Today my 11 year old brother had a huge panic attack, what could be the cause?
I’m 25 years old, and I know this is completely out of character for my brother. He’s normally very quiet and doesn’t scare easily. I’ve never seen him so scared in my life. The news was on CNN and they were showing scenes from the Haiti earthquake. The reporter said to take young children out of the room because they were going to show a disturbing scene. The program hadn’t shown anything yet, the reporter was still speaking, and my brother ran upstairs screaming and had this crazy look on his face and wouldn’t let go of my mom. He also didn’t speak for the rest of the night, he would just point at things and he even slept in my parents room because he was so freaked out. Is this a normal thing or should we take him to see someone about this?
Since hes usually quiet I think he holds feelings in and the Earthquake was the final stress that made him get fall apart.
Also since didn’t speak for the rest of the night. It would be a good idea for your parents to take him in. I pray for the best for him.
Comments
Comment from ??ou?ou?(??????•??)?
Time January 21, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Since hes usually quiet I think he holds feelings in and the Earthquake was the final stress that made him get fall apart.
Also since didn’t speak for the rest of the night. It would be a good idea for your parents to take him in. I pray for the best for him.
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Comment from cateyes
Time January 21, 2010 at 2:30 pm
It may take a little time but I would think that your brother will be just fine. This has been such a terrible tragedy and the pictures have been very graphic, although you say he didn’t see them yet. Even if he didn’t see them just the thought of such an incident can be rather frightening for adults much less someone so young. Many people have phobias about earthquakes and your brother may be afraid that it can happen where he lives. Just a thought there. I know quite a few people who are deathly afraid of earthquakes as I happen to live in a frequent EQ zone. We just had a very big shaker a couple of weeks ago where items fell in the kitchen and I thought the Christmas tree was going to fall down. If your brother does not get back to his usual self in say, about one week, then maybe you should have him talk with a therapist. Right now it’s fresh in his mind. Maybe you should limit the news about this in the meantime? Considering adults are traumatized and deathly afraid of EQ’s it’s understandable that your brother would be scared right now. Actually, we went through a 8 pointer about 25 years ago and there was a lot of damage around the community and to this day my younger sister is still afraid of EQ’s. Personally I’m afraid of tornadoes, I lived in kansas when I was 4 to 5 and still remember the sirens going off and running to the basement. To this day they freak me out. I hope your brother gets past this very soon and is back to his mischievous self in no time.
P.S. Someone should ask him what exactly upset him so much and also maybe he’s unaware that the building codes here in the US are different than those in Haiti. Maybe someone should let him know that this wouldn’t happen so easily here in the US, that would be a very scary thought for a child.
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Just what I’ve learned through personal experience