What is the best way to control anxiety attacks?

How to prevent panic or anxiety attacks? How long will it take to overcome?

• Hi. I am 18 and have never suffered from anxiety attacks before in my whole life, until a couple of months ago. They are taking control of my life. I have suffered with asthma all my life, and I worry about not being able to breath, or embarrassing myself in public.I am very self-conscious, put others before me and don't like a fuss being made over me. I have been to many concerts and had no problems with panicking at all, I was fine, concerts are one of the things I love most in life. But this October (about 2 months ago) I was standing at a concert in the O2 arena. I felt like I was going to faint, I thought it was just my asthma. So I took my pump, it didn't seem to help, so I started panicking. I didn't want to faint in front of all of those people. I just couldn't concentrate on the show, or enjoy myself. All I thought was "I need to escape". I had to force my way out of the concert early, get some water and calm myself down, whilst my whole body was numb, my heart was racing. The whole way back in the car, I was struggling to breathe (I don't know if it was just because I was thinking about it too much). I thought it was a one-off, continued to go to college, as per usual. I was fine. Until a college trip to the city. We were rushing to get to a restaurant before it closed; I kept thinking about my asthma because we were walking quite fast. We got to the restaurant, it was crowded and underground. Immediately I thought "I'm not going to be able to sit in there, it's stuffy and there's no air". It was constantly on my mind, I couldn't engage in conversation or enjoy myself with my peers. I was too busy thinking "I need to escape". I asked my friend to come out for some air. That's when the major panic attack occurred. My whole body was tingling and I felt like I was having a heart attack. I was trembling, I thought I was going to die. My parents had to pick me up, my chest was tight for about 8 hours after the attack. The next week I forced myself to go to college as usual, I was fine, I had actually kind of forgotten about the attacks. I got nervous when I saw the group of people who were on the trip with me. I felt embarrassed and it was like a constant reminder of my bad experience. Things carried on fine, until a few weeks ago I just suddenly felt unable to breathe in my ICT lesson. I started sweating, my heart was racing, I thought to myself "it's going to happen again, there's no air in here". I got myself worked up, had another attack and went home. I had a week off because I was so scared. I associate ICT lessons with that now, so when I tried to go back again, I had another attack and I could not concentrate on my work AT ALL. Now I can't face going into a lesson. I can't even bare the thought of it... Even as I'm writing this, my chest feels tight, but I'm trying to shove it off. No matter how much I try and push it aside, it is ALWAYS there. I've missed 4 weeks of IMPORTANT lessons. My final exams are in January, I can't face going back, let alone sitting in an exam hall for hours! I need the grades for university and I can't get them if I don't sit the exam, and my whole Christmas and New Year holiday is ruined as I can't bring myself to go to any parties, see any of my friends, just in case it happens again and I embarrass myself!!! I feel faint and nervous even when my grandparents came round and made a fuss of me! Why? My driving test is also in January, but I haven't had driving lessons for weeks because I get dizzy when driving because I'm ALWAYS thinking about if I have an attack! My nurse gave me Valium, it just made me sleep throughout the day. I've tried herbal tablets and spray, they don't work that effectively I've even had panic attacks at home because I'm thinking about my breathing so much, so I sit outside by myself at night to get some air. I NEED HELP, WHAT CAN I DO? This is the most important time of my life!!! I don't want it to rule me! I want to do well in exams, pass my driving test, go to university, go to concerts and enjoy myself! It seems I'll never be able to do anything ever again and it's really getting me down, I feel very depressed at the moment, any advice PLEASE? I don't understand why I can't go a second of the day without thinking about my breathing, it's never effected me before, why should it now? I have no control over my life, I'm losing friends and I'm not happy at all anymore! I just sit indoors worrying! Thanks for ANY help, I would appreciate your time.

• Answer:

  Calm your self breathe slow breaths through your nose. Breathe slowly into a paper bag. Use distraction .Think or do something else. Google anxiety, symptoms and treatment for lots of information on this subject. See a doctor for accurate diagnosis and possible medications. Anxiety cab be very debilitating. Take care