Panic

[Saph_Heart]

Had a panic attack during class yesterday. It took me almost the entire hour to calm down before going back in. I tried all my breathing techniques and nothing worked. Will it ever get better?

[StarryNight72]

Hi Saph,

Classroom panic attacks are the worst, aren’t they? It took me three tries to finally graduate from college because of the panic attacks and subsequent poor attendance. I am so sorry yesterday was a bad day for you. For me, I found sitting close to the door helped. For some reason just knowing I was seated somewhere where I could easily leave if I needed to helped. I also wrote some positive coping statements that make me feel better on the back page of my notebook. That way if I started feeling anxious, I just flipped to that back page and read them over and over. If I did have to leave for a panic attack (and yes, that happened a lot), I found that splashing my face with cold water helped to kind of shock me back to the present. Or sometimes if the instinct to flee was really strong I’d go run the stairs in the building a couple of times to kind of release the adrenaline. I also made sure one of the counselors at school knew I suffered from panic disorder so I always knew in the back of my head that if it got really bad, I could go find her and she would walk me through relaxing back down. I don’t know if any of those are feasible for you, but they really helped me!

[fauxartist in reply to StarryNight72]

this is the first time I have ever seen such clear and insightful management tools shared here for dealing with panic attacks. great suggestions for others with these issues....very good stuff, your comments are spot on and very well articulated in print.

[StarryNight72 in reply to fauxartist]

Thank you so much, fauxartist. It means a lot to me to hear you say that. It feels so good to think I may be doing something right!

[Hidden in reply to StarryNight72]

I would get panic attacks in high school. I had no choice but to stay in my seat. We weren’t allowed to leave the class without the teachers permission. I hear in college you can come and go as you please.