Panic Attacks Anyone?

My brother-in-law gets them.............

usually stress or depression related.

0.02

 

If the doctor knows of the suicide threat, he is irresponsible in not referring to a qualified psychiatrist. The average doc, as well as quite a few psychiatrists, do not fully understand how to properly monitor these conditions, nor do they know the best way to administer the required drugs.
This guy needs a good, experienced psychiatrist, NOW.

 

First off- tell your friend, "this too, shall come to pass."

I'll put it this way - a neurologist will not recommend a patient go to a chiropractor. But, a patient can go to a chiropractor of his own choosing... and find it's the best thing he ever did.

He can go to a psychiatrist of his own choosing.

 

"""But won’t give him a referral to a psychiatrist."""?????

Your kiddind right?

But to be useful...so what?

You do not HAVE to be refered to see a psychiatrist. Pic one from the yellow pages or just ask around and go. It is not like you are trying to see the President!

If INS will only take a referial then you call the Psy as an emergency, which is what this sounds liketo me, and get around it that way. They can NOT, under fed law, denigh you coverage under emergency conditions.

 

why the hell are you thinking about cost! you are putting a price on a person's life! You shouldn't say it MAY be worth the extra cost, it IS worth the extra cost...

 

Hey guys you are all missing the point don't you people listen to Tom Cruise there is no such thing as mental illness. This person needs vitamins and excercise.

actually tell this person to talk to someone get a referal to a qualified professional or like others have said open the phone book and call and get an appointment.

My brother in law has these and he feels like the world is litterally ending. They can sink someone into a deep depresion. Don't wait until the next attack have him do this now.

 

Agreed. If necessary, help him find a shrink, and help him get there. Also, find out if there are outpatient clinics where he can participate in groups, since seeing a therapist periodically will not be enough if he is really on the edge. There may also be AA/NA type meetings he could attend if for no other reason that there are people around to talk him down, and they usually have a good network of contacts, too. Any major city should have alot of different resources. Medication will not work instantly, and obviously does not address the problems anyway, although it can get him through the worst of it.
Resort to emergency room/psych intake really is a last resort.... but it is still better than death, I think...

 

Let me start this by stating that I am NOT a physician, but I have dealt with this problem (with a family member) for many years.

PAXIL is an antidepressant drug, and can take up to 4 weeks to starting showing any affect. XANAX is a highly additive drug, it will help him but can cause addiction that is extremely hard to treat.

There other drugs in the market that will control his panic attacks (namely CLONOPIN) that are less addictive and will show positive control immediatly.

Your friend needs to be under the care of a competent psychiatrist immediately. If his current doc does not give him a refferal, I would suggest your friend to look for a second oppinion from another PC.

If you need any further information or help, feel free to PM me.

Milton

 

Get him in your car and drive him to a local cemetary. Tell him that this is where he will be if he does not take care of the situation. I did this once with a friend that had a bad coke habit. It worked.

 

that is a very bad idea. what you need to do is get him in the car, and drive him to the ER or some clinic where he can talk to someone.

 

I guess it depends on the person, good point. I'd hate to do that and have the cemetary look good to them! An intervention may be a last resort.

 

I think an intervention wouldn't work in this case. He does not have a problem that can be solved in that way. He basically needs to be checked into a clinic or a program where he can be monitored 24 hrs a day. Anyone saying that death is an option needs to be watched.

 

i use to get them, they are no fun !!!!!! it literally feels like the world is closing in on you. i found that keeping my mind occupied helped the best and going to the gym. i also found doing different routines helps too.
never have i thought about doing myself in though, thats pretty serious.
is it seasonal for them ???? maybe light therapy is the key ???

 

I started getting them about a year ago. It's weird, feels like you're dying. One time I was taking a shower and I convinced myself that I had lost my mind and would never be the same, weird ****. I am on 50mg a day of Zoloft now and have been for the last year. It's great. I'm able to go out to restaurants, movies, anything I want to do. It really is a sickness, so is depression. I tried to be a badass and quit taking my meds and I was back at square one. He needs to talk to a psychiatrist and get on zoloft or something. It's too painful to live that way.

 

Nice to see such forthright, honest testimonials here. Man, I've been there.

Look - if he goes to a group therapy thing - the possibility is he'll see they're *nuts* & within an hour... realize everything's OK.

 

or he might not actually go. A lot of people don't go to doctors and things like that because they are embarassed.

 

I used to work for a counseling center and many of calls we would get were cases like this. My advice would be to talk to him as much as possible...be open and honest, even blunt. Discuss the issues, but always come back to the need to see a psychiatrist. Also, see if there is a counseling line in your area(many companies also have them). If there is, call first and see how well trained they are, then refer your friend if they are any good. We had a very high success rate of getting people help where I worked.

 

As long as you remember, Ted Bundy used to work at a crisis hotline center, which is where he met whatshername,* the author who made a career out of writing true crime sagas, starting, i think, with Ted.

*N.B. Ann Rule

 

Just had a conversation on the subject a few days ago..... apparently caffiene should be avoided if you are prone to panic attacks.