Asthma attacks can escalate into panic attacks especially in children, who are less aware of what is happening to them. And of course the fear of having an asthma attack can in itself bring on a panic attack. The key is to break the cycle.

What to do when a child has an asthma or panic attack

As their chest tightens, the child starts to get tense, this exacerbates the tightness and a full-blown panic attack can ensue. For a parent or carer, the key is to treat the attack as a normal event and keep calm yourself, reassure the child and to ‘pace’ their breathing.

Start by breathing more heavily than you normally do – but not as heavily as the child, while keeping relaxed. Talk them through their breathing, gradually slowing your speech and your own breathing so if you have developed sufficient rapport, their breathing will become more slow, matching yours. 

Learn or teach self awareness to break the cycle

Adults and older children can learn self-awareness, so they can start to control the symptoms themselves. It helps if they can develop the ability to become slightly detached and observe themselves and their behaviour, rather than wholly being caught up in an ‘inside out’ view. Then they can pace themselves, reduce their breathing rate and remain calm while they wait for the attack to subside.

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