Panic and Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is a natural response to a real threat. Problems arise when anxiety occurs at the wrong time when no real threat is present.

We evolved as human beings to experience anxiety in life threatening situations in order to keep us alive in pre historic times. The “fight or flight” process is there to protect and save us in times of real danger and is an unconscious process.

Modern day threats take the form of things like stressful jobs, relationships and threats to self esteem as opposed to threats from tigers and other wild animals from our cave man days.

The mind cannot distinguish between a real and an imagined threat and the anxiety that was designed to protect us now makes us ill if the fight or flight process is constantly being triggered unnecessarily.

Panic attacks are acute episodes of severe anxiety which is extremely distressing and frightening for the sufferer. The anxiety or fight or flight response is triggered inappropriately by an imagined threat. This misuse of the imagination is akin to a faulty car alarm going off unnecessarily.

Phobias

Phobias are extremely common and range from the fear of flying and dogs to the fear of belly buttons and the colour yellow (and an infinite number of others in between).

Our minds learn to fear a situation often inappropriately e.g if we become scared on a plane we may learn to feel scared in the future just by seeing one in the sky or on t.v or by merely thinking about one. Or if we happened to be sitting on a blue chair on that plane, when we felt that original fear, we may transfer that fear on to the colour blue in the future.

Again this is the misuse of the imagination.

How can Hypnotherapy help?

The antedote to anxiety is relaxation. Through hypnosis the mind can re learn how to relax in previously anxiety provoking situations.

I use a highly effective treatment called the Rewind Technique which deconditions past anxieties and allows the mind to experience those situations in a calm, relaxed and natural way.

You will learn skills that will enable you to use your imagination in a positive and healthy way preventing the inappropriate triggering of the fight or flight process.                                                                                                        Back