I think my child is having panic attacks. What should we do?

In the movie Inside Out 2 , 13-year-old Riley, who has recently started puberty, has a panic attack during a hockey game timeout. Anxiety (the emotion responsible for the panic attack) becomes completely frenzied and there is a sense Riley is losing control. After a while, Anxiety calms down and Riley’s panic attack subsides.

The movie does a great job of conveying the experience of having a panic attack. But panic attacks (and anxiety) don’t just arise in teenagers – younger children can also have them. Being aware of what to look out for and how to respond to anxiety or panic is important to help you and your child better manage these scary symptoms.

What does a panic attack look like in a child? A panic attack is a sudden, intense feeling of fear or discomfort associated with four or more of the following: feeling very hot or cold racing heart shortness of breath tightness in the throat or chest sweating tingling sensations light-headedness. Panic attacks in children can last from a few minutes to 30 minutes. Some children describe a panic attack as feeling like they are trapped or in danger, that something terrible is happening to them, they are losing control of their body, having a heart attack, or even dying.

Often, a child is unaware their symptoms are related to anxiety. This experience can be very scary for children and others around them who don’t know what is happening. How common are panic attacks and at what age might they start? There is a common myth t.