A panic attack is the firing of the body’s survival response – the fight or flight response – at a time when there is no obvious real life threat.

Panic attacks come on very quickly, and seem out of the blue, which makes them even scarier, especially the first time you experience one.

For example, you can find yourself having a panic attack in the safety of your own home, even when you are in the company of your partner or a friend. There is no evident danger around you; however something within you has triggered your survival response.

When you trigger the in built emergency response, you start to ‘over breathe’, which in turn causes you to start to hyperventilate. In the process of trying to gasp for breath, you actually start to create too much oxygen in your body.

The first time you have a panic attack can be a very scary experience. You jump to the conclusion that something serious is happening and may think you are having a heart attack.
There are many different triggers to a panic attack.

A panic attack can be a result of what you are thinking about, especially if you are ruminating about something. Let’s say, for example, you are feeling under a lot of pressure to perform at work, you feel that your performance is being monitored, and your manager isn’t being the most supportive.

You find that your focus and attention is constantly on the problem, trying to work out what to do, worrying what will happen if you lose your job. That in turn will create high levels of emotional arousal. While this might not be ‘life or death’ it is still enough to trigger your emergency response system.

Your breathing becomes more accelerated as you become scared and anxious about the strong sensations in your body, you feel out of control and don’t know what is happening and then you are into the midst of a full panic attack.When you have had a panic attack, it is very common for this to trigger worries or fears related to having another attack. This can also lead you to start to avoid places or situations where you think you might be at risk of an attack.Hypnotherapy, especially when combined with tapping therapy, also known as EFT, is a highly effective method to treating panic attacks.

During a session we will establish the root cause for the panic attack (s) and set about processing the trauma created from the experience.

Then using hypnosis, we will reset your internal emergency response system.

The result? No more panic attacks.

Read about how this approach worked wonders for James…

“I had spent most of my adult life avoiding situations that would bring on my claustrophobic panic attacks. However, an upcoming MRI Scan meant that I could no longer avoid such a situation especially as it was necessary for my future health. Sara quickly responded to my need and fitted me in to her schedule. Sara took the time to ask me about my life and the possible reasons for the causes of my problem and she then used ideas and language that I understood and could relate to explain to me the problem, and from that using hypnotherapy and EFT, brought positive and truly life changing results. Sara is a caring person who makes no judgements but uses her skill and experience to resolve, in my case, long time problems. I only wish I had gone to her much earlier in my life.”