Panic Attacks and Hypnotherapy
Pullak Dey
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Do you ever experience a sudden, intense heartbeat, feel sweaty, or have difficulty breathing or thinking clearly? You may also feel chest pain, shaky limbs, a choking sensation, dry mouth, or even a sense of impending doom. If these feelings come on suddenly and last several minutes, often without any apparent trigger, you may be experiencing a panic attack or panic disorder.
Understanding these symptoms, even if you haven’t experienced them, is essential for managing mental well-being. So, what exactly is a panic attack or panic disorder?
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear or anxiety, which can manifest physically as a racing heartbeat, rapid breathing, sweating, and sometimes chest pain.
When left untreated, panic disorder can negatively affect one’s quality of life, impacting work, relationships, and day-to-day activities. The good news is that panic disorder is treatable and manageable.
According to the National Health Services (NHS) in the UK, panic disorder is an anxiety disorder that causes recurrent panic or fear episodes. While everyone experiences anxiety or fear occasionally, someone with panic disorder experiences these feelings regularly, often with no obvious reason.
Signs and symptoms of panic attacks
Before discussing panic attack symptoms, it’s helpful to understand anxiety, which is a feeling of unease ranging from mild to severe, often marked by worry and fear. Panic attacks represent the most intense form of anxiety. People with panic disorder may start avoiding certain situations, fearing these will trigger another attack, which can lead to a heightened sense of anxiety and more frequent panic attacks.
A panic attack typically involves intense physical and mental symptoms, which can be distressing. Common symptoms include: Rapid heartbeat; feeling faint; sweating; nausea; chest pain; shortness of breath; trembling; hot flushes or chills; dizziness; numbness or tingling sensation; dry mouth; a sense of detachment from the body; fear of dying.
Impact of panic attacks on daily life
Panic attacks can significantly disrupt daily routines and impair one’s ability to function. This disorder often leads to social isolation and strained relationships, as individuals may avoid social situations to prevent another attack. Those with panic disorder are at an increased risk of developing other mental health issues, such as agoraphobia or substance abuse problems, and may find activities like driving particularly challenging.
Anxiety disorders are the most common emotional disorders in the United States, affecting a wide range of age groups. For example, 12-month prevalence rates for separation anxiety disorder are around 0.9–1.9 per cent among adults and 4 per cent in children. Anxiety disorders often go undiagnosed and untreated, yet treatments like hypnotherapy can offer significant relief.
Causes of panic attacks and panic disorder
The exact cause of panic disorder is not fully understood, but it is believed to result from a combination of factors, including:
- Traumatic or distressing life experiences, such as bereavement
- Phobias (e.g., claustrophobia, social phobia, agoraphobia)
- Family history of panic disorder
- Imbalances in neurotransmitters in the brain
How hypnotherapy helps manage panic attacks
A 37-year-old male from India came to me with severe panic symptoms, describing episodes of unbearable chest and abdominal pain, numbness, cramping in his legs, fainting, and extreme anxiety. After enduring these symptoms for years, his condition had progressively worsened. Upon beginning hypnotherapy, he saw significant improvement within just four sessions. He reported that his chest pain and anxiety had ‘vanished like magic’, and six months after treatment, he remained symptom-free.
Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic technique that can effectively address panic attacks and panic disorders. It works by reaching the subconscious mind, where unhelpful behaviour patterns and underlying anxiety triggers can be addressed. Hypnotherapy helps identify and address the root causes of panic disorder, aiding in symptom reduction and allowing individuals to regain control over their lives.
In hypnotherapy, patients may revisit past experiences that led to their initial feelings of fear or helplessness, allowing them to process these memories in a healthier way. Through this subconscious work, individuals often experience a significant reduction in the frequency and intensity of panic attacks, as well as improvements in overall mental wellness. Additionally, hypnotherapy can naturally boost neurotransmitter levels like dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin, contributing to improved mental health without the side effects of medication.
Hypnotherapy, by employing positive suggestions and accessing the subconscious mind, offers a promising alternative treatment to help control anxiety and manage panic symptoms effectively.
Pullak Dey, is a practicing Clinical Hypnotherapist and healer, Holy Fire Reiki Master, Crystal & Angel Healer and a Life Coach. He is founder of Divine Effect for the purpose to spread light, energy, mental well-being through various alternative healing modalities and create awareness and benefits of hypnotherapy to transform past, present, future to achieve life goal. He specialises in fertility, fears and phobias, past lives regression, relationship enhancement, panic disorder, PTSD and OCD, arthritis and chronic pain, child stress, student issues and cancer.