If your child is having a panic attack.

A panic attack is a sudden attack of severe anxiety accompanied by distressing sensations (for example, palpitations, a feeling of suffocation, chest pain, dizziness, diarrhea, nausea).

A panic attack is characterized by a rapid increase in fear. Usually, this condition is accompanied by various fears, for example, fear of death, fear of going crazy or losing control of oneself.

The symptoms of an attack are uncontrollable, it greatly demoralizes the person, causing a feeling of powerlessness and despair. A person’s desire to consciously control his condition during a panic attack makes the symptoms even more intense.

Panic attacks can last up to 12 hours (on/off). During panic attacks, the “panicker” may experience such a level of fear that they want to kill themselves to avoid experiencing it.

One of the reasons (but not the only one) for panic attacks is that your child had some kind of dangerous situation in life or his brain considered this situation to be life-threatening. The child coped well with this situation, survived it calmly, and came out of it with dignity. But this situation was deposited in my brain. And the brain will give it out later, at the most unpredictable moments, splashing it out - GUARD! WE ARE IN DANGER!

What NOT to do:

1. exhort, freak out, get irritated, demand to calm down, mock, scold, not take seriously, ridicule.

2. The voice can be a trigger, so you need to speak carefully and look at the “panic” person’s reaction. If you have a calm, charming voice that has a positive effect on the “panicking” person, you can speak. Act according to the situation. Sometimes it's better to remain silent.

3. Hugging - touching can be a trigger and cause even more fear and panic. Therefore, look at the situation.

What can be done:

1. Music. According to psychiatrists, music has a positive effect on brain waves and there is special music for panic attacks. Find it on Google and keep it handy, just in case. I hope it won't be necessary.

2. Smells. According to psychiatrists, smells are the most powerful trigger in a person’s life. Know your child's favorite smells, smells that calm him down, keep them on hand, and use them for panic attacks. The same applies to adults.

3. Try to return the “panicking” person to the “here and now” state - let him touch the objects around him, you, his brain need to return to reality.

4. Breathing exercises, deep breathing, better in combination with light stretching (yoga). A combination of breathing exercises + muscle stretching produces alpha waves in the cerebral cortex and calms it down.

5. One of the breathing exercises is to take a deep breath, count to ten, and exhale. Repeat 6 times. The brain switches to counting, disconnects from other thoughts, and anxiety decreases. This exercise is recommended by psychiatrists.

6. Contact a specialist.

The same applies to an adult.

How to prevent panic attacks?

1. lead a healthy lifestyle, MMA, Jiu-Jitsu & yoga, breathing exercises

2. relaxation, massage, spa

3. eliminate (or reduce) caffeine, unhealthy, heavy foods.

If your child cries and cannot explain why? - check your blood sugar. Perhaps it has been downgraded. The same applies to an adult.

Good physical and mental health to everyone!