Hypnotherapy in Dovercourt, Harwich
Anxiety is a symptom of fear and serves an important function, in the right circumstances, in letting us know that we should probably be somewhere else. For instance if I had been burnt by picking up an item that was hot I may very well become anxious when I am near that item and I would do something about it. Normally, I would assess whether I am likely to get burnt act accordingly and my level of anxiety would decrease.
The issue though is when we perceive that we cannot assess the likelyhood of getting hurt; when we don't know the outcome; when we are not in control. Now, this is the thing with humans, ultimately we have a basic need to be in control of ourselves. Furthermore, if we are set a target, say at work, we really need to have a good deal of control over being able to achieve the target. An example, maybe, a worker in a call centre has to get through so many calls per hour but has very limited control of any particular call. This can lead to a stressed worker.
Of course there are situations where we know the cause of the anxiety and easily deal with it or can learn to deal with the effect. However, there are times when we are not conscious of the cause of the anxiety and the effect can be overwhelming, sometimes ending in a Panic Attack.
A panic attack may seem to the sufferer and those around to just happen and this in itself can feed the anxiety. What has actually happened is that something has triggered, or indeed there may be multiple triggers, the subconscious to react to an imminent danger. The danger might not be 'real' but the subconscious has percieved it as a real danger and needs to get you out of danger.
At the base level there are three reactions Flight, Fight or Freeze all of which, were probably appropriate a long long time ago; none of them are really appropriate for our current, normal, way of life. For a start the imminent danger, percieved by the subconscious, is probably not life threatening, don't forget we're talking about extreme anxiety for no apparent reason.
Flight or the equivalent avoidance could lead to isolation and indeed to a worsening of the issue.
Fight, in the physical sense! Who? What?
Freeze, used in the natural world by well camouflaged creatures until the danger has passed. As panic attacks last for about 10 minutes it may be difficult to stay in the same place especially as you want to get away from the danger. The inappropriateness of the freeze reaction can be seen when people become rooted to the spot while watching a speeding car heading towards them and that is a real danger.
Ending Panic Attacks
How do we stop the panic attack from occurring? We re-programme, re-train or provide the subconscious with a new template. I firmly believe that if the cause is dealt with the symptoms will naturally cease otherwise the symptoms will manifest in another way. This process does not have to take ages. It does depend on the client more than the therapist.