People talking to you during a panic attack?
Recently I've been having a lot of panic attacks at school. I've noticed that a lot of people (especially teachers) keep asking me questions and expect me to reply. When I'm having a panic attack I sometimes find it almost impossible to talk. I don't mind them taking to me (it's quite a welcome distraction) but it makes my panic attack worse when they ask me questions. Has anyone else experienced this? How do I get them to understand that I can't answer them without seeming rude or like I don't want their help?
When people talk to me (or even worse, try to touch me cause I hate it when people I'm not comfortable with touch me) while I'm having a panic attack I feel even worse. I know they're trying to help but with me, my panic attacks are really really bad like I can't even breathe properly for what seems like hours not minutes... I think that like the person above me said, maybe you should talk to teachers about it? Or maybe write it on a piece of paper and carry it in your pocket so the next time you'll have a panic attack and someone tries to talk to you you just show them that paper?
@anitaa94
Thank you for the reply. I understand how you feel about people touching you, I feel the same. Thank you for the paper idea, I will try it.
You're welcome:)
I have a friend that's going through the same thing as me and we talk to each other during panic attacks especially me because when I panic I spill lots of random word and vocabulary at her but she tells me to calm down and when that happens to her I tell her to calm down, so really we support each other everyday and everyday at school.
If it is possible, try to talk to certain people in your life and tell them how they can help you. But it's not possible to talk to everyone, I understand. It's great if you know what works best for you or what works best in different situations. And it's best to think about it while you are not fencing off a panic attack. When I panic I can't even hold a pen. But maybe you can keep a laminated card with you that you can hand to someone when you are in a panic. Something that says "this is what is happening to me", "this is how you can help me", "please do not do the following things". For example, many people want me to breathe deeply when I am in a panic - and I can't. It hurts me. But I've learned that it helps if someone tells me to "breathe just a little bit slower, that's good, just a little bit slower". Write on your card what you know will work for you. And you can of course update your card when you learn something new that can help you.
I have the same sort of issue, because when I have a panic attack, my mouth goes really dry and it's hard to swallow so people talking to me and asking me questions just makes me panic even more.
Same... Or when people are like "just calm down".. It's just if I could I wouldn't be having a panic attack in the first place.
When I was in school I let the principal know what was going on, mental health wise. They wrote a note for me that I could give to a teacher when I was feeling bad, to be excused from the class (or what ever else would be appropriate). Maybe that could be a course of action for you?
Thank you for all of the replies, they were very helpful. I have recently had advice from a professional. They suggested having a 'time out' card for school (to show the teachers instead of talking to them) and carrying around prompt cards to remind myself of the breathing exercises. I hope you're all well.
For me, I don't go to school so most of my panic attacks are at home. Usually when I start to notice the trouble breathing and stomach knots I go directly to someone who knows what's about to happen and tell them either "can't breathe" or I just point at my throat if I can't speak by that time. So if you're at school, I'd try and let your teachers know before hand that if you start to have a panic attack so they'll know what's going on