My friend has panic attacks?

Question

When ever were in a busy place.
What can i do to help her, and to help prevent her from having them when it is busy?

Answer 1

basically i think u should go somewhere less crowded and make her breathe in and out so she can relax

Answer 2

Panic attacks can be very frightening for the sufferer and the people with them because they seem much more serious than they are. I have suffered with them for 15 years and I can usually talk myself out of them now but the best thing you can do is provide comfort and support if they happen.

Tell your friend it's ok, that it'll pass, maybe hold her hands, talk to her etc. You won't prevent them, only your friend can do that by finding what the trigger is and what is causing her anxiety so she can reduce it. However, having a supportive, caring person with you make them much easier to overcome.

I would suggest your friend speak to a psychiatrist/psychologist/psychotherapist about her anxiety so that she can work out how to avoid situations that cause her the distress. Also, tell her to carry a brown paper bag with her at all times and breathe in and out of it during an attack. Lastly, tell her that she must talk herself out of a panic attack by repeating to herself that it's ok, that it'll pass, that there is nothing to worry about.

Answer 3

Any solution your friend decides should be used in conjunction with physical exercise- 30 min of walking 3 times a week. If she eats crap food or drinks a lot of alcohol, she has to knock that off as well. Caffeine = also bad. Sedentary lifestyle or too much time in virtual worlds (online rpg or internet) can also affect the brain's GABA receptors and cause panic.

Deep breathing exercises work wonders-

If your friend is not opposed to medication and does not have substance abuse issues, she might consider medication if she wishes to eliminate the panic attack at it's onset before it becomes problematic. Panic attacks vary in severity and consistency, but they are common enough that there is a wide range of choices of medication depending on the desired results. If she panics everyday, an anti-depressant like Zoloft taken once a day in conjunction with a benzodiazepine like Valium taken as-needed (onset of panic) might be a good start. If they are infrequent, Xanax or Lorazepam taken alone as-needed work well. I use to panic frequently throughout the day so I took Valium because it is a sedative with a long half-life. Now I have a panic attack only once a week or so, so I take Xanax because it has a very short half-life and I don't need the sedative effects to last more than a few hours. The half-life of a tablet of medication indicates how long the medications effects last. Some half-lives of pills are a few hours, some can last as long as a few days. Something to keep in mind when choosing. Below is a partial list of medications she can use to get started, both the medication name and the Brand it's sold as. Check the patent expiration date if you are have a lower income or no insurance- medications still holding patents have no generic alternatives available and this can mean spending hundreds of dollars, rather than $20 to $50 on a prescription. Doctors often have free samples on hand as well. However, if a medication works, suck up the cost and stick with it, and consider yourself somewhat lucky. Many people take months and years to figure out which one works.

# Benzodiazepines ("minor tranquilizers")
* alprazolam (Xanax®)
* clonazepam (Klonopin®)
* diazepam (Valium®)
* flunitrazepam (Rohypnol®)
* lorazepam (Atavan®)
* triazolam (Halcion®)

Another solution for prevention or avoiding medication is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The basic premise is training your behaviors and thoughts to control emotion instead of emotion controlling thoughts and behaviors (which is often the default method people follow). This as an extremely effective treatment that can be very cost-effective (universities often have student therapist teaching workshops on CBT as part of their course requirements, and attending costs very little and can even be free). Information on cognitive behavioral therapy is readily available on the net. It is meant to be a more long-term-solution as it is a learned therapy which takes time and so not usually effective immediately. Also people who begin CBT, which is commonly used to treat panic, do so after evaluating the possible causes to determine if the cause of the panic is psychological or physical.

These are solutions that worked for me but I have one more. The one thing I did that had a noticeable effect right away besides of course medication was to get rid of my television. I gave it to a friend and cut my panic and anxiety in half. It's an accepted theory that television makes one more prone to stress, gives the neurological system too may unnatural "jolts", and has an affect on overall anxiety and depression.

Hope this helps!

http://counsellingresource.com/types/cognitive-therapy/
http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/psychotherapy/a/cbtplus.htm

Answer 4

There is an actual condition out there called social anxiety disorder that will cause panic attacks in stressful social situation.

You should encourage your friend to go talk to a doctor about this, there is unfortunately no way to prevent and anxiety attack, however there are very effective treatment methods available.

The best thing you can do is give her a lot of encouragement to go talk to somebody about the difficulty she is experiencing.

Answer 5

I am so happy, it was only a 35 minute drive ( 70 minutes total) but absolutely no sign of anxiety or panic i shopped till I dropped - brilliant! I will now go for the next stage DUAL CARRIAGE way, probably at the weekend, with my husband accompanying me first then the solo drive, if successful the final stage of driving on motorway

Beat Anxiety And Panic Attacks Naturally?

Answer 6

She must not start to avoid these places, or she may end up agraphobic. If she has one, let her link arms with you as she may be dizzy or light headed. Walk to a quiet area, sit down. If she has a paper bag, breathe into that for a few minutes. Talk firmly and quietly to her, reassuring her she is doing well, and it will soon pass. Dont what ever you do, throw your arms around her and be so sympathetic, this will make her panic more. Firm words, but nicely spoken will do the trick.

Answer 7

See a therapist, they will help sort out why she has these attacks. I my self have them, but they derive from what had happened to me as a child. Medication might work for her and help calm her down during these events.

If she can't see a doctor, then tell her to take deep breaths and talk to her about happy things, boyfriends, kids anything that makes her happy and gets her chatting. Play a corny game or something. I do these things when I forget my meds and seems to help ease it a little bit.

Good luck, but the best thing is to see a doctor that can help further.
Good luck and your a good friend for caring so much! =)

Answer 8

I personaly have a panic attacks.Thats caused by some action that shocked the person girl/boy.Best way to prevent its to talk to somebody about youre problem.Close friend ,Doctor ,mother ,father, brother, sister etc.Whoever these person can trust.For example you can take iniciative and tell her/his mother/father depends if its boy/father ,girl/mother to take her to a shrink doctor (or whatever its called there in your country)and I hope that the shrink will now what to do with her.He will probably gave her/him some pills [BUT SHE/HE MUST BE HONEST WITH THE DOCTOR] tell the doctor what's her problem where it hapens when it hapens.But here the parent will have to do the biggest rolle.Make the person confident,if she need to to go to rehabilitation for a few days/weeks and make the place where she would be staying relaxing and normal as posible as they can.Make her not to worry 2 much (probably that person is litle depresive and not so open (to the world){probably you know what I mean}and constantly calm him/her down(and let her self remeber about her past when he/she didnt had panic attacs),AND DONT TALK TO THE PERSON ABOUT,LIKE HOW THE WORLD IS SUCH A (F*****G) PINK PLACE TO BE,because the person must realise that he/she got seriouse illness and its nothing to be shamed of,for example does a people with flu need to be shamed NO of course .Panic attacs are just a regular mental illness that can happen to basicly everybody,I dont now are those panic attacs obsesiv,but she/he must at least relax most of the time and worry less as posible.Becouse just simply worrying about something is the dumest act you can do. Everybody must help the person.The proces is very complicated and dificoult.For me it took 4 years after the start of healing proces after I return to realy what I was.That person in the present must change her way of thinking, living and acting.The pills will help ,but just not to forget, the pills are only a hand who wants to help you and the person need to do the rest.reach for it...
P.S.
Every start is dificoult and you dont need to push your self 2 much you just need to hold on and keep walking, and most importantly not to worry about little things...everything is little thing...and nothing is must, only the death is.Dont lie (to your self) and keep it real.
hope it will help

Answer 9

panic attacks are hard to prevent, some medication can help but other than that i can only think of breathing exercises, some doctors can show her some breathing exercises and if she starts to panic sit her down keep taking deep breaths or she might pass out.

Answer 10

Your friend might benefit from some anti-anxiety medications. She should talk to her doctor about her panic attacks. She might just need a "nerve pill" to take whenever she's going to be in a busy, crowded place. She wouldn't have to take anything every day, just when she needs it.

Answer 11

There is always a reason for these things! I had one at the gym recently and has left me feeling quite down about myself. Try and find out where it all went wrong for your friend and work around his/her fears. Hope they get better soon with a good friend like you they will soon be back to normal (whatever that is?!) - Good Luck xx