Panic attacks are well treated with cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy. And it works fast.
One of the worries you can have when an attack strikes is that you will faint - losing control completely. But in fact, fainting is the one thing that won't happen....
This is because anxiety increases blood pressure and heart rate. Fainting, by contrast, is associated with a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure. So, the anxiety you experience during a panic attack protects you by preventing fainting, despite the feelings of faintness and disorientation. These feelings are often caused by the breathlessness and rapid breathing that accompanies panic attacks. Rapid breathing causes too much oxygen to get into the body and brain. So a good tip is when you feel a panic attack coming on is to slow the breathing down.
Breathe into a paper bag (mushroom bags from the supermarket are perfect) and then rebreathe the same air for a few minutes. This reduces the amount of oxygen you breathe in each time.
Now you might worry that you need lots of oxygen. But you need just enough, and not too much. This rebreathing technique works in the same way as scuba diving gear and that is proved to be very safe. There is plenty of oxygen in the air we breathe out. That is why you breathe your outbreath into a patient when giving mouth to mouth.
So rebreathing through a paperbag, or through your closed hands or a thick cloth, is safe. And it will help you to control your panic attack.
One of the worries you can have when an attack strikes is that you will faint - losing control completely. But in fact, fainting is the one thing that won't happen....
This is because anxiety increases blood pressure and heart rate. Fainting, by contrast, is associated with a decrease in heart rate and blood pressure. So, the anxiety you experience during a panic attack protects you by preventing fainting, despite the feelings of faintness and disorientation. These feelings are often caused by the breathlessness and rapid breathing that accompanies panic attacks. Rapid breathing causes too much oxygen to get into the body and brain. So a good tip is when you feel a panic attack coming on is to slow the breathing down.
Breathe into a paper bag (mushroom bags from the supermarket are perfect) and then rebreathe the same air for a few minutes. This reduces the amount of oxygen you breathe in each time.
Now you might worry that you need lots of oxygen. But you need just enough, and not too much. This rebreathing technique works in the same way as scuba diving gear and that is proved to be very safe. There is plenty of oxygen in the air we breathe out. That is why you breathe your outbreath into a patient when giving mouth to mouth.
So rebreathing through a paperbag, or through your closed hands or a thick cloth, is safe. And it will help you to control your panic attack.
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