Beverley Sinclair
Clinical Hypnotherapist
Panic Attacks
A panic attack is a sudden and intense feeling of terror, fear, or apprehension, without the presence of actual danger. The symptoms of a panic attack usually happen suddenly, peak within 10 minutes, and then subside. However, some attacks may last longer or may occur in succession, making it difficult to determine when one attack ends and another begins.
Anyone can experience a panic attack. An attack can sometimes be triggered by a specific event, but these attacks can also be a symptom of anxiety disorders like panic disorder or agoraphobia.
Panic Attack Symptoms
Panic attacks usually appear suddenly and lead to intense feelings of fear. They tend to last around 10 to 20 minutes but can last longer in some instances. The experience can vary from one person to the next.
Anxiety disorders can be debilitating. Panic is, in many cases, part and parcel of the anxious condition. Social fears are also very common and burden the lives of many - it is one of the most widespread anxiety conditions. For many other people, anxiety is not that specific. Through a habit of suppressing anxious feelings and thoughts, as well as avoiding situations that cause fear, these people have unwittingly broken the link between the feeling and its original cause; thereby the anxiety has become 'generalised'. This means anxiety is now pervasive and has become tightly interwoven with everyday life. Anxious thinking, emotional and physical tension, as well as feelings of dread and apprehension, have become interlocked with daily activities, preventing proper functioning and disrupting sleep.
Hypnotherapy and Panic Attacks
Hypnosis integrated with psychotherapy can help effectively with various anxiety disorders, as well as panic attacks. In therapy, we look at the underlying unhelpful thinking patterns as well as the triggers.
Hypnotherapy for panic attacks works effectively re-setting anxiety levels to ‘healthy’. It clears the negative and unhealthy belief systems that drive panic state and perception and instils calm and relaxation.
Using a variety of therapeutic techniques with the integration of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy renders it a successful way to identify and understand panic attack response patterns and behavioural traits that might be causing and maintaining the client's anxious thought process. Cognitive Hypnotherapy identify negative thinking patterns and providing them with important management tools and skills. Through anxiety hypnotherapy, we can help clients manage unhelpful patterns and stressful situations more calmly. We work with an integrative approach to change automatic responses from panic triggers, to thinking, feeling and behaving differently so that you remain relaxed in situations that would typically trigger panic attacks.