Panic Disorder includes the consistent experience of attacks as well as a persistent concern about having additional attacks. Typically, teens with this disorder are extremely anxious and fearful, primarily because of the inability to predict when the next attack will occur. Attacks are often accompanied by a feeling of being out of control and include uncomfortable physical sensations, such as a pounding heart, sweating, weakness, dizziness, and numbness. An intense worry about the next attack is a common symptom that makes Panic Disorder difficult to manage.

However, fortunately, teens who suffer from Panic Disorder can be treated. Both medication and psychotherapy, or a combination of the two, have been used successfully to reduce the intensity of anxiety as well as the frequency of panic attacks. Medication for treating anxiety disorders often includes anti-anxiety medication and even anti-depressants. Although antidepressants are incredibly effective, they do come with risks. For teens in particular, it is essential to know that anti-depressants can cause suicidal thoughts and even attempts at suicide. Of course, anyone taking psychotropic medication should be closely monitored, especially at the beginning of treatment.

It should be noted that adolescents who suffer from this disorder are more likely to also suffer from depression, suicidal thoughts, and addiction. As you can imagine the level of anxiety that stem from the attacks as well as not knowing when another attack might take place can lead to extreme psychological discomfort. Because of this teens might want to escape through drugs and alcohol or through suicide. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 2.3% of 13 to 18 year olds have been diagnosed with Panic Disorder.

There are a few ways in which teens can manage the anxiety, if they are not already through anti-anxiety medication and psychotherapy. For instance, you suffer from Panic Disorder, or from panic attacks, you can help him or her with the following:

1. Begin to identify when a panic attack is about to occur. Although it might be challenging, you might be able to identify signs that an attack is imminent. If you’re able to identify an oncoming attack, you can take steps to make it less severe. For instance, you can stop what you’re doing and breathe. Or you can go somewhere to avoid embarrassment that might come from being in a group.
2. In fact, the environment might be the actual trigger for an attack. This is another reason to change your environment when you feel an attack coming on. Often, it is something in your surroundings that may be causing an anxiety attack, such as a person, a noise, or a place. Eliminate the anxiety trigger as best you can. You can do this between attacks by trying to identify what your triggers are.
3. Focus on your breathing. Take long, slow, and deep breaths. Inhale and exhale to the count of four seconds. This extended breathing does two things. It relaxes the body and it directs your attention on your body and instead of the thoughts in your mind that will likely only exacerbate the attack.
4. Recite a prayer, mantra, or even the alphabet in your mind. The point here is that you want to change your thinking. Commonly, it is a thought or a thinking pattern that began the attack in the first place.

These are a few ways to reduce the anxiety that accompany teen Panic Disorder. Furthermore, there are relaxation techniques that you can practice on a regular basis that can also help reduce the overall level of anxiety that you feel. Most of all it’s important to know that you don’t have to suffer through Panic Disorder alone. There are many tools to utilize in order to reduce the anxiety and even eliminate the attacks altogether.

Related Articles

Anxiety Attacks vs Panic Attacks: What’s the Difference?

How to Support Your Teen With Panic Disorder

How to Help Your Teen Through a Panic Attack

The post How To Manage Teens Panic Attacks and the Pre-Panic Attack Anxiety appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

• a racing heart
• shortness of breath
• chest pain
• tremors
• sweating
• a pins and needles sensation in the lips or hands
• nausea or diarrhea
• a sense of doom

Since these symptoms can overlap with serious physical conditions, it’s important to see a doctor if you have never experienced them before. Your doctor will be able to diagnose your symptoms so that you know what you’re dealing with is panic attacks and nothing more. Once you receive a diagnosis and learn how to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack, you can more effectively manage panic attacks. Here are a few self-help strategies that you can use to help manage panic attacks on your own.

1. Understand the Truth About Panic Attacks

There is no doubt that panic attacks can be very disconcerting. It’s scary to feel your heart racing, and it’s terrifying to feel short of breath and have chest pain. It’s no wonder that many people rush to the doctor or the emergency room when they have these symptoms. As hard as it can be to believe, if you have been diagnosed with having panic attacks and these are the symptoms you’ve had in the past, you are not in any danger. A panic attack cannot kill you, cause you to have a heart attack, or cause you to become seriously ill. Simply understanding what is happening to your body during a panic attack and why it’s happening will help you to manage panic attacks when they occur.

What is happening during a panic attack is that your body has gone into “fight or flight” mode. This means that your adrenal glands is ramping up the production of hormones that you could use to fight off or run away from danger. The problem is that it happens when you’re not in any danger, so instead of taking advantage of the faster heart rate and extra oxygen, you are left worrying about why it’s happening to you. Panic attacks last a fairly short period of time. Within ten or fifteen minutes, your body will start to slow down, but you might feel spent and tired for a while afterward.

2. Use Relaxation Strategies

Knowing how to respond to a panic attack can go a long way toward getting yourself to settle down. In order to do this, you should learn some relaxation strategies. First, you can tell yourself that you are physically fine. Then, use the following relaxation techniques for teens:

Breathing Exercise

Doing some breathing exercises or grounding exercises can help take your mind off of your wayward hormones and your body’s physical response. Try these five steps:

1. Breath in slowly for five seconds
2. Hold for five seconds
3. Exhale for five seconds
4. Hold again for five seconds
5. Repeat

You can lengthen the amount of time by one second each time you complete a cycle.

Grounding Exercises

You can also try grounding yourself by thinking about five things you see, four you feel, three you hear, two you smell, and one you taste. This helps you to pay attention to what’s happening around you rather than fixating on your anxiety attack symptoms.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation is another good strategy to try. This is when you systematically tense and release your muscles, one group at a time, from your feet up to your head.

3. Walk Yourself Through Realistic Thinking

When you’re in the midst of a panic attack, it’s common and easy to get sucked into unrealistic thinking. Also, once you have one panic attack, you might try to avoid having another one by staying away from the situation that you were in when you had it. For instance, if you were on the bus, you might decide not to take the bus again. If you were on the beach, you might begin making excuses when friends and family urge you to spend a day on the sand with them.

It’s important to try to nip this in the bud. Consider the bus: How many times have you taken it? A few dozen or maybe a few thousand? Having a panic attack on the bus once does not mean that it will ever happen again. Even if it does, what’s the worst that could happen? You might be afraid that you’ll pass out or that others will think you’ve gone crazy. Most likely, no one will notice; if they do, they are more likely to help you than to think negative things about you. Talk yourself through these worst-case scenarios to try to get a hold of your thoughts before they become unrealistic.

4. Face Your Fears

It’s important to face your fears if you want to learn how to manage panic attacks. Once you remove the power of fear that the attacks have over you, you’re less likely to have them. Also, they will be less disturbing if you can learn to redirect your thoughts and ignore them.

You can use systematic desensitization to help you face your fears. If you are afraid of taking the bus, take the first step by making plans to take it somewhere. If that feels too hard, go stand at the bus stop for a few minutes. If a panic attack starts, address it by using your breathing or grounding exercises. The next day, go wait at the bus stop again. Wait for the bus to come and see how you feel. If you can, get on it and get off at the next stop. The next time, go a little further. By taking these small steps, you’ll be able to face your fears and avoid being bothered by panic attacks.

5. Know When It’s Time to Seek Help

While self-help strategies are a good way to manage panic attacks, they don’t work for everyone. If you feel that you’re not improving or if the fear of having an attack is making it impossible for you to do things you’ve previously enjoyed doing, it might be time to seek professional help. Talk to your doctor about getting a referral to a mental health care professional who can help. Counseling can help, and so can medication, in some cases.

Dealing with panic attacks is no fun, but it’s a common problem and one that you can overcome. Try using these strategies to manage panic attacks at home, but don’t be afraid to reach out for help. With patience and time, you can once again enjoy doing the things you love without the fear of panic attacks.

The post Manage Panic Attacks in Teens With These 5 Self Help Strategies appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

What are the Symptoms of Panic Disorder?

The main symptom of panic disorder is the appearance of panic attacks. During a panic attack, the body goes into “fight or flight” mode. The difference between a panic attack and the appropriate use of “fight or flight” is that during a panic attack, the person is not really in danger. If your teen were to meet up with a bear in the woods, the adrenaline rush would be not only appropriate, but possibly life-saving. When he or she has a panic attack during the course of the school day or while eating dinner, the symptoms are not needed and contribute to further panic.

Symptoms of a panic attack include the following:

• gasping for air
• a racing or irregular heartbeat
• sweating
• a sense of danger
• dizziness
• nausea
• chest pain
• trembling or shaking

It occurs suddenly and it lasts only a few minutes at a time, though the symptoms can keep coming back for hours or days. They can happen in the midst of a completely routine activity, when a teen is faced with something mildly stressful (such as explaining to a teacher why homework wasn’t completed), or even during the middle of the night.

What are the Dangers of Panic Disorder?

Physically, panic attacks pose almost no danger. The body is equipped to handle the adrenaline surge and will get back to normal fairly quickly. Even though your teen’s heart might be racing and he or she is hyperventilating, the heart and lungs are doing what they need to do and will not be impacted. The chest pain that’s associated with a panic attack doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with the heart (though if it’s the first time that it’s happening or the discomfort feels different than it usually does, it should be checked out).

Mentally, however, panic attacks can take their toll. Panic attacks may lead to the following:

1. Your teen is likely to worry about what’s wrong, and this can lead to general anxiety.
2. Many people with panic disorder go on to develop agoraphobia. This means that they fear being in situations where they can’t escape easily. If your teen has a panic attack while on a public bus, for example, he or she might then go on to avoid buses for fear that it will incite another attack. If another attack occurs during a pep rally at school, while taking the dog for a walk, or at the county fair, those places will go on the “to be avoided” list in your teen’s mind. It becomes a matter of being fearful of fear, which turns into a fear of specific places and situations. If your teen begins to isolate him- or herself, this can lead to depression.

What to Do If You Suspect Your Teen Has Panic Disorder

The first time your teen has a panic attack, you might panic yourself, if you’re not aware of what’s happening. It’s very scary to see someone have a panic attack if you’ve never seen one before. The first thing you should do is take your teen to his or her doctor for a checkup to rule out any medical conditions that have symptoms similar to anxiety disorder. Sometimes, families end up in the emergency room during an attack. This is okay, too, particularly if your teen is complaining of chest pain or seems to have trouble breathing. Once he or she has been cleared physically, the doctor will likely diagnose anxiety or a panic disorder.

From there, you’ll likely be referred to a mental health counselor. He or she will work with your teen and teach them strategies to get through panic attacks and, hopefully, reduce their frequency and duration. If there is something else going on, such as OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, or depression, those needs will be addressed, too. In some cases, your teen will be offered medication. Talk to the mental health professional about the pros and cons of anti-anxiety medications and “rescue” medicines, like tranquilizers. Some are addictive and all have some potential side effects, so tread carefully and choose what will work best for your teen’s unique situation.

Managing a Panic Attack

During an attack, take the following steps to help support your teen.

1. First, remember to stay calm yourself.
2. Remind your teen that it’s nothing that will hurt them and that it will pass in a few minutes.
3. Encourage them to sit or lie down and to try to breathe slowly through their nose.
4. Play some relaxing music or a meditation audio file to give him or her something else to focus on.
5. Use mindfulness exercises. For example, ask your teen to think of things that they can see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. This can get your child to focus on something other than the scary symptoms and help it to pass more quickly.

To help prevent agoraphobia, it’s helpful to come up with a plan for what your teen will do if he or she is out in public when an attack occurs. Just knowing that they can deal with it if it happens can reduce stress and even reduce the likelihood that a panic attack will happen. Some tips might be to find a place to sit down, focus on breathing, and use calming mental imagery until the feeling passes. You can see if your teen wants to put some specific music that has a calming effect on his or her phone so it’s always at hand.

While your teen might have panic disorder for a lifetime, knowing how to cope with panic attacks can take away their power and make it less likely to cause a significant impact. Also, as he or she learns how to relax through the attack, they can become less frequent and severe. Work with your teen’s mental health professional to learn how to best support your child through this condition.

The post How to Support Your Teen With Panic Disorder appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

As a parent, you know the many symptoms your teen experiences when they have a panic attack. Panic attacks are a sudden attack of fear, which is often accompanied by a feeling of being out of control. Panic attacks usually come with the following symptoms:

• a pounding heart
• sweating
• weakness
• dizziness
• numbness
• sense of terror
• chest pains
• breathing difficulties
• having chills

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 2.3% of 13 to 18 year olds have been diagnosed with Panic Disorder. Sadly, teens who suffer from this disorder also tend to experience other mental illnesses, such as depression, addiction, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Some teens with panic disorder might also experience suicidal thoughts.

If you want to support your teen, here are some tips to consider for helping your teen before, during, and after an attack.

Before a Panic Attack

Even before an attack happens, you and your teen can work together to reduce the frequency and number of attacks your teen has. For instance, educating yourself on Panic Disorder as well as practicing relaxation techniques can be two great preventative measures.

Educate yourself. You and your teen together might take some time to read about Panic Disorder. In fact, you might learn as much as you can about the illness. When you do this, you may begin to understand what’s going on and you may experience insights and what you need to do to heal. This can be incredibly empowering and even help reduce the anxiety. Typically, when someone goes to a mental health professional, they essentially put their lives in their hands. However, when you learn about what’s going on for yourself, you get a sense of what your unique needs are to grow and heal.

For instance, one important fact about Panic Disorder is that the illness stems from the “fight or flight” system going awry. The “fight or flight” system is normally a healthy physiological response for survival. It’s like a fire alarm, letting you know you’re in danger.  The problem with Panic Disorder is that the alarm system is going off when it doesn’t need to. Teens who experience a panic attack often feel terribly afraid, yet, what’s essential to know is that even though the alarm system is loud and unpleasant, by itself it is never dangerous. And once you realize that that no part of the panic response (alarm) is ever harmful or dangerous, the fear of panic begins to subside.  And as a result, the fear will loosen its grip on you.

If you’d like to further education yourself, here are some books on the illness:

• Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic: Workbook by David Barlow and Michelle Craske
• Overcoming Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia by Elke Zuercher-White
• Panic Attacks Workbook (2004) by David Carbonell

Practice relaxation techniques. Experiencing panic attacks on a regular basis as well as fearing the next attack means that you’re experiencing anxiety much of the time. A great way to not only help reduce your anxiety but also prevent attacks from happening is to learn to relax. This means making it a practice to relax every day. Typically, people relax after a long day or when they feel stressed. And these are good times to practice. However, for someone experience a high degree of anxiety, a state of relaxation needs to be more commonplace than anxiety. Relaxation needs to be the cornerstone of your teen’s life.

There are many ways to relax. But the best way to become familiar with relaxation is to choose one method or technique and stick with it. Practice one technique on a daily basis so that your mind and body really experience relaxation on a deep level. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation – when practiced regularly – are ways to lower your overall experience of anxiety and help prevent attacks before they start.

See if you can identify when a panic attack is about to occur. Although it might be challenging, you or your teen might be able to identify signs that an attack is imminent. For instance, perhaps you notice that you have an attack whenever you fear that you’re going to fail an exam or a class in school. Some people might experience an attack right before falling down. The point is that if you or your teen can identify an oncoming attack, you can take steps to avoid it. For instance, you can stop what you’re doing and breathe. Or you can go somewhere to avoid embarrassment that might come from having an attack in public. Over time, as you practice relaxation, learn about the illness, you’ll uncover more and more signs that an attack is coming – and in turn – you can stop it before it arrives.

During a Panic Attack

When an attack does happen, there are things that you and your teen can do here too. Part of what keeps an attack continuing is the thoughts and feelings of fear. But anything that you can do to relax, change your thoughts, or remove yourself from the trigger will help the attack go away. Here are some tips to consider:

• Have your teen focus on their breathing. Once your teen starts to feel the anxiety of an imminent attack, have them take long, slow, and deep breaths. In fact, you can remind your teen to take long and deep breaths regularly throughout the day. Encourage your teen to inhale and exhale to the count of four seconds. This extended breathing does two things. It relaxes the body and it directs your teen’s attention away from anxious thoughts. In fact, just like the regular practice of relaxation, regular deep breathing is incredibly helpful. And with a practice, your teen will better remember to turn to breathing when in the middle of an attack.
• Recite a prayer, mantra, or even the alphabet in your mind. Another way to help your teen take their mind off the anxious thoughts is to recite something- anything. It can be the alphabet, a childhood song, a prayer, or counting to ten. It doesn’t matter as long as the mind shifts its attention. Often, it is a thought that can begin the attack in the first place. If your teen continues to dwell on that thought, the anxiety might only get worse.
• Change your environment. At the onset of an attack, encourage your teen to change the environment they’re in. Often, it is something in the surroundings that is causing an anxiety attack – a person, a noise, or a place. Eliminate the anxiety trigger as best you can. Furthermore, if your teen can go to a relaxing, or at least a familiar place, this will help reduce the symptoms of anxiety.

After a Panic Attack

Once an attack is over, learn from it. In fact, each attack you have provides information about how to end them. Here are some tips for using attacks to heal versus letting them bring your teen down:

• Become more aware of any patterns associated with your panic attacks. Attacks, as mentioned above, start off with a trigger. If you can become more and more aware of what’s triggering them, you can help prevent them. One way to be equipped with noticing patterns is to keep a journal. Write down when your teen had an attack and what you suspect may have been the trigger. Or you might have your teen keep the journal and the two of you discuss it on a regular basis. As you continue to observe the attacks, you may become more and more aware of what triggers them.
• Uncover the purpose of the attack. Psychotherapists Laurel Hulley and Bruce Ecker have found that the most effective treatment for an attack is finding the purpose behind it. They believe that once someone directly experiences and accepts this previously unrecognized purpose; there is an opening in which insight can be experienced, often eliminating symptoms of panic. For instance, someone might be unconsciously having panic attacks because they believe that life includes bad experiences. By having a panic attack they fulfill that faulty thinking. It may sound silly, but sometimes unconscious thinking and beliefs can spur behavior and experiences. In order to help uncover the purpose behind attacks, psychotherapy may be needed.
• Talk to a mental health professional. If you feel that your panic attacks and your pre-attack anxiety are too much for you to handle, talk to an adult you trust so that he or she can connect you with a mental health professional.

Treatment for Panic Disorder

Treatment for Panic Disorder often includes medication to help reduce the anxiety as well as psychotherapy. Fortunately, teens who suffer from Panic Disorder and other disorders can be treated and they can experience a panic-free life. Contact a mental health professional to learn more about how your teen might benefit from Panic Disorder Treatment.

The post How to Help Your Teen Through a Panic Attack appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

But it’s not only your thoughts and feelings that are at fault. Likely there was a trigger, some kind of person, place, or thing that got you going in the first place. If you’ve experienced a car accident and it involved a semi-truck, then maybe your panic attacks happen every time you’re on the road with a semi-truck. In other words, your attacks of anxiety happen when they’ve been set off by something in your environment. Although you might be perfectly safe now, you begin to believe that you’re not because of an imagined fear based upon your past.

If you want to start putting an end to your attacks, one of the first steps is start to look for patterns surrounding your attacks. What time of day do they happen, where, and with whom? Are you alone with others? Or are the attacks related to particular a stream of thoughts?

Although it might be challenging, you might be able to identify signs that an attack is imminent. If you’re able to identify an oncoming attack, you can take steps to make it less severe. For instance, you can stop what you’re doing and breathe. Or you can go somewhere to avoid embarrassment that might come from being in a group. If you’re having an attack, here are a few suggestions to do right in the moment:

1) Change your environment

The environment might be the actual trigger for an attack. This is another reason to change your environment when you feel an attack coming on. Often, it is something in your surroundings that may be causing an anxiety attack, such as a person, a noise, or a place. Eliminate the anxiety trigger as best you can. You can do this between attacks by trying to identify what your triggers are.

2) Focus on your breathing

Take long, slow, and deep breaths. Inhale and exhale to the count of four seconds. This extended breathing does two things. It relaxes the body and it directs your attention on your body and instead of the thoughts in your mind that will likely only exacerbate the attack.

3) Recite a prayer, mantra, or even the alphabet in your mind- The point here is that you want to change your thinking. Commonly, it is a thought or a thinking pattern that began the attack in the first place.

4) Once you’re calm, see if you can identify what triggered the attack

It’s easier to identify triggers of an experience right after it happened versus later in the day.

5) Talk to an adult or school counselor

If the attacks keep happening, talk to an adult you trust about your experiences. It’s important to get the help you need, especially if your panic attacks are getting worse.

Teens, these are suggestions for managing a panic attack. As mentioned above, reach out for help if your attacks get worse or if you want to feel more supported in managing them.

The post Teens: Step by Step Instructions for Managing a Panic Attack appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

Yet, there are some steps you can take to assist you with managing and even reducing this kind of anxiety before the attack. Essentially, you’ll want to become more aware of any patterns associated with your panic attacks. And you’ll also want to learn and practice relaxation techniques. These two main points can help reduce your overall experience of anxiety and panic attacks. However, let’s take a look at this a little more deeply:

1. See if you can identify when a panic attack is about to occur. Although it might be challenging, you might be able to identify signs that an attack is imminent. For instance, perhaps you notice that you have an attack whenever you fear falling down. The point is that if you’re able to identify an oncoming attack, you can take steps to make it easier on you. For instance, you can stop what you’re doing and breathe. Or you can go somewhere to avoid embarrassment that might come from having an attack with others around.

2. The environment might be the trigger.  There can be many reasons that trigger an attack, including what’s going on inside, such as thoughts, feelings, or a memory. At the same time, there may be something going on around you that could be the trigger. This could be the environment itself or something in the environment, such as a person, a noise, or a scent. This may be another reason to change your environment when you feel an attack coming on.

3. Focus on your breathing. Once you start to feel the anxiety of an imminent attack, take long, slow, and deep breaths. Inhale and exhale to the count of four seconds. This extended breathing does two things. It relaxes the body and it directs your attention on your body and instead of any anxious thoughts you might have.

4. Recite a prayer, mantra, or even the alphabet in your mind.  Just as you did with the breathing, you can recite something in order to change your thinking. Often, it is a thought that can begin the attack in the first place.

5. Keep a journal. Keep track of your attacks in a journal. Write down when you had them and what you suspect may have been the trigger. As you continue to observe your attacks, you may become more and more aware of what triggers them.

6. Practice relaxation techniques. Experiencing panic attacks as well as anxiety before an attack takes place can mean that you’re feeling uncomfortable much of the time. However, with relaxation techniques you can reduce your overall experience of anxiety. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation – when practiced regularly – are ways to lower your overall experience of anxiety.

If you feel that your panic attacks and your pre-attack anxiety are too much for you to handle, talk to an adult you trust so that he or she can connect you with a mental health professional.

The post Teens: Learn to Manage Pre-Panic Attack Anxiety appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

What’s compelling about the Facebook post is the striking difference between the two images of Amber Smith. In the first picture, she looks glamorous, as though she is loving life. And in the other, she’s clearly afraid, lost, and confused. The post makes real the pain that teens can feel on the inside despite how they look on the outside.

And in the written post, Amber highlights this problem by writing:

God knows why I’m doing this, but people need some home truths.

Top picture: What I showcase to the world via social media. Dressed up, make up done, filters galore. The ‘normal’ side to me.

Bottom picture: Taken tonight shortly after suffering from a panic attack because of my anxiety. Also the ‘normal’ side to me that most people don’t see.

I’m so sick of the fact that it’s 2016 and there is still so much stigma around mental health. It disgusts me that so many people are so uneducated and judgmental over the topic.

They say that 1 in 3 people will suffer with a mental illness at some point in their life. 1 in 3! Do you know how many people that equates to worldwide?! And yet I’ve been battling with anxiety and depression for years and years and there’s still people that make comments like ‘you’ll get over it’, ‘you don’t need tablets, just be happier’, ‘you’re too young to suffer with that’

Amber is right. The number of people around the globe who suffer from mental illness is quite alarming – and you wouldn’t know it by the way they look. For teens, specifically, the statistics about teen mental health can make a person think twice about how they’re feeling on the inside:

• According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 20% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 have or will have a serious mental illness.
• Roughly 11% of teens have a mood disorder (depression, bipolar disorder)
• Approximately 10% of teens have a behavior or conduct disorder (oppositional defiant disorder).
• About 8% of teens have an anxiety disorder (generalized anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder)
• Only 36% to 44% of children and adolescents with depression receive treatment the treatment they need.
• According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens who are 15 to 24 years old. It is the sixth leading cause of death among children ages 5 to 14 years old.

If you’re a teen with a mental illness, it’s important to get the help you need. Don’t let stigma stand in your way. And if you’re a parent or caregiver concerned about an adolescent in your life, contact a mental health provider for answers on mental illness, diagnosis, and treatment.

The post One Teen Talks Openly About Her Panic Attacks on Facebook appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

Over time, it’s possible that this stress can become overwhelming. In fact, it can become a psychological disorder, consisting of extreme worry even for everyday matters. One of the most common anxiety disorders among adolescents is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Teens who experience excessive and irrational worry for at least six months might be diagnosed with GAD. Other forms of anxiety disorders among teens include Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Phobias.

Panic Disorder, specifically, includes the consistent experience of attacks as well as a persistent concern about having additional attacks. Typically, teens with this disorder are extremely anxious and fearful, primarily because of the inability to predict when the next attack will occur. Attacks are often accompanied by a feeling of being out of control and include uncomfortable physical sensations, such as a pounding heart, sweating, weakness, dizziness, and numbness. An intense worry about the next attack is a common symptom that makes Panic Disorder difficult to manage.

Panic attacks might seem unbearable for teens, but it is manageable. In fact, it might seem incredibly unbearable right in the middle of having an attack. However, even here, with enough practice, experiencing panic can be managed right in the moment. Another challenging experience of Panic Disorder is the period leading up to an attack. Again, this is actually an opportunistic time of using specific coping tools in order to prevent a full attack from coming on.  The two primary ways of managing Panic Disorder include:

1. Have a toolbox of coping tools. The best coping tools for Panic Disorder, or any anxiety disorder, are relaxation techniques. These include meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and changing thoughts. When a teen feels an attack coming on, he or she can begin to take long, slow, and deep breaths. Inhale and exhale to the count of four seconds. This extended breathing does two things. It relaxes the body and it directs your attention on your body and instead of the thoughts in your mind that will likely only exacerbate the attack. Meditation and yoga can be used as ongoing practices so that a state of relaxation is consistent and familiar. Lastly, use a prayer, mantra, or even the alphabet to manage an attack when you feel it coming on. The point here is that you want to change your thinking. Commonly, it is a thought or a thinking pattern that began the attack in the first place.
2. Get to know the circumstances in which the panic attacks develop. Although it might be challenging, a teen might be able to identify signs indicating when an attack is imminent. Parents can assist with this process and encourage teens to become familiar with the thoughts, circumstances, and events that are taking place when an attack feels imminent. Knowing this can prepare teens so that they can begin to use coping tools to make the attack less severe. Often, it is something in the surroundings that may be causing an anxiety attack, such as a person, a noise, or a place. Eliminate the anxiety trigger as best you can. You can do this between attacks by trying to identify what your triggers are.

It’s possible for teens to cope with panic attacks. Additionally, getting professional support can further empower a teen to face his or her life with less anxiety and more enjoyment.

The post Panic Disorder in Teens Can Be Manageable appeared first on Paradigm Treatment Center.

What Is Panic Disorder?

Panic Disorder is a mental health condition in which a teen experiences sudden and repeated attacks of fear, which are often accompanied by a feeling of being out of control. Uncomfortable physical sensations, such as a pounding heart, sweating, weakness, dizziness, and numbness makes up the experience a panic attack. An intense worry about the next attack is a common symptom.

How to Manage Fear

If you can find a way to make fear, worry, and panic your friend, you might notice the intensity of fear go down. One way to do this is to get to know the feelings you’re experiencing, and get to know them well. Study them as best you can. Rather than allowing those feelings to run you, befriending your feelings can help you stay in control of them. Here are some ways to begin to make fear your friend and not your enemy:

1. Begin to identify when a panic attack is about to occur. Although it might be challenging, you might be able to identify signs that an attack is imminent. If you’re able to identify an oncoming attack, you can take steps to make it less severe.
2. At the onset of an attack, change the environment you’re in. Often, it is something in your surroundings that is causing an anxiety attack – a person, a noise, or a place. Eliminate the anxiety trigger as best you can.
3. Focus on your breathing. Take long, slow, and deep breaths. Inhale and exhale to the count of four seconds. This extended breathing does two things. It relaxes the body and it directs your attention on your body and instead of the thoughts in your mind that will likely only exacerbate the attack.
4. Recite a prayer, mantra, or even the alphabet in your mind. The point here is that you want to change your thinking. Commonly, it is a thought or a thinking pattern that began the attack in the first place. If you can, pinpoint the thought that might have triggered the panic attack and write it down.

If you are suffering from panic attacks, you probably know that it can be incredibly debilitating. Psychotherapists Laurel Hulley and Bruce Ecker have found that the most effective treatment for anxiety is finding the purpose that it has. According to Hulley and Ecker, once someone directly experiences and accepts this previously unrecognized purpose; there is an opening in which insight can be experienced, often eliminating symptoms of panic.

The Techniques

For instance, in an imaginative game of “what if”, one teen recognized that her panic attacks were the result of believing that if she didn’t have the intense anxiety then another bad thing would happen. Having the panic attacks were a way for her to experience something “bad”, or without them another bad thing would happen that would not be under her control.

Of course, this technique may or may not work with everyone. Typically treatment includes both medication and psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. They have been used successfully to reduce the intensity of anxiety as well as the frequency of panic attacks. The medication will help relieve some of those devastating symptoms and the therapy will help you work through the underlying causes of those panic attacks, such as the work of Hulley and Ecker.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 2.3% of 13 to 18 year olds have been diagnosed with Panic Disorder. And teens who suffer from this disorder are more likely to also suffer from depression, suicidal thoughts, and addiction. But fortunately, those teens who suffer from Panic Disorder and other disorders can be treated and they can experience a panic-free life.

If you’re looking for a way to facilitate your freedom from panic attacks, try befriending your feelings and accepting them as you’re feeling them – right in the moment. It’s easier said than done, but it’s possible!

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If you’re a teen with Panic Disorder, it’s likely getting in the way of your life! Often, teens have persistent fears about having additional attacks, especially in public settings, such as with your friends! Typically, those with this disorder are extremely anxious and fearful, primarily because of the inability to predict when the next attack will occur. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 2.3% of 13 to 18 year olds have been diagnosed with teen Panic Disorder. Adolescents who suffer from this disorder are more likely to also suffer from depression, suicidal thoughts, and addiction.

What is Panic Disorder?

Panic Disorder is a mental health condition in which an individual experiences sudden and repeated attacks of fear, which are often accompanied by a feeling of being out of control. Uncomfortable physical sensations, such as a pounding heart, sweating, weakness, dizziness, and numbness makes up the experience a panic attack. An intense worry about the next attack is a common symptom.

Fortunately, teens that suffer from Panic Disorder can be treated. Traditionally, if you were to go to a mental health professional, that treatment might include both medication and psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. And this treatment method has been used successfully to reduce the intensity of anxiety as well as the frequency of panic attacks. However, if you wanted to take some of your treatment into your own hands, you might try the following two things:

Step 1: Education

Learn as much as you can about teen Panic Disorder and anxiety. When you do this, you’ll begin to understand what’s going on inside of you and you’ll also likely experience insights and what you need to do to heal. This is incredibly empowering. When we go to a mental health professional, we essentially put our lives in their hands. However, when you learn about what’s going on, you’ll start to get a sense of what your unique needs are to grow and heal.

One thing you might learn, for example, is that panic is also known as “fight or flight”. It’s physiological response for survival. A good analogy for the panic response is a fire alarm. It’s meant to let you know that you’re in danger.  However, what’s essential to know is that even though it’s loud and unpleasant, but the fire alarm itself is never dangerous.

Fear of panic is at the root of panic disorder.  As you really begin to learn that no part of the panic response is ever harmful or dangerous, the fear of panic begins to subside.  And then, you’ll be less and less bound by the panic experience.

Many books include excellent explanations of the nature of panic and panic disorder.  Among them are:

• Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic: Workbook  by David Barlow and Michelle Craske (see especially chapters 1, 3 and 4)
• Overcoming Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia by Elke Zuercher-White (see especially chapters 1 and 5)
• Panic Attacks Workbook (2004) by David Carbonell

The next essential task to taking your healing of Panic Disorder into your own hands.

Step 2: Practice

There are two practices that can facilitate healing – meditation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Both of these practices you can do with a therapist. However, once you learn them, you can do them on your own as well.

Meditation – Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation can create a psychological state that can invite solutions you might not have otherwise thought of. When the mind and body are relaxed, your inner resources are more easily accessible. In this state, you might see your situation differently. An answer to your problem might come forward or an insight might arise that allows you to see a stressful situation differently.

One way to relax the mind is through meditation. Now, there are many forms of meditation and you might need to find the method that is best for you. You can use guided imagery which takes you to various imagined peaceful places or you can meditate using a point of focus. Both can have healing and relaxing effects.

Finally, deep breathing can be an essential tool, particularly right in those intense moments that might otherwise lead to cutting or self-harm. Helping your child develop the habit of breathing instead of cutting can be the practice that eliminates self-harm altogether.

Learn more about Mindfulness Exercises and Relaxation Activities for Teens.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy essentially aims to change behavior by identifying negative and distorted thinking patterns. This successful form of therapy emphasizes the link between thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and more importantly, it attempts to identify the way that certain thoughts contribute to the unique problems of an adolescent’s life. By changing the thought pattern, both feelings and behavior change, which can result in a transformed life. It is common for a CBT therapist to use a tool called a Thought Diary, which is a way to document anxious thoughts and the result of those thoughts.

If you’re a teen ready to participate in your own healing, you’ll find that a therapist will dramatically facilitate your use of CBT. In fact, you may want to learn about CBT with a therapist first, and then take it home with you. There, you can use a Thought Diary to document your thoughts and learn which ones are triggering your attacks and which ones are keeping them going.

At the same time, while you’re in therapy, you might want to get on medication, even if it’s for a brief period of time so that you can return to normal functioning. Medication for treating anxiety disorders often includes anti-anxiety medication and even anti-depressants. Although antidepressants are incredibly effective, they do come with risks. For teens in particular, it is essential to know that anti-depressants can cause suicidal thoughts and even attempts at suicide. Of course, anyone taking psychotropic medication should be closely monitored, especially at the beginning of treatment.

As already mentioned, psychotherapy, sometimes known as “talk therapy”, might include CBT.  This form of therapy can be particularly effective because it will invite you to closely examine thoughts and related behaviors, as well as reactions to certain situations. This can help unravel the anxiety inside by untangling the mess of thoughts and feelings.

With both your participation and working with a therapist, perhaps your level of anxiety might return to a level that is not just manageable, but absent.

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