Many clients ask me if what they are experiencing is an actual panic attack or if it is just anxiety? Panic attacks may be described as the abrupt onset of an episode of intense fear, anxiety or sense of impending doom, which peaks in approximately 10 minutes, and includes at least four of the following symptoms:

• palpitations


• sweating


• trembling


• faintness


• dizziness


• shortness of breath (sometimes feeling as if you can't breathe)


• hyperventilation


• nausea


• chills or hot flushes


• upset stomach


• a need to escape


• chest pains or discomfort


• numbness or tingling in the limbs


• a feeling of disassociation or being "unreal"

These symptoms often lead to a very real fear of dying, and no matter how many times you are examined medically there is still this fear of death based on the experience of the symptoms. The heart seems to beat so strangely and the chest pains are so bad, and the numbness in the limbs can make you think "am I having a stroke, or a heart attack?" The shortness of breath may make you worry that you'll suffocate. And the way it takes over your mind can make you wonder if you're going crazy, or having a nervous breakdown.

What causes a panic attack?

A panic attack is the result of our body's "fight or flight" response. It is something passed down from our ancestors who needed this ability in order to survive. If you think of life many years ago, when our ancestors lived in caves, with wild animals roaming around, they needed to have an instant ability to either fight a predator or run as fast as possible to get out of the way of danger. Thus the mind needed to be able to trigger this panic response instantaneously and subconsciously in order to survive. The brain releases adrenaline and blood pressure increases in preparation for running or fighting.

This is the evolutionary reason for a panic attack. It is a natural part of our physiology, but we are now living in a different world, a place where the ability to fight or run is not as necessary as the need to remain calm and relaxed and "keep a cool head".

Panic attacks tend to occur in different ways.

They may be unexpected / spontaneous, with the panic attack simply coming out of the blue, for no apparent reason, and you may even wake up in the night having an attack. They are often described as fear of fear.

They may be termed as situational. I.e. they always happen when presented with a particular situation or place. E.g. Being in the supermarket, walking down the street, when you're sitting in the car waiting for the lights to change. People who suffer from panic attacks often find that they build a list of situations in which they fear having an attack, and then expect them to happen there, and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. I.e. The thought of the panic triggers the attack. In this way panic attacks may spread from one situation to another.

Panic attacks may also be situationally predisposed. I.e. Situations where you are likely to have an attack but it doesn't happen every time.

Panic disorder may also lead to agoraphobia. The fear of having a panic attack in public, or in a place where it's difficult to get away (from the cinema or the train or the supermarket queue for example) can lead to the sufferer remaining at home, afraid to go out at all. Others find that they manage to do certain things and not others, maybe they find they can get to a place via a fixed route but not by any other method. Some sufferers feel alright so long as they are next to a wall, or handrail, but cannot cross a road.

This fear of open spaces / fear of exposure makes good sense in light of the origins of the panic response; Open spaces were very dangerous in ancient times.

There are therefore two "layers" to a panic disorder, one that relates to the subconscious mind, the other to the conscious mind. The former is where the problem begins. Something, somewhere in your life has caused stress, anxiety, or fear, which the mind has subconsciously responded to, producing the "fight or flight" response. Then the conscious mind adds the next layer to the disorder; "if it happened on the bus last week, what will happen this week on the bus?", "if it happened on the bus, will it happen on the train?"; The conscious mind begins to attach fear of fear to situations and programmes the mind to experience the fear again. Then the subconscious mind adds another layer; the subconscious mind is a very quick learner and the panic response becomes conditioned and embedded in the subconscious. And so on...

How do we stop these panic attacks?

Hypnosis allows access to your subconscious mind, enabling re-programming of the "trip-wire" of the fight or flight response. At present it has learned to be too sensitive, and this can be reset at a more appropriate level. Hypno-analysis may be required to discover the root cause of the initial subconscious triggering of the panic response. Then we can install new strategies in your subconscious mind so that you respond more robustly in future to the day-to-day stresses of modern living. There are several stages to the process of "unlearning" the panic response and these of course must be tailored to the individual.

It is essential to access your subconscious mind and teach it to control your body in a more appropriate manner, allowing you to feel calm and relaxed, and enjoy life.

Hypno-Analysis, Hypnotic Suggestion and NLP techniques are employed to

• reduce or eliminate the anxiety response


• allow you to breathe through your diaphragm, instead of your chest; to breathe naturally and calmly, automatically


• install new robust ways of dealing with stresses in your subconscious so that these are instigated just as automatically as the panic response was


• Change your thought patterns so that inappropriate fear becomes a distant memory


• Install in you a belief system that says you are strong and powerful and can cope well no matter what situation you are faced with


• Install in you a belief system that says you are as good as the next person, if not better

You should expect to notice some significant differences in your thoughts and feelings after just one session. Hypnosis itself is a state of relaxation and just using self-hypnosis regularly will bring your stress/anxiety levels down, so that the "trip-wire" of panic is further away. Thus the panic response will seem more controllable. Usually a panic disorder will be thoroughly banished within 6 sessions.

The most important thing to remember is that everyone has the ability to think and to feel differently, and to be able to heal themselves with a little help from a competent therapist. Hypnotherapy and NLP are invaluable in the treatment of panic disorder.

Roseanna has been in private practice since 1989, and has a great deal of experience in assisting people in coping with, and overcoming, panic disorder.

You can contact her on 670303 for a confidential discussion of your problem. Alternatively, you can e-mail Roseanna here.

Please note that even when calling during office hours you may still be connected to an answerphone as Roseanna may already be in consultation with a client. Please do leave a message and Roseanna will return your call as soon as possible.