Paramedic shares 3 simple questions that can calm someone during a panic attack
Telling someone to 'just breathe' or 'calm down' during a panic attack is the same as telling a drowning person to swim.
Knowing how to calm someone down in the middle of a panic attack is just as important as knowing CPR. Kyle Cox (@kyleinspires1), a wellness content creator, shared a tip he received from a paramedic that could greatly help someone who is experiencing a panic attack. Simply telling someone to "just breathe" or "calm down" is equivalent to telling a "drowning person to swim," says Cox. Instead of telling the person what to do, the paramedic suggested asking these three important questions.
The paramedic explained that while breathing exercises can help calm down the beginning of a panic attack, in the "middle of a full panic attack... the thinking brain is offline." At this moment, the brain cannot accept any instructions. The solution is to access the "sensory brain." The paramedic shared the specific "order" of questions they ask, "five things you can see, four you can touch, and three you can hear." He further explained that by the time they get to the second question, the peak of the panic attack would have passed.
Kyle explains, "When you ask someone to name the color of their wall, their visual cortex has to activate to answer. When the visual cortex activates, it pulls away from the amygdala, which is the part generating the panic." What this does is redirect the "brain's bandwidth until panic can't sustain itself." This exercise can also be done alone in case you are having a panic attack. "Your brain can't panic and catalogue at the same time," Kyle Cox concludes.
Award-winning Dr. Sermed Mehzer shared a few tips on "How NOT to offer SUPPORT to someone who gets PANIC ATTACKS" in a YouTube Shorts video. First, he explained how a person experiencing a panic attack feels, "You can think of it like your body telling you you're about to fall off a mountain, but there's no physical danger present." In order to help the person, Dr. Mehzer suggested taking them to a quiet space so they can focus on something in the present. Talking too much is not a good idea either; the alternative is to use short and direct statements. After the panic attack has passed, it is important to "validate their experience, showing them that you're willing to give them your time," Dr. Mehzer concludes.
Panic attacks can happen anytime and anywhere. People can experience different variations of panic attacks, and the symptoms can intensify in just a few minutes. A few physical symptoms to look out for are rapid heart rate, sweating, chills, hot flashes, trembling, shortness of breath, nausea, abdominal cramps, chest pain, headaches, dizziness, and tingling sensations. People who frequently experience panic attacks may have a panic disorder.
According to the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) 2001-2003, "An estimated 2.7% of U.S. adults had panic disorder in the past year." The number is higher among females (3.8%) compared to males (1.6%). It also states, "An estimated 4.7% of U.S. adults experience panic disorder at some time in their lives."
Kyle Cox shared the video on his Instagram account almost a month ago, and it has 17.5k likes. People flooded the comment section thanking Cox for the tip, some of whom said they will be using it in case they have a panic attack. @janie_didonna commented, "This is called grounding. It works for anyone having a difficult time refocusing. It does not have to be a panic attack. It can be used to calm you in traffic, if a coworker is stressing you out, if you’re running late and feeling overwhelmed. This is the 5,4,3,2,1 technique." @smilingjennb shared, "I was taught to count one chair, two chairs, three chairs, one couch, one lamp, two lamps… it redirects your brain into a whole new thinking, which resets your nervous system. This is a tried and true method from not only a psychologist, but a person who taught psychology at Gonzaga University."
You can follow Kyle Cox (@kyleinspires1) for more health and wellness content.
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