“I’m no longer afraid to ride in an elevator”: how hypnosis saves from panic attacks

“I silently cried, huddled in bed”

Maria, 29 years old

“I am a very anxious person, and any adversity has a strong impression on me. So, no matter what event happened, I always remembered it for a very long time, again and again I mentally returned to it.

At night I was excited and could not sleep at all – sleeping pills did not help. In the morning I couldn’t move without coffee. As a result, I began to worry about my condition: I understood that I had problems and my mind would not last long. I’ll just go crazy.

And one night I had a panic attack. I felt a strong heartbeat and shortness of breath. The field of vision narrowed, dots ran before the eyes, the body tensed so much that it wanted to tear the skin on itself.

Consciousness completely dissolved, and I silently cried, huddled in bed. And a week later, when I was riding in an elevator with other people, the attack repeated – I felt terrible fear and loss of support under my feet. Unable to restrain myself, I began to roar loudly, and after this incident I stopped using the elevators.

In the end, realizing that all the problems were in my head, I began to look for their solution.

Looking for salvation

What have I done to get rid of panic attacks?

• I went to theta-healing – while everyone around was crying, meeting with angels in meditation, I didn’t understand at all what I was doing there.
• I visited acupuncture – after the session, the tension subsided, but the effect was limited to this.
• I went to the practice of family constellations – there I found out that I had seizures due to the fact that my ancestors killed each other.
• I tested the practice of Reiki and other “miraculous” techniques.

All these things probably work for someone, but not in my case. At least, because I don’t believe in esotericism, but they told me: “You need to work on your defense.”

Magic session

After some time, I decided to go for hypnosis. I found an experienced specialist from the world of science, who explained what happens during the session and how I will be treated. And I got into regressive hypnotherapy with a cognitive bias. To find the traumas of the past and work through the beliefs with the help of exposure therapy – this is how they promised to heal me. That is, to get rid of the causes of the disorder and correct my life.

At the beginning of the session, I was advised to relax and for a long time, they said something lullingly. And then they asked me to try to open my eyes – only while imagining that they were glued together. When I failed to do this, there was a suspicion that hypnosis still works. They then did the same with my arms and legs – they inspired the idea of ​​their heaviness and asked me to lift them. I could not get.

“Think of a panic attack situation. Concentrate on the sensations and thoughts that arose at that moment, ”the hypnologist asked. I remembered how three years ago a man died of a heart attack in front of my eyes and no one could help him. Then I remembered how, as a child, I decided to try what kind of pills adults eat, and ate a whole pack. Before the hypnosis session, I did not remember this story.

They were all united by discomfort in the body and the fear of death, which the hypnotherapist helped me get rid of through the expression of feelings and emotions. This is an amazing feeling – as if you are pulling out of yourself everything that has been accumulating for years. If during the night anxiety I wanted to tear off my skin, then at the session I seemed to do it, but in a good way – tearing off dirt and tension.

I had to evaluate the effect of the session in a real situation, and it really was. Although I continued to experience panic attacks, they were less frequent and experienced differently. As if I was filled not with fear, but with some other feeling. There were a lot of such feelings, and with each session of hypnotherapy, working through the traumas and forming new attitudes, I removed them layer by layer.

End of suffering

As soon as the hypnotherapist suggested investigating panic attacks, I was reminded of my mother’s death. It was her image that made me cry. I remembered many more losses: the departure of my grandmother, grandfather and beloved uncle. It became clear to me that my panic attacks are not just a fear of bodily sensations. This unbearable feeling of loneliness and abandonment, which the body expressed through tears and inner pain.

Hypnotherapy helped me to reconnect with the images of my family. Albeit in the imagination, but I was able to say goodbye to them normally and express what I did not have time to express during my lifetime. And then it became easier for me, relaxation and peace came.

I spent a few more sessions working with panic attacks to learn not to react to normal bodily manifestations. And I also worked out the aspect of relationships, because my loneliness would not have disappeared anywhere if I hadn’t found a loved one.

And now for two years I have not had any panic attacks. I am no longer afraid to ride in an elevator. I can be anxious about various events, but my anxiety does not exceed that of a normal person. I have a family, and I am happy that I finally feel the support within myself.

“The brighter the symptom, the easier it is to find the cause”

Gennady Ivanov, hypnotherapist

“Like any phobic reaction, panic attacks greatly distort thinking, forcing a person to look at the world differently. In the case of evidence-based therapy, this is useful – the brighter the symptom, the easier it is to find the cause. But the reverse situation can also be: simple esoteric practices lead away in the direction of mysticism and only temporarily relieve tension.

To avoid disappointment and material losses due to various kinds of treatments, it is better to initially undergo a medical examination. It will exclude the organic component of the problem and set you up for the analysis of psychological attacks – together with the therapist.

When can you treat panic with hypnosis?

• If it is provoked by some stressful events – “before” everything was fine, and “after” there was an attack.
• If there are any emotional triggers that increase your panic.
• If the reminder of some early experience brings back to the past and affects your well-being.