The P.G. Department of Commerce (M.Com) organized a Session on the topic ‘First Aid for Panic Attacks’ on 8th October 2022. The Resource Person for the session was Ms. Eshani Bakhle, College Counselor. A total of 48 students from M.Com Part I and M.Com Part II attended the session. Coordinator of M.Com Programme, Ms. Twinkle Fernandes, along with other faculty members, Ms. Valencia Baptista, Mr. Myron Pereira and Ms .Edrea Picardo were present.
Ms. Eshani commenced the session by briefly explaining the meaning of panic attacks. She mentioned that stress is the main cause of Panic attacks. Other causes include genetics, behavior traits, lifestyle changes, etc. She also highlighted the symptoms of the panic attacks such as sweating, unconsciousness, dizziness, heat flushes, fear of death and others. Panic attacks last between 10 to 20 minutes.She also covered some first aid steps to be taken to help any person suffering from panic attacks by asking them questions, being calm and using grounding techniques of panic attacks i.e. 5-4-3-2-1 method: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 different smells, 1 thing you can taste and counting from 1-5 while breathing in and breathe out. She pointed out that the diagnosis and treatment of panic attacks need to be done by a medical professional only. In summary, she mentioned that Meditation, antidepressants, psychotherapy and changes in lifestyle are some treatments prescribed for reducing the panic attacks.Finally, she advised the students to adopt certain measures to avoid the occurrence of panic attacks which include lifestyle changes, Walks and light exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, sharing of problems with others, learning one’s triggers and so on.
The session was very informative and made the students aware about the causes, symptoms and treatment of panic attacks. The session ended at 1:00 p.m. and Ms. Meena Choudhary from M.Com II (Accounting & Finance) proposed the Vote of Thanks.
