Hello all. I am desperately trying to help my 16 year old daughter through an attack. I am trying the mindfulness approach but she is in such a terrible state of anxiety and it's hard to know if I'm helping. This is the second time this has happened and it went as quickly as it came after about a week but this time she is remembering how awful it was and this feeds her anxiety that maybe this time it won't go away.
I would really appreciate any advice or technique to help her through this. Thank you
She's been through it before, so she can know with certainty that it's possible to recover, and probably as quickly as the first time, all else being equal. You should remind her of that a lot.
I went through it quite a few times. The first time was the worst because I didn't know whether it would go away. The second time was more intense than the first time (worse panic attacks), but the confidence that I would recover was a great solace, and I was completely back to normal before long.
Adding to Phantasm's recommendation, I would suggest Hope and Help for Your Nerves. Even though it's a relatively old book and doesn't touch on more modern techniques for dealing with anxiety, I found it very helpful.
Mindfulness didn't work for me, but it does for some. Staying very active and engaged with life, socially, emotionally, physically, etc., is very important, and not just for distraction. You could encourage her to continue on as normal as far as possible, and maybe even take on new challenges in spite of the anxiety, leaving as little free time to ruminate as possible.
I would also suggest you find things that might boost her self-confidence - without pushing her into anything. Small steps. Self-esteem is central to mental health.
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