How to treat panic attacks with hypnosis

By Nil Pozcu - Clinical Hypnotherapist

In our primitive past panic attacks used to be viewed as a positive and highly effective survival technique. In a time when we lived in a physically challenging habitat they allowed us to react quickly to real and threatening danger. This reaction is also known as the ‘fight or flight’ response as it triggers a physiological reaction mobilizing the body either to gear up and fight or to run and get away as fast as you can. The body does this by releasing hormones such as adrenaline into the system, causing blood pressure to increase and breathing to quicken, preparing the body to exert itself. Blood flow is directed away from the digestive system to the muscles in the legs and arms. This extra blood flow enables them to fight or run away which in turn can cause them to shake. Palms and feet can become sweaty to maintain good grip and pupils can dilate to let in more light allowing our immediate area to be scanned thoroughly.

In today’s world we are still faced with ‘threatening’ situations but mostly in a non physical way, for example, losing your job or your house or going through a relationship break up. If a high level of anxiety is reached the ‘unconscious mind’ (the part of the mind that controls the unconscious processes like digestion and blood pressure) can treat this ‘threat’ in the same way as a physical one and can inappropriately trigger the fight or flight response. Once this response has been triggered, the unconscious mind has deemed this type of situation hostile and is trained to look out for similar ‘threatening’ circumstances in the future. This system errs on the side of caution and triggers the same response each time (this is called ‘pattern matching’). Remember in primitive times this might have been the difference between life and death, and for the sake of survival it was always better to be safe than sorry. So if an initial panic attack happens on a crowded train, for example, if faulty pattern matching occurs the mind may associate attacks with any crowds or any type of public transport, making them harder to manage. People are often reassured to find out that their body’s reaction is a natural and healthy one and this goes a long way to easing the anxiety around having a panic attack.

The good news is that anxiety is a ‘fragile’ state that can easily be derailed and the unconscious mind can be retrained by hypnosis. When a person is generally stressed or anxious, the sensitive ‘trip-wire’ of the fight or flight response is more easily triggered so incorporating relaxation techniques into your daily life, ensuring you eat well, sleep well and decrease your intake of stimulants such as caffeine will all go a long way to helping the body remain calmer in times of stress. Slackening the ‘trip-wire’ means returning the situation or memory to it’s original state, which is non-emotional. This de-conditioning can be done using a guided visualization technique known as the V/K dissociation or fast phobia cure under hypnosis, unhelpful patterns and associations can then be replaced with more resourceful ones.

Please see the AWARE technique below for some practical tips in managing anxiety reactions:

Accept
• that you’re not feeling as relaxed as you would like
• that the symptoms are those of the fight or flight response & that your body is gearing up for physical action. It’s really important to bear in mind that the worst part of a panic attack only lasts for 2-3 minutes,

Watch
• the symptoms, notice whether your heart rate is faster now or slower than 2 minutes ago, if your palms are clammy etc
• the episode and use scaling to rate it from 1-10 (10 being the worst it can be) as you’re going through it, ie ‘my breathing rate was a 6 a minute ago and now it’s a 5’. This employs the rational observing self as opposed to engaging in the hijacking of the emotions

Act
• too much oxygen (hyperventilating) makes it difficult for the body to make use of it so start to breathe deeply (a good guide is to breathe in for the count of 7 out for the count of 11 or hold your breath for 5 or 6 secs) this will immediately calm things down.
• eating or drinking something will send the message to your body that there is no imminent danger encouraging the body to return to normal
• carry on with what you’re doing, ie picking up the phone, reading your book on a bus, looking for the milk in a supermarket.
• Sometimes, if you’re in a position to do so, doing exactly what your body has geared up for by going for a short sprint will also release the symptoms (I realize that that is not always an option and you might get some funny looks especially if for example you’re on a train or about to give a talk!)

Repeat the process

Expect the best

Sydney-based Clinical Hypnotherapist Nil Pozcu is a regular contributor to the celebrated ‘Natural Health Booster’ fortnightly ezine with 1,000+ subscribers. If you’re ready to optimise your health, wellbeing and fertility, get your FREE tips now at www.boostyourhealthnow.com or www.boostyourfertilitynow.com.

Nil has private consultations available, to make an appointment please phone us on 1300 85 84 90.

Keywords: Hypnosis > Panic attacks