In my life as a hypnotherapist I am often telephoned by various individuals and asked if I can help them deal with panic attacks, I usually smile and say "if I didn't, I probably wouldn't have a practice".Helping people with the issue of heightened anxiety, usually referred to as a panic attack was, and is, by far the most common problem I am asked to solve, and neither is it a preserve of the female side of the population, the condition affects either sex, although in fairness I treat more women with the condition than men.It didn't take long to realise that virtually everyone I first met with this issue were all inadvertently exacerbating the situation and were therefore, without realising it, making my job of eradication or reduction much more difficult.I devised a set of rules which the recipient had to agree were an important and integral part of the treatment to deal with panic attacks and they had to promise to adhere to them. I explained that the main part of the treatment would be enhanced and rendered more likely to work if these rules were applied and followed. There were six in total and these are as relevant now as they ever were. The rules are:1.Stop visiting therapists, friends or G.Ps and discussing the situation. With all three, all that occurs when you seek help via tranquillisers or to 'off load' onto your friends, is you reinforce the belief that you have a problem, you pigeon hole yourself as suffering from 'panic attacks', it acts as a constant reminder, certainly consciously but more importantly sub-consciously that you have a problem, and trust me, if you think you have a problem, you do. Accept responsibility that you and you alone will solve this issue, stop talking about it to friends or colleagues and take action to put an end to the misery.2. Stop researching, by that I mean stop visiting Google, or reading books on how to deal with panic attacks, yes I know it is human nature to be curious, but for the reasons given in '1' above it will prove counter-productive because all it succeeds in doing is reinforcing the belief to your subconscious that you have a problem - why else are you reading or researching?3. If you are already on tranquillisers talk to your G.P about coming off them, obviously going 'cold turkey' is not being suggested here, your G.P knows your history, I don't. Stick to their advice, I'm only suggesting that you take action, because subconsciously it's important to know in your own mind that you have had enough, enough of suffering, or of talking about the subject, the time now is to take action, to make a positive decision to at least discuss reducing the medication, but strictly on your G.Ps advice.4. Diversion. Most people if they feel anxious quite understandably focus instantly on how they 'feel', and the more they focus on their breathing, heart rate or overall fear, the worse they become - changing ones 'focus', diverting your thoughts, even momentarily can have a dramatic and positive effect on how quickly those feelings dissipate.5. Let go of the past, what I mean by that, is that human beings tend to live in two states; past or present; sufferers of panic attacks tend to talk and think about there' last' attack, or perhaps their 'worst' on a regular basis. To a hypnotherapist that is in the past - the past by definition is in the past - it's gone - no longer there or relevant,so rule number '5' is to acknowledge that talking about what used to be, or what has occured in the past does not help the situation, all that matters is NOW and how you feel at this exact moment in time.6. Use only one method, you don't need several, or a mixture of different techniques, ultimately it is you that will solve this problem, what is required is one method that suits you, and more importantly, a method that you are prepared to give 100% commitment to. Stick to these foundation stones and the rest of the 'building' work will be much, much stronger.
September 11th, 2010 
admin 
Posted in 
Tags: 
