Anxiety is not something that should be taken lightly. Everyone thinks that it’s not something serious but it can turn into something serious. It can have that person scarred for life or actually send them into a stroke or heart attack from the stress of it. From experience with my best friend, her panic attacks can feel like she’s having a heart attack. I have come up with a list to keep you from saying the wrong thing when someone is freaking out and to keep the situation from escalating.

1. “It’s okay." No, it’s not okay, that person is not okay or they wouldn’t be worrying and crying over it. It is not okay to them and saying it’s going to be okay just makes them worry more because a person with anxiety has no control over their thoughts once it gets out of hand. The situation that they are freaking out about it, is terrifying to them than it is to you.
2. “It’s all in your head.” The way an anxiety disorder works, it is all in their head but the actual person has no control over their thoughts. Anxiety is like that little voice in the back of your head questioning everything you think.
3. “I know how you feel.”No you don’t. No one knows exactly how a person feels. Even if you're worrying over the same situation, the person will be thinking of a totally different scenario in their head. Each person’s anxiety to certain things can be different on how much it can affect that person.
4. “Relax.” Telling them to relax isn’t going to make them relax. My best friend has anxiety and she says that when someone tells her to relax, it makes her more upset and more frustrated. They can’t relax because their mind won’t let them.
5. “You’re overreacting!” No, they’re not. They’re actually in physical pain. Anxiety can cause multiple symptoms that cause discomfort, such has chest pains, feeling like you can’t breathe and nausea. This is one of the worse things that you could tell someone who is having a panic attack.