Hypnosis As a Panic Attack Remedy?
AUTHOR: Jerry Cohen
It may seem far-fetched, but as a panic attack remedy, hypnosis is quite common and effective. Hypnosis is a state induced by suggestion wherein the hypnotized person is simultaneously relaxed and exceedingly aware. In this state, a person is both able to subdue panic attack symptoms and learn how to address the underlying causes of the panic attacks. It is this dual nature of hypnosis, as well as the fact that it doesn’t require the use of any drugs or medications, that makes it such an effective panic attack remedy.
Hypnosis works as a panic attack remedy in several ways. First, it can strengthen the effect of the mind on the body, particularly where a person is able to achieve self-hypnosis. Hypnosis trains a person to narrowly focus his mental energy, so that during a panic attack he can take his mind off the panic attack symptoms or the anxiety that is about induce them. Besides making you focused and aware, hypnosis makes you alert and receptive to positive ideas and suggestions.
Hypnosis can be an effective remedy for recurrent panic attacks because it breaks the conditioning effect of panic attacks. Once a person has a panic attack, she can become conditioned so that whenever she is similar circumstances, she has a panic attack. Conditioning occurs on a subconscious level, and that’s where hypnosis works, too. Because a person is so subject to suggestion in the hypnotic state, a person such as a therapist, can tell the mind that those particular circumstances don’t trigger a panic attack.
Indeed, hypnosis can be a very effect panic attack remedy in conjunction with other types of therapy. Hypnosis can make therapy even more effective because it allows the patient to remain calm while confronting those things that cause anxiety and trigger panic attacks. Like with conditioning, it can help get at and address unconscious sources and causes of anxiety. Generally, hypnosis makes patients more open to possible solutions uncovered in therapy and more likely to internalize and act on those solutions to cure themselves of anxiety and panic attacks.
Even though hypnosis is good panic attack remedy when practiced by a professional, a person who suffers from panic attacks can get some relief with self-hypnosis. Self hypnosis allows for deep relaxation, which helps stave off the anxiety that causes panic attacks. To hypnotize yourself, begin by lying on the floor or sitting in a straight-backed chair. Do some deep breathing exercises to relax yourself. When you are relaxed, begin describing a calming scene to yourself, out loud, in a low, monotonous voice. Place yourself in the scene and walk around in it. Count your steps as you move within the scene. Each step makes you more and more relaxed. When you get to 10, tell yourself that you are safe, calm, relaxed, and enjoying the scene you are in. Tell yourself that just as you are in control of your life, you are in control of this scene. Tell yourself that you can leave the scene any time you want and then, in your mind, get up as if you are going to walk away. Count your steps again, but do it in reverse from 10 to one. When you get to one, open your eyes. For deeper relaxation, use more steps to get into and out of the scene.
Hypnosis as a panic attack remedy is natural and effective, with the ability to significantly ease, if not cure, panic attacks. If you have been searching for a panic attack remedy and none seems quite right for you, don’t be afraid to try hypnosis.