For Friends & Family
Being with someone you care about while they are experiencing an anxiety or panic attack can be emotionally challenging. Panic can be scary at first, especially if you are not sure what is happening.
When someone is having an anxiety or panic attack, the immediate goal is to help them feel calmer and rule out any actual medical emergency. Later you can help prepare them to overcome their anxiety and panic.
Unfortunately, helping someone overcome their anxiety and panic is not as simple as giving them a book with your best wishes. You may need to help them recognize the need to change, increase their motivation for changing, prepare for changing, make changes, and support or maintain these changes.
Here are suggestions for things you might do if you would like to help a friend or family member overcome their anxiety and panic.
Things You Can Do
We go through a multi-step process anytime we change our behavior, even though we may not be aware of the steps. At each step in the process of changing we need information and assistance that will help us move from the current step to the next step. We cannot relate to—and may resent—information that would be appropriate at an earlier or later stage in the process.
Understanding the steps in the process of behavior change enables you to provide more effective assistance when helping someone. By listening and asking questions you can offer suggestions and support that matches where the person is currently and helps the person move to the next step in this process.
The steps or stages of change are:
Precontemplation: vague thoughts of need to change, may not know/believe that change is possible or what would be involved.
Contemplation: weighing pros and cons of changing versus staying the same, gathering information on how to change.
Preparation: decided to change, figuring out how to get started.
Action: working through the process of changing.
Maintenance: sustaining the change despite challenges or setbacks.
You can get a sense of where someone is in the process of change by asking about their plans for overcoming anxiety and panic. Typical answers are:
I do not intend to overcome, or it will be over six months: Precontemplation.
I intend to overcome in the next six months: Contemplation.
I intend to overcome in the next month: Preparation.
I am overcoming now, or I overcame within the past six months: Action.
I overcame more than six months ago: Maintenance.
Overcoming Anxiety and Panic interactive guide provides some of the information needed during the Preparation stage and covers the Action and Maintenance stages in detail. During these stages you can help with forms and exercises as explained in the book.
To help someone reach the Preparation and Action stages, it may help to provide the following information at each stage:
Precontemplation:
Anxiety, panic, or fears are limiting your life and preventing you from doing things you would like to do;
Anxiety issues are common and affect many people;
Although anxiety and panic are scary, they are not dangerous, and they do not mean you have something wrong medically;
It is possible to overcome anxiety and panic, many people have done it, you can do it too.
Contemplation:
Think about what you might gain if you overcame your anxiety and panic. What would this mean for you, your family, and your friends?
What is likely to happen if your anxiety and panic remain the same or get worse? What would this mean for you, your family, and your friends?
What do you have to lose by trying to overcome your anxiety and panic?
Many people have been able to overcome their anxiety and panic using this book.
Research shows that many people with panic attacks get good long-term results without medications using an approach like the one outlined in this book.
Preparation:
Get a copy of Overcoming Anxiety and Panic interactive guide.
See Chapter 1 for instructions on setting a goal, planning when to work on overcoming, establishing rewards for completing each step, etc.
As you help someone through this process, you may find it helpful to read Overcoming Anxiety and Panic interactive guide and share:
Contents of Chapter 1: Why You Want This Guide, especially the stories of people who are similar in some ways to the person you are trying to help.
Relevant facts about panic symptoms and fears from Chapter 2.
Order your copy now:
In the United States click the Buy on Amazon.com link below (for paper or Kindle e-book), go to Apple Books (for Apple e-book), or request ISBN 978-0979640803 from your local bookstore or library.
Outside of the US, order ISBN 978-0979640803 from the Amazon.com website serving your country, or your local bookstore.
