One in ten people experience occasional anxiety or panic attacks, which can be
triggered by a stressful or traumatic event. However, for some people, these can
occur increasingly regularly, even when there is no apparently stressful cause. The
unpleasant symptoms of these attacks cause anxiety about when the next one
might occur, which in turn can lead to further attacks.

The increasing regularity of attacks causes the sufferer to avoid situations where
they might experience an attack and cause severe embarrassment for themselves.
For example, travelling on public transport or social gatherings. Over time, these
avoidance tactics become increasingly restrictive, to the point where some people
are frightened to leave the safety of their home.

Who suffers from panic attacks?

Approximately one in every hundred people in the UK has what is known as ‘panic
disorder’ (regular and severe panic attacks) often beginning in their 20s, and it is
twice as common in women as in men.

What exactly is a panic attack?

Panic attacks occur is when your body experiences a sudden rush of intense
physical and psychological symptoms, caused by the production of the adrenalin
hormone. This is a very important hormone produced by the body in times of
perceived danger (such as being physically attacked) in order to prepare it and
protect us. This is also known as the ‘fight or flight’ state.

However, when adrenalin is produced and then not ‘used up’ because the
triggering event is stressful or traumatic, but there is no actual danger and no need
to fight or flee, some very unpleasant, and indeed frightening, symptoms are
experienced, which can closely mimic the onset of a heart attack, and many people
call 999 or go to A&E to be checked out.

Panic attacks, although frightening and intense, are not dangerous, and will not
cause any physical damage.

The symptoms and side effects of panic attacks

Typical symptoms might be an overwhelming feeling of fear, coupled with trembling,
sweating, shortness of breath, chest pains, heart palpitations, stomach cramps or
diarrhoea, dizziness or faintness.

The attack will typically last for just a few minutes, but may seem like hours. Once
the symptoms fade, the sufferer will typically feel exhausted and depressed, with
heavy aching limbs and knotted stomach.

Why do panic attacks occur?

From a very early age, beginning in utero, our subconscious mind stores
information in a similar way to computers, in ‘files and folders’ related to emotions,
both negative and positive.

Negative emotions might include anger, guilt, fear and sadness, whilst positive
emotions might include joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment.
Over a period of time, some of the folders containing negative emotions become
over-full, because of stressful experiences. This is known as the rain barrel effect.
Imagine a rain barrel that is constantly being filled with water, without the little tap
on the side being opened to let some run out. Eventually, the water will overflow
down the sides of the rain barrel.

The consequences of too much fear

When the ‘fear folders’ become too full, it’s like an accident waiting to happen. The
next event that the subconscious mind perceives, often mistakenly, to be a life-
threatening situation, causes the subconscious to transmit a high level of fear to the
unconscious mind, which then creates the feeling of fear within the physical body.
Hey presto! The first panic attack occurs.

This experience is then stored in the subconscious mind within a new ‘fear’ folder,
and when the person next finds him or herself in a similar situation, or has anxious
thoughts that are in some way related, the subconscious mind immediately recalls
the previous event and the same process is re-enacted. Every time this happens,
the new experience is stored within the fear folder, and the subsequent panic attack
may be more severe.

Hypnotherapy can halt panic attacks permanently!

An experienced Hypnotherapist can help you to access the fear folders stored
within the subconscious mind, and the contents can then be explored, understood
and neutralised, thereby cancelling the programme that has been running on a loop
system, often for many years. With each session of hypnotherapy, the symptoms
will decrease, and will be replaced with new feelings of peace and calm.

Confidence is restored, and life begins to return to normal. After just a few weeks,
panic attacks become just a distant memory.

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Author’s Details
Niki Cassar DCH DHP MAPHP(ACC)
Hypnotherapist & Past Life Regressionist – London and Surrey
Website: www.nikicassar.com Email: mindfully@nikicassar.com
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