Everyone experiences anxiety at times.

Panic is the word used to describe having very high levels of anxiety.

Children/young people experience panic may have symptoms that include sweating, feeling short of breath, dizziness, having chills or heat sensations, and feeling like their heart is pounding very quickly.

They are often accompanied by a fear of losing control, going mad, or dying.

Given these common thoughts, it is understandable that children/young people become even more anxious and their physical symptoms of panic can get worse.

This further convinces them that the feared situation is going to happen, further worsening the physical symptoms.

A panic attack is when these symptoms are at their peak.

When someone has panic disorder, they have panic attacks followed by a persistent worry about further panic attacks or their consequences.

They also engage in maladaptive behaviour (i.e. behaviour that is not helpful in the long run), such as avoiding situations/places for fear of the panic attacks.

Psychological therapy can help our children/young people understand their anxiety and panic better, and build up ways to manage it.