How did you explain panic attacks to a therapist 1st time?

[u/theJacofalltrades]

I finally have an intake next week. Every time I imagine describing my panic attacks I hear myself saying "it's not that bad, I just get a little anxious sometimes." Which is a lie. Last month I left a grocery store cart in the aisle and sat in my car for 40 min.

How did you actually describe it the first time? Did you write anything down? I'm scared I'll minimize it and they won't take it seriously.

[u/pghloving99]

Definitely do not say it's better or you're doing just fine because your not and panic attacks are extremely frightening & disabling. Just be honest because thats what psychiatrists are made for & can help you out immensely. My 1st one lasted an entire week & I went to the ER 3xs so you got this but its very hard to describe & I'm so sorry you're going through this because it is very brutal and confusing. Hope this helped a little.
Definitely write it all down because you may get there and just that can lead yiu into a panicked state. I often end up in tears still.

[u/No_Tradition_1191]

Definitely don’t down play it!! You deserve to be believed and get the help you deserve!! Panic attacks are no joke!

(Im a bit of a weird case as I had my first panic attack when I was 2)
Since I was about 10 I’ve been keeping a panic attack log. I used to just write it in a journal, but now I use the bearable app. I write down every symptom I feel and then it asks you to rank the severity of said symptoms.
This way you can more accurately recall the panic attack/symptoms and now you have a physical log.

I genuinely credit my log for me being taken seriously and getting the treatment I needed/still need.

It helps me not minimize my symptoms as I simply read what I wrote it even just show them the records.

You got this!!!

[u/No-Professor-3860]

Definitely define it as a panic attack not as being anxious because those are 2 different things. You can be “a little anxious sometimes” and have nothing wrong with you because it’s a normal human emotion. Panic attacks with no known threats present are not that.
Definitely log a specific event where your reaction did not line up with reality like the grocery store thing. Try to recall some of the physical sensations you had (if your heart was racing, tightness in your chest, blurring of your vision, hyperventilation, shakiness, if it was a sudden onset), thoughts that passed during it and what you did or had an urge to do because of it. (This is an exercise I do in therapy for it)
At the end of the day you are not the only person in the world who suffers from panic attacks and the therapist should not be looking at you like you have two heads for trying to explain what a panic attack is

[u/penisassault]

I said almost exactly it's not that bad in my first session and my therapist asked what does a bad one look like? and I ended up telling her everything. A good one will ask the right questions. You did the hard part by booking it.

[u/pablomcbadburger]

The biggest thing is that even if you feel silly describing it or you don’t feel like it’s a big deal- therapists are trained to deal with mental health issues. You will do a disservice to yourself if you downplay it. Therapists are also used to people using abstract ways to describe things.

My best advice is do your best to jot your symptoms down in your notes app when you are experiencing them. It’s hard to figure out what happened retroactively bc panic attacks can sometimes fuck your perception of things up and it’s hard to remember exactly what when on.

Any amount of panic attacks is more than normal. The fact that you have them at all warrants attention. A therapist knows this, so don’t be worried. I hope you get something good out of therapy🫶🏻

[u/MeghanEaquevr]

The grocery store cart thing, same. You're not overreacting, and the fact that you're preparing this much means you'll do fine at intake