
can feel the water run over every inch of your body, soothing you and instilling within you a sense of deep calm.

HOW TO STOP PANIC ATTACKS
One of the unfortunate results from suffering from excessive stress
and anxiety is a physical reaction of your body to the signs and symptoms
of anxiety. Your body is telling you that you need to rest momentarily.
But when you are experiencing a panic attack, it’s anything BUT restful.
Cindy had her first panic attack while George and her were driving home from a
Diamondbacks baseball game.  They were about 25 miles from home when Cindy
began to feel a bit “off”.  She was having trouble breathing, her body felt
disconnected, and her heart was beating at what seemed like 100 miles an hour.
Cindy felt like she was dying.  She kept saying over and
over again, “Please not now.  I’m not ready.”
The good news is that she wasn’t dying – obviously!

So, let’s look at the signs that you might be having a panic attack.
The following list gives tell-tale warning signs of an oncoming panic attack.

·    Palpitations
·    A pounding heart, or an accelerated heart rate
·    Sweating
·    Trembling or shaking
·    Shortness of breath
·    A choking sensation
·    Chest pain or discomfort
·    Nausea or stomach cramps
·    Surreal-ness (a feeling of unreality)
·    Fear of losing control or going crazy
·    Fear of dying
·    Numbness or a tingling sensation in your face and limbs
·    Chills or hot flashes

It is surprising how many people go to the hospital emergency room
thinking that they’re having a heart attack only to find out that it’s
a panic attack.  They’re that overwhelming!

Here are some tips on “How to Stop a Panic Attack”

Start breathing deeply – in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Think relaxing thoughts, and again, while breathing in, think “Relax,” and
then breathe out.

Maybe if you just try to relax your muscles.  Tense both shoulders, hold
for 10 seconds, then release. Try it again.

IF the adrenaline is really pumping through your system, your body is
tingling with uncomfortable sensations, and now the dreaded feeling of losing
complete control engulfs your emotions. No one around you has any idea of the
sheer terror you are experiencing. For them, it’s just a regular day and
another frustratingly slow line at the grocery store.

You realize you are out of options.  It’s time to run.  You excuse yourself
from the line looking embarrassed. There is no time for excuses—you need to be
alone. You leave the supermarket and get into your car to ride it out alone.

It’s important to realize that these anxiety attacks are very real to
the people who are having them and they should never be pushed off to the side.

Please remember there is hope for you and there are many ways to overcome Panic
Attacks and Anxiety.

Another great method you can use to stop these attacks is to learn when
it is happening, and then immediately pick something up and focus all of
your attention on it. Start to describe the object to yourself. Tell yourself
how it looks, feels, what color it is, etc. Alternatively, you can get into
knitting. Knitting requires all of your attention and with all of the soft
yarns available it will feel great in your hands as well.

There are many things you can do to trick your mind out of having a
anxiety attack. There are panic attack and anxiety treatment options online
that are designed to trick your mind out of experiencing a Panic Attack and
they do a really great job.

When you are able to stop panic attacks before they start, you will
never have to worry about being in a social situation where you are
panicking ever again.

“Panic Away” does, and in particular the One Move Technique™, is give people the ability to immediately stop fearing another panic attack. It is very simple yet amazingly effective.

There are some self treatment options that one may want to consider.

Did you know that Panic Away is one of the best selling Self-help courses on the Internet? The course is specifically aimed at curing panic attacks for good.  It’s primary goal is to help the anxiety attack sufferer learn to control their thoughts, thus eliminating these attacks.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy strategies lie at the heart of this method. How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works is that it teaches the individual techniques to re-program the reaction in the mind to anxiety attack triggers. While wehighly recommend the Panic Away System there still is a missing ingredient.

An area that many Professional’s fail to consider is diet and nutrition. Proper diet and
nutrition can help minimize the adverse affects these types of attacks have on the body and nervous system. That is why we recommend a 2 stage treatment approach. It is a very simple approach.

1. Order Panic Away NOW to Treat the Psychological side of the problem.

2. Order  Relora® Max which is the a Nutritional Product to help calm down
   associated stress.

Relora®Max is a natural stress management ingredient that helps control stress-related eating and has the added value of being non-sedating. In central nervous system receptor binding assays the plant extracts in Relora® binds to several important targets associated with stress. It does not bind to the benzodiazepine receptorsthat would cause sedation, yet has the relaxing qualities

The first thing you can do if you feel a panic attack creeping up on you is to try and learn to control your breathing. This can be very difficult to do when you are in panic mode, but it can be a great help. Train your body to know the first signs of a panic attack and then take some time to sit down, and control your breathing. When you focus on your breathing in this way, you can take your mind off the reason you are having a panic attack, and it will not happen.

Another great method you can use to stop panic attacks is to learn when it is happening, and then immediately pick something up and focus all of your attention on it. Start to describe the object to yourself. Tell yourself how it looks, feels, what color it is, etc. Alternatively, you can get into knitting. Knitting requires all of your attention and with all of the soft yarns available it will feel great in your hands as well.

There are many things you can do to trick your mind out of having a panic attack. The Panic Away system has been designed to do just that and it does a great job.

When you are able to stop panic attacks before they start, you will never have to worry about being in a social situation where you are panicking ever again.
Photo Credit: ate steiner

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