What to do when a loved one is having a panic attack

By Shelly Miller

There were many times I felt helpless during Michael's panic attacks. I did not know what to do or say or how to convince him that he was not going to have a heart attack and die.

I felt sad, angry, frustrated and helpless. I wanted to help him but did not know how to.

I researched online, I read books, I watched programs regarding panic and anxiety, I started watching what he was eating and how the food made him feel.

These are the things I found helped Michael the most during a panic attack and these are the methods that every friend, partner or spouse of a panic sufferer should know:

Symptoms of Anxiety and Panic Attack ( Anxiety and Panic Disorder )

As I said before, I had anxiety and panic attacks for 12 years and didn't know what it was. I think it was so difficult to diagnose because the symptoms evolved over the years. At first, I felt my heart beating very fast and I thought my blood pressure was high. After several years, I got dizzy all of the time. Then the dizziness evolved into nausea. Then I began to have digestion problems including heartburn. These symptoms increased in frequency and progressively got worse. By the time I realized that I had anxiety and panic disorder, I had a slew of symptoms that I was trying to diagnose individually.

I believe that for the millions of people who know they have anxiety and panic disorder, there are millions more that have no clue. They just feel bad all the time. They think they have a disease, or something worse - like cancer or dying. They, like I was, are probably searching for the answer to their body aches, pains, odd and uncomfortable feelings.

Someone Stop These Voices in My Head!

When I began the process of releasing the stress and anxiety from my life, it seemed like the stress had a tight grip on me. The more I released, the tighter it clung until finally it loosened it's grip and fell away. I'm telling you this not to scare you. You might find that this is not the case in your experience, but even if it is it signifies the beginning of the end for anxiety and panic attacks in your life.

Anxiety is reinforced with negative self-talk. When you are constantly telling yourself there could be something wrong with you, or you constantly doubt your health, security or future, you are building up fear in your subconscious mind. This fear starts the spiral into a panic attack because your subconscious mind gets the body prepared to RUN OR FIGHT!!!!

During the time when I had learned the coping skills for panic attacks and was resolving the causes for my stress, my mind began speaking to me a lot. When I say speaking to me a lot, I mean shouting at me incessantly.

How to Breathe to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

I can hear you saying "Dude, I breathe every second of every day."

Yes, I know, but you aren't doing it right.

I say that tongue in cheek of course, but what I am getting at is you most likely aren't breathing the way that Yogis have taught for centuries. In yoga, this form of breathing is called Pranayama. This form of breathing calms the mind, relaxes the body, increases lung capacity, strengthens the internal organs and improves mental control.

You see a benefit now right?

So what is the difference between regular breathing and breath control, also known as Pranayama?

Two things really: Conscious control of the inflow and outflow of breath and breathing from the diapraghm.

When you breathe normally, you are unaware of your breath and, if you are a Westerner, you are breathing with your chest focusing your breath in the upper lobes of your lungs. Pranayama, or breath control focuses on breathing from your diapraghm, which when done correctly looks like your stomach is inflating while your chest stays relatively still.

Benefits of Meditation for Those with Anxiety

Anyone who has anxiety knows that your mind can get away from you. When this happens, all of the stress that you are experiencing, whether real or imagined, builds up in you to a point where...well, where you have a panic attack.

The trick is to release this building pressure before it gets out of control and has the potential to cause, you guessed it, a panic attack.

There are several great ways to do this, and I discuss them in my book, but one of the best is meditation.

As I discuss in my book, there are two flavors of meditation: Guided and Eastern. With guided meditation you are following someones direction and being led through imagined settings that are peaceful and serine.

Eastern meditation is a practice by which you try to maintain a quiet, peaceful mind with no thought of anything other than your point of focus or concentration. You simply stare into the darkness of your closed eyelids and think of one thing. Even if that one thing is no thing (nothing). Each time your mind strays (and it will), you gently bring your attention back to your point of focus.