 What can you do to help someone when they're having a panic attack? Now just something to acknowledge here different things work for different people so the best thing to do is at a time of calm explore this with the person you're concerned about but in this video I'm going to share some general ideas that often help people and this could form a really good starting point for the conversation with the person about whom you're concerned. First of all just a note on panic attacks they're horrible however many times you've had them every time you have one it feels like you're gonna die it's really horrible and no matter how much you might know about the physiology of this it all goes in that moment and you think you're dying it's just really really awful and so having someone there who can support you and help you through it really makes a difference so things you can do first of all your number one job if you do nothing else is to stay calm. If I'm having a panic attack I need you to be calm and in control of this situation you're not going to feel calm and in control I'm freaking out and your natural response is to respond to that with your own anxiety but when your anxiety goes up here mine goes up too so actually what I need is for you to calm and in response then I will perhaps begin to calm as well it's co-regulation I talk about it a lot that's really hard because you're freaking out perhaps you really care about me or the person who's having a panic attack and it's distressing to see them so distressed so what you got to do best acting think about your breathing think about your body language think about how you're talking try to convey a sense of calm and control even if you don't feel it. Next sound staffed tell them they're having a panic attack even if someone's had loads of panic attacks each one feels like it's gonna kill you you feel like you're having a heart attack or something and you're gonna die and it's horrible being told this is a panic attack is deeply reassuring don't say this is just a panic attack no just about it they're horrible but acknowledging this is a panic attack you are going to be okay helpful you might remind them that they've got through this before and they can get through it again and you're gonna stick with them so some of that kind of reassuring you're going to be okay it's a panic attack you've got through them before we can do this we've got this yeah. Next breathing do not get someone who is having a panic attack to breathe into a paper bag it's kind of a misconception that this helps it doesn't help and it can be quite dangerous what you can do with regards to breathing though is to focus in on your own breathing and think about breathing deeply and slowly and really focus in on that and for some people not for all people but for some people it can be helpful to have someone work through their breathing with them as well so the key thing here is we're trying to slow down the breathing one of the things that can happen alongside a panic attack is because our breathing becomes shallow and very fast it can also make us feel kind of dizzy and sick and other difficult stuff so we need to make sure that we're breathing nice and slowly and deeply so it can be helpful to talk someone through a breathing strategy or just literally to count the breathing so we're going to breathe in two three four and out two three four and begin to slow it down the other benefit of something like that when you talk someone through their breathing and try to slow it down it forces you to slow down and it gives you a kind of script you can work through so if you're freaking out and they're freaking out and you're trying to convey this sense of calm by talking them through the breathing you've got a kind of script you can go to you don't have to think about what to do and say next you're just counting it's okay got this some people when they're having a panic attack will have like loads and loads of energy kind of building up inside them because there's all this adrenaline running and so for some people things like stamping or jumping or squeezing really hard can be helpful so that's something that's worth remembering and then kind of distraction and grounding through things like focusing in on the senses can also be helpful so you might look at what can we see around us let's watch the clouds or let's listen to the sound of the birds or what can we smell and refocusing in away from the sources of panic to just our senses and grounding ourselves in the current situation can be helpful again using something like our five four three two one grounding set technique so five things you can see four things you can hear three things you can touch or whatever order using your senses can be helpful and gives you a bit of a script that you can talk through and help to allow that person to overcome their panic remembering that that feeling of panic and overwhelm is a physiological response and the body can only maintain it for so long basically our body is ready at this point to run or to fight and we can do that but only for a little while so if we can just allow some time to go by if we can buy some time using things like our grounding technique talking through one of these different strategies then actually calm will begin to come back the physiological response will begin to lessen and then the final thing to remember if you're supporting someone who has panic attacks is that they're going to be really fragile even once the actual attack has passed and they begin to calm they're probably going to feel physically and emotionally exhausted so we need to think about how we look after them after that and get them ready to re-engage with the rest of their day and whatever way is appropriate in your context so you might need a bit of space a bit of calm a bit of quiet in order to just reset and become ready for learning or living again but if you don't remember any of that just remember your number one job if someone is having a panic attack is to try and appear calm in control and supportive it's not easy but it makes a huge difference good luck i hope this was helpful do leave your ideas in the comments down below and please subscribe for new videos every tuesday and friday see you next time bye