Home › Instruction sheets › Panic attack: what to do

For people who have been told by a doctor that their episodes are panic attacks, and for their family.

Drawing: A place to sit, slow breaths, a steady heart, time passing, and calm. — A place to sit, slow breaths, a steady heart, time passing, and calm.

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What it is

A panic attack is a sudden rush of intense fear that reaches its peak within minutes. The heart races. You sweat and tremble. The chest feels tight, and you feel short of breath, dizzy or sick. The hands tingle. You may feel you are about to die or lose control. Most attacks last 5 to 20 minutes. It is frightening, but it is not dangerous, and it passes.

During an attack

Stay where you are, if it is safe. Sit down.
Tell yourself: "This is a panic attack. It will pass. I have come through it before."
Breathe slowly. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Count steadily from 1 to 5 as you breathe in, and 1 to 5 as you breathe out. Keep going for at least 5 minutes.
Bring your attention to the room: name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear.
Do not fight the feelings. Let them rise and fall. They always fall.

What helps over time

Regular physical exercise
Less tea, coffee and cola
Going back to the places you have started to avoid, a little at a time
Treatment: a talking therapy (CBT) and, for some people, a daily medicine taken for at least 6 months

What does not help

Breathing into a paper bag
Avoiding places or activities because an attack happened there
Alcohol to calm down
Taking a sedative tablet for every attack. It works for the moment and makes the problem last longer.
Repeated tests and repeated reassurance once a doctor has examined you

If you have diabetes and take insulin or a tablet such as glimepiride or gliclazide, check your sugar first. Low sugar feels the same: sweating, shaking and a racing heart.

For the family: stay with the person. Stay calm and speak slowly in short sentences. Breathe slowly along with them. Do not say "calm down" or "it is all in your mind". Do not crowd them.

Treat it as a medical emergency, not as panic, if

This is the first time, and no doctor has examined you for it
The chest pain is still there after 20 minutes or after the panic has settled, or it spreads to the arm, neck, jaw or back
There is chest pain with sweating, vomiting or breathlessness in a person with diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, or over 40 years of age
The person faints, or has a known heart or lung condition and the symptoms feel different from earlier attacks

Call 108 or go to the nearest hospital with an emergency department.

If the fear ever comes with thoughts of harming yourself, tell someone close to you and call Tele-MANAS on 14416 (free, 24 hours).

Questions about this sheet? Call Caspian Healthcare reception on +91 89193 41154. A doctor is on duty at all hours for problems that are not critical. Caspian has no emergency department: in an emergency call 108.

Where this comes from

Prepared by Caspian Healthcare from the sources above. Last reviewed October 2026. General information: your own doctor's written instructions come first.