I don't disagree with what anyone who posted before me has said.

I wanted to add that your friend may be somewhat affected by fear of having a panic attack on top of the panic attacks. That complicates things.

The person who said that panic attacks are scary has a really good point.

Let's say that you had an experience where you went hiking and got lost in the forest for 3 days with no food or water and it rained and you were cold and lost and scared.

Let's say that for some reason, that happened to you several times and you never knew when it might suddenly pop up. You might be on your way to have dinner with friends then suddenly you find yourself lost in that forest again.

In fact, there would never be a day in your life where you could be sure that you would get through the day without ending up in the forest.

(I gave that example as example of the kind of anxiety that recurring panic attacks usually cause. The person becomes really scared at the idea of having another attack.)

Having medication that can prevent a panic attack or make it much less severe is helpful.

It's really good that your friend is seeing a therapist, too. The therapist can help him with the fear of the panic attacks. In time, he may be open to the idea of trying to find out if he can control his anxiety and control his panic attacks with non-drug methods.

I'd also like to say that if your friend did not take medication and just "suffered through" the panic attacks, and they just kept on happening, that they would cause damaging changes to his autonomic nervous system. He would be very worn down and susceptible to physical illnesses, too.

So avoiding the repeated panic attacks is not just a matter of avoiding unpleasant feelings.

Sometimes, yes.

Very often people can get better, but they may need to take the pills while they are learning other ways to deal with their problem.

This can be eating a really good diet, getting enough sleep, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, taking yoga classes, learning breathing exercises, doing meditation, going for regular walks, and a whole lot of other healthy habits and skills. People usually end up trying lots of things to find what works for them.

It takes hard work to learn to cope with panic attacks or any other mental health problem.

Your friend may be right that he can only be treated with meds, or he may be wrong. The correct answer may even change with time.

You can't talk him out of what he thinks, though, partly because his belief is probably strongly influenced by the fear of the panic attacks that I mentioned earlier.