As an adult, it is sometimes easy to dismiss the fears of a child.
That's because many adults have long forgotten the feelings of helplessness that they may have felt growing up.
But, a child's panic attacks, if ignored, can have real consequences on his or her future growth.
In studies of adult patients who were being treated for panic attacks or anxiety, it is often discovered that one or more childhood events were responsible for triggering the first episode.
The typical panic attack often strikes without warning.
Its symptoms are an accelerated and racing heart beat possibly accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling.
Although these symptoms typically last for less than an hour, in extreme circumstances they can last for multiple hours or even days.
Panic attacks in children are often hard to diagnosed.
Most kids, as well as adults, are not able to accurately articulate their emotional state.
As a result, when taken to the doctor, it is the physical symptoms that are diagnosed and treated for.
The child may be given prescribed medications to calm him and to make the symptoms disappear.
Because it is the physical symptoms that are being treated, it may be years before someone actually diagnoses the symptoms correctly as panic anxiety and suggests treatments and therapy to directly combat those anxieties.
So, for many years, the child is needlessly suffering simply because of a misdiagnosis.
Needless to say, the sooner the condition can be treated, and the problem resolved, the greater chance that the child has to develop and emotionally mature in a normal way.
However, if the condition remains untreated, the child can become withdrawn and isolated from peers, afraid to try new experiences and meet new people, and generally become emotionally stunted.
As the child enters adolescence, in an attempt to overcome his anxieties and insecurities, he may began to experiment with drinking or drugs.
And, finding that these offer temporary relief from his problems, he may soon begin a downward spiral of alcoholism and drug abuse ultimately leading to serious depression.
But this scenario is not something that has to happen.
Fortunately, over the past decade or so, people who have regular interactions with kids such as teachers, scout masters, counselors, and so on have become much more aware of the problems of panic attacks and anxieties in kids.
And, in response, many have developed programs and procedures to help these kids get the treatment they need.