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That happened to my friend when she decided to drive to Alaska from Michgan! I felt so bad for her there was no way to get back other than to drive. If it continues, tell him to take a tylenol PM to take the edge off. Poor guy. I have occasional panic attacks and while they aren't fun, I can deal with them.. It must be scary for a young kid.
Please pray for my son. He is on a road trip with a friend to visit another friend at a college on the other side of the state.
He began having panic attacks an hour ago.
He wanted me to pick him up, but it's safer for him to continue with his friend.
I don't want him sitting in a rest stop by himself for 4 hours waiting for me to arrive.
It's almost midnight. He'd be there from midnight until 4am by himself.
His friend offered to turn around and bring him home, but my son doesn't want to ruin his friend's trip. Ironic.
Maybe being forced to deal with this will be best for him. Running away from things only makes panic attacks worse the next time around.
But that doesn't change the fact that I'm worried for my son. All I can do at this point is ask people for their prayers.
Oh, poor guy! I will keep you both in my thoughts. You and he are absolutely right that pushing through it is the most effective thing, even though it is scary as all get out. Keep us posted!!
Thanks everyone. It's been a very long night. He stuck it out and then continued to have anxiety when he arrived at the campus. He went outside for a walk to deal with his anxiety and couldn't find his way back to the apartment building because they all looked the same.
I was all set to leave the house at 3:00am, to pick him up at 7:00am, when he finally found his friends again. Mind you, he is still having anxiety so he's NOT happy about being there. I guess he eventually fell asleep because I haven't heard from him, and it's 9:00am now.
I just sent him a text with information for taking a Greyhound bus home. When he wakes up, he will have a decision to make---stay to ride home with his friend or take an 8 hour Greyhound bus ride.
He has had a serious flare up of anxiety problems for the past two months. He needs counseling and treatment, but he refuses. HOW CAN YOU CONVINCE SOMEONE TO GET MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT?
Oh, I forgot to mention that he told me last night that this was all my fault---that I should have never let him go! He WANTED to go! He's an adult! He didn't have anxiety until he was on the way there---yet this is all my fault somehow.
I decided to do a little tough love and send the Greyhound information. I raised him to be independent. He knows how to take care of himself. He needs to learn how to do that even during an anxiety attack. I feel babying him and rushing to his rescue will only enable his anxiety problems. And if that's too uncomfortable for him, maybe that will cause him to realize that he does in fact need counseling.
That doesn't change my worrying though. And I'm hoping that I am doing the right thing.
Tell him that he is not going to die from anxiety.
Tell him to pinch his earlobe, as hard as he can stand, until the anxiety goes away. And if it comes back, pinch again, and harder. Anxiety produces physical sensations that must be dealt with, EFT techniques work for some people, you can find short videos of that on youtube. EFT looks silly but it does work for some people.
Here's a link for an example:
I would not go get him. At some point, he is going to have to face his problem with anxiety. It may as well be right now. Tell him to utilize relaxation techniques and to get his mind OFF of himself....even if he has to go outside and start marching around, singing, or whatever.....if you run to his rescue, he will not be motivated to face this and conquer it.
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I have been talking him through this all night.
Does this only happen to him when he is alway from you, or does it happen to him all the time?
I know this is hard on both of you, but he needs to stay where he is and come home as planned. Running to his rescue will not help him in the long run. He needs to see that he can survive this. What is he going to do when he is in college? For future college visits, I would go as a family. Besides, you should see what it looks like to and talk about financial aid. It might also help for future panic attacks.
I would not go get him. At some point, he is going to have to face his problem with anxiety. It may as well be right now. Tell him to utilize relaxation techniques and to get his mind OFF of himself....even if he has to go outside and start marching around, singing, or whatever.....if you run to his rescue, he will not be motivated to face this and conquer it.
That's why I haven't gone, but I do fear that long term exposure to this experience might do some serious harm. He might never go away to college because of this. He might very well never leave the house again because of this.
He has social anxiety. He developed it four years ago. He has been doing great for the past two years, but it came back full force in September. It's the things he wants to do most that cause him anxiety. The anxiety on the turnpike last night was about the prospect of facing strangers when he arrived at the campus.
Every single failure makes the next time worse. And it can't get much worse than it's been for the last month. I'm hoping that hitting rock bottom will make him accept the fact that he needs treatment.
He's very anti drugs and anti therapy. He had a bad experience with medication and therapists. The progress he made a few years ago, he did on his own. I keep reminding him that he has the skills to overcome this. It's just not working right now.
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Originally Posted by Sundance
Does this only happen to him when he is alway from you....
No. He doesn't have separation anxiety. He has traveled the country for entire summers without me until a couple of years ago.
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Originally Posted by Sundance
, or does it happen to him all the time?
For the past 1-1/2 months, it's been all the time prior, during and after a social situation that sparks it.
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