How to Help Someone Undergoing an Anxiety Attack?

 Hello everyone! Welcome back to yet another post based on anxiety :)

If you've read my earlier posts, you may have come across one where I gave a few tips on how one can deal with an anxiety attack when they are alone. 

However, I had a lot of people come to me and say, "I don't have anxiety but a friend of mine does and often gets these types of attacks. When they do, I am often unaware on how to comfort them. Do you have any tips?"

To answer this question, I decided to write a post on this topic so that in the future if one encounters such a situation, they know how to deal with it and solace the victim.

Note: These may not apply to everyone and different people have different coping mechanisms. These are just a few ones which have helped me and a few friends of mine. 

One of the most common symptoms that is visible during an anxiety attack is discomfort and difficulty in breathing. One might go through palpitations or problems in breathing-which is something you should help them in. Get them some water if possible, pat their backs lightly and just hold and comfort them, showing that you are beside them for a while. This helps the victim get a sense of reality which they might seem to lose during an attack.

Most of the times when a person undergoes an attack, they tend to dissociate from real life. There's an extreme mix of overwhelming thoughts going on in one's mind and they may seem to lose themselves from reality. As a person supporting the victim try bringing them back to reality. Phrases like "Tell me what you need" and "Talk to me about what you are thinking" are usually helpful (provided they are said in a proper tone). On the contrary, saying stuff like how you "relate" to them and you "totally" know what they're going through IS NOT HELPFUL.

That just undermines the severity of what the other is going through and may even lead to them keeping it within themselves.

Once you have gotten the person to open up and talk about it, more often than not the victim tends to think over the fact if they should have or shouldn't have opened up. Distract them. Once you get them through the attack, talk about something and try avoiding bringing this topic up. Talk about something, ask them questions, just keep the victim's mind off the topic that caused the attack.

One of the most important things one must avoid at all times is try to relate their experience to yours. You may or may not have gone through something like this but don't say "I know what you're going through, I went through the same." On a personal note, saying something like this does not work and just makes things worse. Don't lecture the person or tell them to "calm down" because honestly even if we wanted to, we aren't able to. It's the last thing a victim might need.

So, that was it for today's post! Don't forget to share and subscribe for more content, every Friday!

Signing off,

Kuhu :)