Panic Attacks in Children: What to Do and What to Avoid
Watching your child experience a panic attack can feel truly terrifying. It is incredibly distressing to see them struggling to breathe, hyperventilating, or feeling as though they are in mortal danger.
As a parent, your instinct is to rush in. However, understanding how to manage panic attacks in children is the most powerful tool you have to provide real relief.
Symptoms of Panic Attacks in Children
Panic attacks in children involve sudden episodes of intense fear with physical symptoms. Common symptoms include a fast heartbeat, shortness of breath, shaking or trembling, and overwhelming terror.
As a parent you can help by staying calm and using specific breathing techniques, such as balloon breathing, to slow your child’s breathing and deepen it. Other helpful methods include applying grounding techniques and offering reassurance such as “you’re safe and I’m here”, without dismissing their feelings.
You should also learn to recognize when professional help is needed. These are evidence-based approaches which can often provide immediate relief and prevent the anxiety from getting worse.
As a parent, your natural response might be to rush in to protect your child from the situation or even show your own worry. But these reactions can sometimes make things worse.
What Happens During a Child’s Panic Attack?
A panic attack is an intense physical and emotional response where your child’s body goes into full alert mode.
Their brain triggers a fight or flight response even when there’s no actual danger.
Symptoms include fast heartbeat, dizziness or lightheadedness, and nausea. Your child may also experience chest pain, shaking, or trembling.
Additionally, your child might feel an overwhelming sense of terror or a fear that they are losing control.
It’s estimated that 2.3% of teenagers are diagnosed with panic disorder. But many more children and teens experience occasional panic attacks without a formal diagnosis.
The good news is there are specific, proven techniques you can use to help your child through these frightening episodes.
Panic attacks can technically occur at any age, but they most commonly emerge during the late childhood or early adolescent years. It is rare for very young children to experience full-blown panic attacks, as they often lack the cognitive maturity to interpret these intense physical sensations as impending doom.
As children enter the tween and teen years, hormonal changes, increased academic pressure, and greater social awareness often serve as catalysts for these episodes. If you notice your child experiencing sudden, unexplained waves of terror, it is important to observe if these coincide with periods of increased life stress or developmental transitions.
Key Takeaways
- Seek professional help if panic attacks are frequent, lead to avoidance, or interfere with daily life. Panic attacks are common in anxiety disorders. Long-term recovery requires understanding triggers and evidence-based strategies like CBT.
- Panic attacks in children cause sudden intense fear and physical symptoms like fast heartbeat, shortness of breath, and trembling; stay visibly calm to signal safety to their brain.
- Help immediately by validating their feelings, guiding slow breathing (e.g., in for 4, hold for 2, out for 6), and using grounding techniques with the five senses.
- Avoid dismissing their panic or showing your own fear, as this can worsen anxiety; stay with them until it passes, usually within 20-30 minutes.
Immediate Support for Your Child
Why Parents Might Accidentally Make Children’s Anxiety Worse?
Most parents naturally respond to their child’s panic by saying things like “Don’t worry” or “There’s nothing to be afraid of”. However, this approach often sends the wrong message to your child’s brain.
When you dismiss their anxious thoughts and very real physical sensations, they feel misunderstood. This often leaves them feeling even more alone in their panic.
Another common mistake is showing your own fear or anxiety. Children are incredibly perceptive.
If they see you panicking about their panic, it confirms their fear that something truly dangerous is happening. This can increase their distress.
As a mum of two myself, I realise it can be really tough not to show our own fear and anxiety if our child is panicking. But if possible, try to be that reassuring, containing presence they need in the moment.
The most effective approach combines calm reassurance with specific techniques. These techniques acknowledge their experience while activating their body’s natural calming response.
How to Help a Child Through a Panic Attack: 5 Evidence-Based Steps
- Remain visibly calm yourself. Take a deep breath before responding. Your calm presence signals to your child’s brain that there’s no real danger.
- Validate their experience by saying “I can see you’re having strong panic sensations in your body right now. These feelings are really unpleasant, but they can’t hurt you.”
- Guide slow, deep breathing by breathing with them. One simple technique is: Count “in for 4, hold for 2, out for 6” to activate their parasympathetic nervous system (the part of the nervous system that tells the brain and body the danger has passed and we are safe). Square breathing is another effective breathing exercise, as is balloon breathing.
- Use grounding techniques by asking them to name 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste, engaging all the five senses. “Grounding” means coming into the present moment by focusing on the sensations around you.
- Stay with them until the peak subsides, usually within 20-30 minutes but sometimes more quickly than that. After the panic attack they may be exhausted and need to rest; muscle relaxation can help during recovery.
Quick Checklist for Supporting Your Child During a Panic Attack
- Remain visibly calm and take a deep breath first
- Validate their feelings without dismissing them
- Guide breathing exercises like “in for 4, hold for 2, out for 6” or square breathing
- Apply grounding techniques using the five senses
- Stay present until it passes, then offer muscle relaxation
When and How to Seek Professional Help For Children’s Panic Attacks?
While occasional panic attacks can be managed at home, they are often symptoms of anxiety disorders and require some professional support. Seek help if your child:
- Has frequent panic attacks that interfere with daily activities
- Starts avoiding places or situations where they’ve had panic attacks
- Shows increasing isolation or withdrawal
- Expresses thoughts of wanting to escape their feelings
Medication may be considered by professionals for some mental health conditions, but it is always a clinical decision.
Start by speaking to your GP or paediatrician about a referral to children’s mental health services. Waiting lists may be long, so you may wish to get online support to help your child at home in the meantime.
If you are considering private support, search for local child clinical psychologists using your postcode at the Association of Child Psychologists in Private Practice (ACHiPPP).
It’s essential that your child psychologist is registered with the HCPC. Their HCPC number should be displayed on their website, ensuring they are fully qualified and insured.played on their website. This ensures your child psychologist is fully qualified and insured.
What’s the Best Way to Prevent My Child’s Panic Attacks Long-Term?
The techniques I’ve shared above can really help in the moment. But many families find themselves dealing with a repeating cycle.
We hope our child’s panic attacks won’t happen again. We cross our fingers and carry on. But without a long-term plan, we often end up fire-fighting when the panic returns.
The anxiety hits, we respond, things settle… and then the cycle starts all over again.
Understanding Emotional Triggers
To break free from this pattern, it helps to identify the emotional triggers behind panic attacks in children. Common triggers include school stress or sensory overload.
These episodes can also be linked to social anxiety, separation anxiety, or agoraphobia.
What’s the Difference Between Managing and Overcoming Anxiety?
Through my 20+ years working with anxious children, I know that truly overcoming anxiety requires more than just crisis management.
We really need to understand what’s driving your child’s fears. We also need a proper strategy based on science and evidence.
Most parents try their absolute best with the tools they have. They offer reassurance, encourage brave behaviour, or help their child avoid triggers.
But these approaches often don’t create lasting change. Cognitive behavioural therapy stands as the gold-standard approach for moving beyond management, where children learn vital coping skills for the long term.
How Can I Help My Child Overcome Panic Attacks Long-Term?
What works best is a clear, step-by-step approach. This helps your child understand their anxiety and build specific skills for facing fears.
As a parent you are perfectly positioned to help your child with this process. You just need the right framework and a bit of support to put it in place.
That’s why I created the Outsmart Anxiety course. This gives parents the same proven approaches I use in my clinical practice.
The course helps you understand why your child’s brain responds with anxiety. You will learn the specific steps to help them change, including mindfulness skills for managing panic attacks.
If you’re tired of feeling out of control, you will find this course helpful. It comes in age-appropriate versions (Under 12s and Teens) and gives you lifetime access to all materials.
Remember, your child can learn to handle anxiety effectively. With the right approach, you can help them build skills they’ll use throughout their life.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main symptoms of a panic attack in children?
Children experience sudden intense fear with physical symptoms such as fast heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, chest pain, shaking, and overwhelming terror. Their brain triggers a fight-or-flight response even without real danger. These episodes peak within minutes and usually subside in 20-30 minutes.
How can I help my child during a panic attack without making it worse?
Remain visibly calm, validate their sensations by saying they’re unpleasant but not harmful, and guide breathing exercises like ‘in for 4, hold for 2, out for 6’. Use grounding by naming things they can see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. Stay with them until it passes and offer rest afterwards.
When should I seek professional help for my child’s panic attacks?
Seek support if attacks are frequent, cause avoidance of places or situations, or lead to isolation and interference with daily activities. Start with your GP for a referral to children’s mental health services. Professionals who can help include a clinical psychologist, child and adolescent psychiatrist or a paediatrician. Ensure any private UK psychologist is HCPC-registered.
Can panic attacks in children be prevented long-term?
Yes, by identifying emotional triggers like school stress and using a step-by-step approach to build coping skills, such as through cognitive behavioural therapy. Short-term techniques help in the moment, but overcoming anxiety requires understanding what drives it and breaking the cycle. Resources like the Outsmart Anxiety course provide evidence-based parent guidance.
What is the difference between anxiety and a panic attack in a child?
While anxiety is often a lingering feeling of worry or unease about future events, a panic attack is a sudden, intense surge of fear accompanied by acute physical symptoms like a racing heart, chest pain, and a feeling of being unable to breathe. Anxiety is typically a state of mind, whereas a panic attack is a rapid, short-term physiological “fight or flight” response that occurs even when there is no real danger.
Dr Lucy Russell is a UK clinical psychologist and Clinical Director of Everlief Child Psychology. She qualified as a clinical psychologist from Oxford University in 2005 and worked in the National Health Service for many years before moving fully into her leadership and writing roles.
In 2019 Lucy launched They Are The Future, a support website for parents of school-aged children. Through TATF Lucy is passionate about giving practical, manageable strategies to parents and children who may otherwise struggle to find the support they need.
Lucy lives with her family, rescue cats and dog, and also fosters cats through a local animal welfare charity. She loves singing in a vocal harmony group and spending time in nature.
