Anxiety – Can I Control My Symptoms And Can Hypnosis Really Help?

You know the feeling you get, perhaps it’s a “butterfly” twitch in your tummy or a heaviness in your chest, the feeling that your mind and body are undergoing the “fright, flight or freeze” phenomenon of the stress cycle. The anxiety grows, the uneasiness grows and grows. You feel your words are beginning to slur, there’s an uneasiness in you, the sweating and racing heart are increasing. Your head feels like it’s going to blow. You begin to dissociate from yourself. You begin to panic. You are in turmoil. You are out of control.
Does this seem familiar?
What is anxiety? Anxiety is caused by a psychological conflict which becomes a physical symptom.
Physical symptoms and associated fears of an anxiety/panic attack include:

Shortness of breath Fear: Stop breathingr
Chest pain Fear: Heart attackr
Dissociation Fear: Going crazyr
Numbness/tingling Fear: Stroker
Faintness Fear: Loss of consciousnessr
Choking sensation Fear: Suffocater
Emotional symptoms:

Heightened sense of what people think about you;

Feeling overwhelmed;

Fear of being the centre of attention or drawing attention to yourself;

Fear of losing control;

Mood up and down;

Hyper-vigilant;

Under constant pressure (real and/or imagined);

Exaggerated concerns and fears.

Different Types of Anxiety:

General Anxiety Disorder: You worry constantly and your fears and anxiety permeate through all parts of your life. Physical symptoms include headaches, stomach upset and tiredness.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Your life is dominated by unwanted thoughts and/or patterns that you cannot control - checking locks, washing hands excessively.

Panic Attack: Fear of something paralyzes you to such an extent that you cannot leave your home (agoraphobia) in extreme cases. You cannot go for interviews (though you feel you deserve promotion). You cannot go out socially.

Social Phobia: Fear of what people are thinking about you (negative). Avoidance of situations where you have to mingle. Avoidance of giving presentations at work. Can be a form of excessive shyness.

How Can I Help Myself?
1. You must learn to breath deeply. When anxious we have a tendency to shallow breathe which for some people can lead to hyperventilation and passing out.
2. This is where hypnosis comes in - learning relaxation techniques and how to regain control of your body’s symptoms. You learn to rewind the unwanted symptom.
Remember all anxiety starts off small (the stress is stimulated) and it’s as though there is a forked road inside you and one road leads to great excitement and delight and the other road is full blown panic attack/anxiety. The aim of hypnosis is help you control the anxiety as it starts so that you decide to send it to excitement route or leave it where it is.
3. Exercise - build it up. Start off with a brisk 10 minute walk at lunchtime and go out whatever the weather. The air will revitalize you and give you a boost for the second part of your day.
4. Learn to recognize your triggers so that you control them.

Summary:

Anxiety or panic attacks can play havoc with your life (as you well know). The underlying feeling is of powerlessness. This is where hypnosis can help. Using relaxation techniques you rekindle control of your emotions. It is not about making you something you are not (that would not work) - it is about your mind, your body and your control over them. I will leave you with a thought. I want you to write down how your life would be without panic attacks and begin your sentences with “I can…, I am….”. While hypnosis cannot claim to cure your symptoms it goes a long way to helping you to help yourself. Hypnotherapy is client led and you are the one in control. Just by looking up the information on anxiety and making the call you are taking the first step in controlling your symptoms. You have recognized that you need help (and don’t we all from time to time) and using a qualified clinical hypnotherapist/hyno-analyst will give you something you thought was impossible - control over your life.
While hypno-analysis would be recommended, a trial of suggestion therapy can be beneficial. Just learning to control the symptoms will have a huge knock-on effect in your life so that as the panic subsides your confidence builds. Don’t you deserve to live a “normal” life without panic, without fear? Sounds good, doesn’t it!