Anxiety & Helping Someone Cope

Recognizing an Attack

It's not always noticeably obvious that someone is having an anxiety attack. Unlike panic attacks they are a little harder to spot.

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Main and most common giveaways:

o Pale gray skin tone

o Cold sweats

o Shaking

o Person suddenly being distant or quiet

o Nervous complexion

Remember: If you have an inkling that someone might be suffering, ask them privately. Admitting to feeling anxious in front of a group of people can feel very embarrassing and may heighten anxiety.

Reduce Noise

In a crowded and noisy area

DO calmly guide the person away.

DO NOT alarmingly drag them out or rush them.

Music or TV playing

DO turn down casually and calmly.

DO NOT rush to turn all background noise off.

Remember: Most of the time feeling severely anxious is similar to feeling endangered or unsafe - familiar sounds (songs, films) can help this.

Space

Giving the person space is important.

If you are standing and they are sitting, sit with them as not to loom over.

Do not smother or crowd them. A reassuring hand on their back can go a long way.

Remember: If they "bluntly" ask you to remove your hand, do not take offence. Constructing a sentence is a mighty mission.

Communicating

DO NOT ask more question than necessary.

DO speak in short, simple sentences.

Remember: Give the person extra time to answer. The person's brain is sending out a whole bunch of neurotransmitters (chemicals) all at the same time, giving a scrambling effect which can make the simplest of questions a mountain to answer. Do not become impatient if you don't receive a direct answer. It's hard for the person to know what they want at that time.

Patience

Patience is absolutely key. During an attack, the person will most likely already feel silly and burden (a normal reaction and symptom), so having an impatient or short tempered person huffing or snapping over them will only make things 10x worse.

As stated earlier, making decisions and answering simple questions can be a big challenge, so remain extra patient if you don't get a response.

Along with this, try to be predictable. Anything unfamiliar or surprising can trigger an attack in itself, let alone when someone is already experiencing one.

Helping

Help the person to focus on something else. Even something as simple as gently instructing them to put both hands on their head, or bringing their right hand onto their left shoulder will briefly focus their brain on something other than the anxiety they're feeling.

Do the actions along with them and reassure them that they're doing great.

Slowly count from 1 - 10, asking them to take deep breaths along with you. Being short of breath is one of the most common symptoms of anxiety.

Remember

Feeling anxious for a test is very different to what a n anxiety attack feels like. The dominating emotion is fear; sometimes over nothing. Disorder do not need an excuse to hit at any moment in time. Stay patient, reassuring and calm.

Disclaimer

Please keep in mind that everyone's experience with anxiety attacks are different, and some coping mechanisms that work for some may not work for others. If you have a friend, family, partner or co-worker that has anxiety attacks its good for you both to go over what works best for them. If you have anxiety attacks, its good to let others know and what works for you.