Advice on helping partner with anxiety disorder?

Hi,
my boyfriend of 3 months has always been honest about his anxiety and how it may affect our relationship, namely that he occasionally has panic attacks about us (some, although not all, are about how he would feel if things went wrong with me, based on a past relationship, and mixes up those bad feelings with his feelings about me). He is on medication which helps a lot, but sometimes he does have panic attacks out of the blue. I was hoping that someone (particularly someone who also suffers from anxiety) would have some advice for me - What is the best way for me to react to these attacks? How can I calm him down? I know that I can't change or cure him, I just want some advice to help him cope with these attacks. We have talked about it, but he has only recently recognized that he has an anxiety disorder, so doesn't know himself the best way to cope with it.
Thanks, Louise

No he isn't seeing a therapist at the moment - he has seen councilors in the past, but not since being diagnosed. I will suggest that to him - thanks for your advice Cassie! x

He really needs to be in therapy so he can learn how to cope with this. Medication only partially helps. Learning to recognize one is about to start is extremely helpful, and trusting that it will not last long can be immensely helpful - especially hearing those things from a qualified therapist.

Let him know that he is not his dpanic attacks, he is not a bad person, he is not stupid, and he is not insane - he simply has a disorder, that for now is affecting his life; a disorder that it is manageable, eventually even curable. It is only a part of his life - it does not identify him.

When I used to have panic attacks, keeping my enviornment calm and quiet was immensely helpful. If one occurred when I was out shopping or at an event, I went to my car or some private area. If I was at work, I took a break and went out to my car or to the restroom and washed my face with cool water and stayed in a stall until it passed. At home, if others were there, I excused myself and went to my room until it was over.

Thank you for being there for him. I wish you both the very best.

Talk to him. Calmly, in an understanding way. Don't try to offer him advice, and don't act frightened. Just listen to him, say nice things to him.

This is really the best you can do for your part. But to be honest, it helps a lot. I've suffered with severe anxiety, and just being around someone who is calm and loving helps SO much.

Hopefully he is getting help from a therapist?

My father has panic attacks pretty often. I've found that the best way to help is to be kind and help him out so he can rest. Get him a drink or whatever and try to be calm about it. Reassure him that everything will work out okay. Whatever you do, don't ever tell him that he's being unreasonable or immature for worrying about small things. That will only make it worse.

Treat Panic Attacks and Anxiety:
http://treatpanicattacksandanxiety.blogs...

:)

I'm sure that therapists could involve partners and then everyone is on the same page. Get books to read about it.