Question
JHB
Dr.Braccio: Our 16-year old daughter is going through karatay genç kızlar a very difficult time. Recently, she had heart palpitations, lost her breath, felt dizzy, and got very fearful when she felt a loss of control when we were at a school event. Things got so bad we took her to emergency. They said she had a panic attack and gave her some Xanax to use if she feels the symptoms are coming again and to get some counseling. We don’t know what to do but know her world is getting smaller because she doesn’t want to go where a lot of people are and won’t stay overnight anywhere since this happened. She’s so worried it will happen again. Except for us, her brother and grandparents, no one knows about this and she seems quite normal to everyone else. She goes to school and is doing okay there. My father had these tendencies long ago and says he had panic attacks and outgrew them after a lot of suffering. For now, we feel bad for her and aren’t sure what to do. What do you think we can do? Are these common in teenagers? Even though she had some of these tendencies in the past, the severity of her condition is something new to us. Do you think they will go away?
Answer
It is important to know that panic attacks are relatively common and always terrifying to the person with them. Fortunately, they do not cause death, but if untreated and continue over time, they can lead to alcohol and other drug abuse, spending less time with others and spending a lot of time at home out of fear of having a panic attack somewhere. It is estimated that 10% of persons will have one or more panic attacks in their lives. Panic attacks affect over four million American at any given time. Anyone who has had a panic attack will tell you how frightening it was and the great fear it will happen again. As with your daughter, panic attacks usually begin in late adolescence or early adulthood.
It is important for you to help your daughter to overcome panic attacks now and in the future. If you do not seek treatment of some kind, they may go away, but the chances are good she will continue to have them and they could get worse. There also is the chance she may pick up phobias or fears about various things and activities that can bring on other panic attacks.
The use of medication can be helpful in the short run, but the best approach is to have her eliminate these attacks through a thinking process. She needs to find out what triggered the panic attack and learn how to make sure it does not happen again.
To meet with your family physician or a pediatrician is a good idea to determine appropriate medication on an ongoing basis as determined necessary.
Counseling strategies could include some combination of relaxation, hypnosis, cognitive/behavioral therapy and general insight into how the panic attack occurred and ways to overcome it if the symptoms reoccur.
While the solution to each panic attack is unique to each person, the use of desensitization is often very helpful. The person is gradually introduced to the situation that brought on the panic attack and the person learns over time that he or she can be in the situation and not have a panic attack. Examples of what can cause panic attacks are fear of heights, elevators, wasps, crowds and almost anything you can imagine. A simple way to look at a panic attack is to realize that thinking somehow created the fear and you can think your way out of it.
Reading about panic attacks could be helpful as well as seeking out an experienced therapist who has worked with persons with them. Often, the combination of medication and counseling is the most effective approach to overcoming panic attacks.
Even though your father overcame panic attacks, you can save your daughter a lot of suffering by intervening with the prescribed medication and counseling as well as self-reading about panic attacks to better understand them. Prognosis is very good she will not have another panic attack if you solve the problem quickly. You are asking the right questions and obviously want to help her.