Hypnotherapy for Anxiety and Panic
...relief from attacks is within your grasp
Are you one of the many people today who suffer varying degrees of anxiety in their everyday lives? Well Hypnotherapy can help YOU!
Occasional anxiety is something that most people can easily cope with. We all know what it feels like to worry about a job interview, to feel shivers of fear when we hear noises in the dead of night, or to be concerned when someone we care for does not arrive when they said they would.
Instances like these are a normal occurrence and usually people manage to cope fairly well with this level of anxiety and do not let it disrupt their lives to a great degree.
However, an estimated 3 to 4 percent of the population suffer from a condition known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder – constantly finding themselves caught up in a vicious cycle of intense fear, excessive worry and extreme anxiety – with no way out!
Often these people feel that they are completely overwhelmed by the excessive anxiety that fills their daily lives, especially as there appears no obvious explanation as to why this should be so.
This disorder may affect their thoughts, feelings or behaviour and can even be experienced as actual physical symptoms e.g. trembling, headaches, irritating skin conditions and disturbed sleep patterns.
Other symptoms such as general lethargy, a loss of interest in life and depression, unexplainable mood swings and an inability to concentrate can radically affect their quality of life.
Generalised Anxiety
The symptoms of this disorder rarely abate, but at times may seem to fluctuate to a greater or lesser degree; usually they appear to remain at a fairly constant level.
Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety may include:
- Trembling
- Tiredness – often in conjunction with disturbed sleep patterns
- Excessive and ongoing worry and tension
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Restlessness and a feeling of being constantly on edge
- Irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- Muscle tension
- Being easily startled
- The need to go to the toilet frequently
- Sweating.
People suffering from Anxiety may also suffer from Panic Attacks (sometimes also called Anxiety Attacks).
Panic Attacks
A Panic Attack is a sudden onset of intense anxiety, usually lasting a few minutes and when they occur they can have a huge impact on a person’s life. The attack can often be followed by feelings of depression and helplessness, as well as a worrying fear that the attack will happen again!
These attacks can be extremely upsetting and frightening, as they are often unpredictable and unavoidable – not always being restricted to any particular situation or set of circumstances. However, at other times, a person will report that they felt extremely stressed and were under pressure when the attack occurred and were not surprised when the attack started.
Panic Attacks are the most raw form of anxiety that any human being can have and are often described by sufferers as one of the most horrible experiences that anyone can have. National Mental Health Statistics show that about 5% of the adult population suffers from panic attacks. These figures may be even higher as many people suffer in silence, never receiving treatment in any form.
The symptoms of a Panic Attack are wide ranging and can include:
- Sudden intense anxiety/worry/fear/ nausea/dizziness
- Heart pounding - sometimes with chest pains or tightness in chest
- Sweating/hot or cold flushes
- Mind going blank
- Fear of losing control/sense of impending disaster
- Rapidly builds to a peak, usually lasting ten minutes in total
Other types of Anxiety Disorders include Phobias and Social Anxiety.
A Phobia is a fear of a specific object, or fear of a specific situation, such as Arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and Emetophobia (fear of vomiting) or Claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces) and Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). A phobia is actually an irrational fear – it is something inside us, but beyond our own control – an ‘external symbol of an internal anxiety’.
Each phobia is fuelled by very strong emotions that have been ‘bottled-up’ over many years and these emotions may then surface as anxiety or panic attacks – mainly occurring when we feel out of control.
So, when dealing with phobias, or any panic related anxiety, it is very important to find out the root cause of this feeling of being out of control – the root cause of the problem.
This is where Hypnoanalysis is a very effective long term solution, as it can enable you to work through and deal with these strong emotions and subsequently regain control of your life.
(For more detailed information, visit the section on Phobias.)
Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety is sometimes also known as Social Phobia. This disorder is a fear of being around other people and sufferers may also feel self conscious, embarrassed and fear that they are constantly being judged by others. Social phobia is probably the most common phobia that there is and affects thousands of people from all walks of life, all over the world.
The severity of social anxiety varies from person to person – some people may only experience it when involved in actual ‘social’ situations such as business meetings; when giving a presentation; or family gatherings. For other sufferers, it may appear even when not in direct physical contact with other people, for example when they have to talk to someone on the telephone – a daily task that is unavoidable for many people in the workplace.
Social anxiety can lead to the person avoiding any situation that will bring on the symptoms of their condition and this can have a detrimental effect on all areas of their life.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety include:
- Fear of public speaking
- Dizziness and nausea
- Stammering
- Trembling
- Sweating
- Nervousness
- Hot flushes
- Blushing (Probably the most common symptom of social anxiety.)
- Tongue tied
- Palpitations
- Sexual inhibitions
- Shy bladder in men (Inability to urinate in public toilets – Paruresis.)
- Lack of confidence
- Low self esteem
Hypnotherapy can help you to resolve anxiety related problems by permanently removing your anxiety related symptoms, thus enabling you to make positive changes to your life.
Consequently, you may feel that a great weight has been lifted from you and that you are more able to cope with the stressful situations that you may encounter in your everyday life.
There is now no need for you to continue to suffer from the debilitating symptoms of anxiety-based problems.
Hypnotherapy – either in the form of Suggestion Therapy or Hypnoanalysis – is there to help you to effectively deal with your emotional or anxiety-based problems, whatever they may be.Call New Horizons Hypnotherapy on 01555 893413 or send us an email.