Panic Attacks

Symptoms of a panic attack

• Pounding heart
• Chest pains
• Lightheadedness or dizziness
• Nausea or stomach problems
• Flushes or chills
• Shortness of breath or a feeling of smothering or choking
• Tingling or numbness
• Shaking or trembling
• Feelings of unreality
• Terror
• A feeling of being out of control or going crazy
• Fear of dying
• Sweating

People who suffer from a panic disorder feel a terror that strikes suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. They cannot predict when an attack will occur, and many develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next one will strike. In between times there is a persistent, lingering worry that another attack could come any minute.

Panic disorder is quite a common disorder, twice as common in women as in men. It can appear at any age – in children or in the elderly – but most often it begins in young adults. Not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop panic disorder. Many people have one attack but never have another. For those who do have panic disorder, though, it’s important to seek treatment.

Panic disorder is often accompanied by other conditions such as depression or alcoholism, and may spawn phobias, which can develop in places or situations where panic attacks have occurred. Some people’s lives become greatly restricted – they avoid normal, everyday activities such as grocery shopping, driving, or in some cases even leaving the house. They avoid any situation they fear would make them feel helpless if a panic attack occurs. Agoraphobia develops in approximately one-third of Panic Disorder sufferers. Whilst this disorder can appear to run in families, early treatment of panic disorder can often stop the progression to agoraphobia.

Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming and similar methods of intervention have proven successful treatments for people suffering from a Panic Disorder. Cognitive-behavioural approaches teach patients how to view the panic situations differently and demonstrate ways to reduce anxiety, using breathing exercises or techniques to refocus attention, for example. Hypnotherapy and Neuro Linguistic Programming aid clients to become desensitised to their fearful situation. The client uses imagination to slowly become exposed to the fearful situation until they become desensitised to it.

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