Panic Attacks

[Maggie-Mae]

My 12 year son has started having panic attacks over the last year or so. He has had three within the year so they are not too frequent but they are quite severe and yesterday I had to pick him up from school because he was in practically a "trance" like state from hyperventilating and crying. Has anyone any experience of dealing with panic attacks in children and suggestions of how I should deal with it. I will talk to my GP but wondered if anyone had a fisrt hand knowledge. Thanks in advance for any answers x

[jadeamy]

hi there , i am fully aware of panic attacks , i started to get them when i was in highschool , they continued to get worse as the years passed , my downfall was that i didnt understand them and i never told anyone , i would go into freaking out mode over the smallest thing, it would feel like the ground was sinking out from my feet , in the later stages i acutally got rushed to the hospital on several occassions as i thought i was having a heart attack because i couldnt breathe and i have servere chest pain.

it took me until i i had my first child to go get help , as i was getting them numerous times a day in the end , going to see a councellor was the best thing i ever did , they actually showed me how to control my fears and phobias , i was told to focus on my breathing and stabilize it whilst in an attack very hard to do at first but i had to chant in my head breathe in breath out , and its amazing will the guidance of a fully qualified person you can overcome anything .

i had to also do an anxiety and depression test to see which of the 2 catergories i fell into too .

i remember my anxiety started from a traumatic moment at school being bullied by a group of kids , it was a nightmare going to school each day , i use to get my self so worked up before i even got there.

have you tried talking to your son and see if there is anything upsetting him at school or even in his life in general that is making him feel this way.

be sure that there is always people out there that can help your son over come this .

goodluck to you and i hope all goes well .

take care

[Maggie-Mae]

Thank you Jadeamy, your post was really helpful and reassuring to me. Sorry to hear that you had such a difficult time yourself but Im glad you were able to overcome things. I have spoken to my son and he's not being bullied or anything, but he finds its hard to talk about his feelings which is probably a big part of it and he is a worrier. Ive just tried to reassure him that im always here for him and Im going to try and seek some guidance so I can help him control the attacks when he has them. Thanks again for taking the time to reply xx

[jadeamy]

you are certainly most welcome , all will be fine i'm positive.

[WendyS]

Maggie-Mae - I can understand how concerned you must be about your son. If he can learn how to physically cope with these attacks by breathing exercises, this may lessen his anxiety and help him to feel more in control of the situation.

You say he has difficulty in expressing his feelings. I wonder if you have a family routine of sitting down together at mealtimes every day and all family members talking through their highs and lows of the day. He may feel very vulnerable about admitting his "lows" for loss of face. If your can develop a family routine with everybody feeling comfortable (including the adults) about admitting to the low times and being able to talk about them, it may help him to feel that the spotlight is not specifically on him, and that it's OK to "let go" of his feelings. I think boys particularly do find this difficult amongst their peers, so encouraging any worries to be spoken about freely in the safe and secure environment of the home is really important to them as a safety valve.

[Laura-Babez]

Hi there, I'm 16 and started having panic attacks 2 years ago now. My first attack was the worst, i was crying my eyes out, couldn't breath and had this feeling i was about to die, i'd never been so scared. After that, my dad ( his a single parent ) thought he'd better check this with a doctor,well the doctor gave me tiny blue tablets for 2 weeks. After that, they we're put to rest for 9 months, Then they came back, this time more regular. I have recently been to the doctors but they said there is nothing they can do, the blue tablets are only to relax me and try and calm me. Also, i developed a problem swollowing my food and drink. Everytime i had an attack i'd go straight to the window or front door as if someone was cutting off my oxygen. I'd always try and breath steady but to this day i still have them.

I hope your son doesn't suffer with them in the future.

Good luck.

Laura.