Panic and Anxiety Disorders

Have you ever experienced any of the following symptoms?

• Pounding heart (heart palpitations, racing heart rate)
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
• Feeling of choking
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Nausea or abdominal stress
• Feeling dizzy, light headed, faint or unsteady
• Feelings of unreality or being detached from oneself
• Fear of losing control or going crazy
• Fear of dying
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Chills or hot flashes

If so, you may have experienced an anxiety or panic attack brought on by a stressful situation or series of events. Often times, too, one (or some) of these symptoms is followed by a powerful and persistent concern about having additional anxiety or panic attacks, worrying about the implications from having such an attack (e.g., worrying about losing control, having a real heart attack, going crazy) or even prompting a significant change in other behavior—related attacks. Anxiety/panic attacks can mimic a lot of physical illnesses (like thyroid conditions) so it is absolutely essential to get a medical assessment by a qualified physician.

However, you can stop fearing: there are plenty of healthy ways to combat stress, anxiety and panic, to become aware of anxiety/panic producing situations, and to then calm down once you do feel like you’re in the middle of an attack.

Panic and Anxiety Relief

I am a hypnosis specialist, trainer, and coach, who also knows from personal experience how debilitating anxiety and panic disorder can be. It is from my own experience, and path to healing, that enables me to help others combat this serious condition and achieve substantial levels of anxiety relief.

Here’s an excerpt on panic disorder from a feature by Carol Sorgen, in WebMD:

"Diane Ulicsni knows all too well how terrifying panic attacks can be. For more than 12 years, Ulicsni, director of The Hypnosis Center in Lake Oswego, Ore., suffered from chronic panic attacks that led her on a seemingly endless round of doctor and emergency room visits. Convinced she was having a heart attack, Ulicsni endured the all-too-common symptoms of panic attacks (also known as panic disorder), which include a feeling of intense fear, sense of doom, or feeling of unreality, accompanied by physical symptoms such as a racing or pounding heartbeat; difficulty breathing or a feeling of choking; sweating, shaking, or flushing; chest pains; dizziness, light-headedness, or nausea; fear of losing control; and tingling or numbness in the hands. Ulicsni, who finally found relief from her panic attacks through hypnosis and is now a board certified Hypnosis Specialist, says that hypnosis – which has been recognized by the American Medical Association since 1958 as a form of treatment – is one of several non-drug approaches that can significantly ease, if not cure, panic attacks.

"'Hypnosis can strengthen the effect of the mind on the body', says Ulicsni, 'by changing the way you perceive sensations, narrowly focusing your attention so you're not overwhelmed by the symptoms of a panic attack, and relaxing you physically.'"