Panic Awareness Day - In conversation with @keerthi2706 Clinical Therapist and @yashisonthalia Counseling Psychologist
What one can do at their own level, what people who are supporting somebody under a panic attack can do, and how do we differentiate between these two things that we should do and things that we should not do? So stay tuned. There is a lot coming in now. Panic attack is a sudden surge of overwhelming fear that comes without warning and without any obvious reason. It is far more intense than the feeling of being simply stressed out that most people may experience
You. So. Hi, KP. Hi, Ashi. My first question to you is what exactly is a panic attack? How can someone say that this is not just a feeling of fear or a feeling of overwhelming, or I'm tired, or even sometimes the feeling of having a low BP, a low blood pressure of sorts? How does someone really be cipher that this is a panic attack and this is not anything else? So what really is a panic attack?
Some clients even complain of feeling like they're losing their mind or they're going crazy. Some also complain of feeling like they're going to die in that moment. Right, so what sets apart a panic attack from other intense emotions like overwhelm, is that there are physical components to it, and it very intense in that moment
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
How have people responded to panic attacks in your experience? And what would you say when you're asked, are panic attacks real? I look forward to hear to your response and learn more about panic attacks here. Thank you
Keerthi Kodukula
@keerthi2706 · 4:36
Hello. Hi Ariana, thanks for inviting me to answer this question. Well, to start off, are panic attacks real? Of course they are real. The hardest part is to trying to feel through the stigma and through the misunderstanding of these panic attacks. And when say, when I talk about stigma associated, I'm talking about stigma that's associated to mental illness in general
Hi Kiti. That was a very descriptive and a very helpful response. It really matters to know that these are not made up conditions and different people can feel them differently. And so it is so important to really sit down and understand how panic may be showing up for each individual and what the underlying causes or reasons may be and that they are really true. They really happen. My follow up question, Kiri, for you
Keerthi Kodukula
@keerthi2706 · 5:00
So the other person who's actually experiencing the panic attack can be helped during that episode. So as much as we talk about the symptoms, it's important to understand what happens after the panic attack. It's not just the symptoms that come and go, but the symptoms come. They physically drain this individual, and then they leave the individual. So people experiencing these attacks need a lot of support, mental and physical as well
You. Hi, Kirti. That was great insight into not just what happens when a panic attack happens and what's the difference between panic attack and panic disorder, but also in terms of I like the point where you mentioned that it's important to know what happens after a panic attack. And that will actually help us also understand how someone is responding to that particular experience. And the support system can be created accordingly. So that I think is great insight
I think a safe environment also helps a lot in letting the client or letting the individual feel their emotions, get it out and come back to themselves. When you're not in a safe environment or a comfortable environment, panic attacks become really difficult to deal with because there is not only just the emotion of dealing with the panic attack, but also how it is impacting your environment and how your environment is impacting the emotion. So I think a safe environment plays a very important role
So I know how to handle my panic attack. Maybe I have understood my coping mechanism, but if I know that this is a disorder, what is that I should do? So I look forward to hear your inputs on this question as well. And thank you so much for taking time to answer these questions to this detail. I really love these responses and of course I am also loving these conversation, this entire Q and A
And your therapist will help you navigate through that will help you understand. There will be trial and error, there will be successes, there will be learnings. And all of that will leave you feeling so much more in control of the situation. Something as an additional support could be medication
I think that was very detailed and very insightful as well. My next question is for Keith. Hi Keith. My question for you is while we have spoken with Yashi on what should someone diagnosed with Panic disorder be doing, I want to understand from you what are some things that they should not be doing? Are there something, some kind of activities or some kind of conflicts, conversations or anything that you think that they should be avoiding completely that can become trigger points or that can actually worsen their situation?
Keerthi Kodukula
@keerthi2706 · 5:00
But you're actually not helping them because this is going to make them more self conscious of their symptoms and it's going to only help them get even more indulged in their somatic symptoms. But instead you might want to live, talk to them about, you know, take a deep breath or like, you know how or use some techniques to ground them in that moment than just say, hey, calm down, calm down
Hi Keerthi, thank you so much for your detailed response. I truly appreciate you finding time for this amidst your extensively busy schedule. So great tips there. Don't avoid situations, don't hesitate asking for help. Pay attention to the physical symptoms and bring yourself back to awareness of the present. I think it's also so important to not avoid treatment or ignore any signs of symptoms if they are becoming worse
Hi, Ariana. Thank you so much for asking that question because I think it's very relevant in today's age where there is so much information accessible on the internet and we are all sort of building on that psychoeducation and becoming aware it can be a genuine question, right? That is this enough? And I think what I would like to say is it's a good start, right?
And at at the same time, I think it's extremely essential, like you rightly said, to reach out to professionals, because there is a reason why they are professionals, right? And it's essential to reach out to them, to people who can actually guide us through that journey of healing from whatever we have been diagnosed with, from a mental health perspective. So that is I think it's a brilliant and detailed answer