Lancashire Hypnosis

Anxiety and Panic Attacks

We all get a little nervous from time to time and experience a touch of the butterflies in our stomach before an event that takes us outside our comfort zone, typically these may be before a test or exam, at a job interview or giving a talk or presentation.

Anxiety and stress is something all of us talk about and have experienced at some point in our lives, and to a certain extent in short bursts, stress can be a useful stimulant and motivator causing us to do our best.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal response to feeling threatened, which can be created through a number of situations such as by anger, frustration fear, being sad, traumatic events, feeling helpless, fears about preparing for a test or exams, fears about presenting etc.

The difficulty comes when the normal butterfly feelings that we experience from time to time become overwhelming, and prevent you from living your life the way you'd like it.

In many cases excess anxiety and stress may cause confused thinking, depression, over-eating, excessive drinking, reckless driving, high blood pressure, heart problems, and a myriad of other health problems.

The symptoms of stress are sometimes insidious and undetectable, until one day you feel overwhelmed with life. Everything bothers you, from your work to your favourite pet at home. You may even start doubting your sanity. All of this results in the feeling of being out of control.

What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is a sudden episode of unreasoning fear or panic. Many attacks cause severe physical symptoms to the extent that the person may think they are dying or having a heart attack. Panic attacks are common and can be a symptom in their own right, or can be present as part of another condition, and are caused by the body reaching a high level of anxiety, causing us to experience severe symptons. They are usually a learned behaviour from events and these events may be work, family or socially based, and while having a panic attack, a person may have a sense of being in danger and have a strong desire to flee.

The symptoms of anxiety or a panic attack usually begin abruptly and can include:

Rapid heartbeat

Dry mouth

Shortness of breath

Stomach churning

Dizziness

Headaches

Chest pains

Sweating

Diarrhoea

Treating anxiety and panic attacks

Hypnotherapy can help by identify the root cause of the anxiety, and can provide tools to be used to stop a panic attack before it begins. Just knowing that you will be able to handle an attack when it happens, can greatly reduce the impact of the event. Hypnotherapy for panic and anxiety attacks is particularly effective at breaking the associations to its triggering event so that it no longer bothers you and you can get on with life normally.

Additionally Hypnotherapy can help by breaking the conditioned response to the stressful situation by reprogramming your mind to respond in the correct manner, regardless of where you are, what you're doing and who's with you. It has an immediate effect on current stress levels evident by reductions in blood pressure, breathing rate, and pulse rates.

Should you have any questions about Hypnotherapy and how I can help you take back control of your life, then call me on 01772 499046 or email me by clicking "here"