The Night My Friend Had a Panic Attack by Anushka Bhat

 

The Night My Friend Had a Panic Attack

Anushka Bhatt II Mental health, anxiety disorders, friendship

I always thought panic attacks looked like screaming, crying, chaos.
Turns out, they can look like someone just zoning out.

It was a Friday night.
We were halfway through watching Love Island reruns and passing around popcorn when Tara went quiet. Like, really quiet. She was curled up, eyes wide, breathing like she’d just run a mile—but we hadn’t moved in hours.

“I think I’m dying,” she whispered.

At first I laughed. Bad move.
But then I saw her hands shaking. Like, uncontrollably.

“Tara?”
Nothing.

I remembered a random health video we watched in 9th grade. Something about grounding. I felt ridiculous, but I said it anyway.

“Okay. Five things you can see.”

She didn’t answer.

“Just try. Five things. Me. The TV. The lamp. Your hoodie. The popcorn bowl. Good.”

I kept going. Four things you can touch. Three things you can hear. She started naming things. Her breath slowed. Her hands stopped shaking.

We sat like that for ten minutes.

After, she apologized like she had done something wrong. I told her to stop apologizing or I’d make her listen to my emo playlist on full blast. She smiled.

The next day, we looked up therapists together.
She texted me later:
“Thanks for not freaking out.”
I didn’t have the heart to say I totally was freaking out. But I’m glad I didn’t show it.

Works Cited:

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder.” Mayo Clinic, 2024, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/panic-attacks/symptoms-causes/syc-20376021.
Anxiety and Depression Association of America. “Tips to Manage Anxiety and Stress.” ADAA, https://adaa.org/tips.
National Institute of Mental Health. “Panic Disorder: When Fear Overwhelms.” NIMH, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/panic-disorder-when-fear-overwhelms.