Fears, Phobias and Panic Attacks

What is Fear?

 Various factors can combine to cause fear in a person. The state of fear is a state where the mood of the person is elevated above what is considered normal and the person experiences severe symptoms of anxiety. Normal level is that which is normally considered the average state where people cope and function "normally".  

What is Anxiety?

Various factors again can combine to cause anxiety. In theory Anxiety is the opposite of depression. Anxiety is the excessive level of arousal or mood. Thus the person is too aroused or excited, beyond their ability to cope. This results in feeling anxious, panicked or fearful.

Can Anxiety and Depression occur together?

Absolutely. In fact it is typical for the client to have varying moods, sometimes one is dominant, and sometimes the person swings back and fore. Where the client has both, the mood of the person varies between miserable depression, and fearful anxiety. This can be particularly disabling.

What is a Phobia?

A Phobia is the state of mind where an object, situation, sound or other stimulus causes an extreme fear reaction in a person.  Typical examples include spiders, mice, heights, loud explosions. In fact anything can be a phobic stimulus.

The difference between a phobia and a natural fear is that in a phobia case the person is afraid when they do not really need to be. Fear is a normal and useful reaction if we are considering doing something dangerous. A Phobia is where the subconscious wrongly believes the thing we are about to do is dangerous. in a phobia the person is not able to override the irrational fear they feel, which is very disabling.

Phobias are created for a multitude of reasons. All of the different ways however have one thing in common: a misunderstanding in the subconscious.  A couple of examples might be:
1. The client gets bitten by a dog, and then (subconsciously) assumes all dogs are dangerous.

2. The client hears a large "bang" when extremely stressed or tense for some other reason, the subconscious then wrongly linking the two. (causing tension to reoccur whenever the noise is heard again).

What is a Panic attack?

When a person is suffering from fear or heightened anxiety, the body experiences a "flight and fight" response. This basically means that the subconscious believes that since you are in danger you will either have to run away (flight) or fight your way out of the situation. As a result of this it assists you in preparing for this by making physical changes. Your heart rate increases, as does breathing. Your oxygen level in your blood therefore increases. Blood is transferred to the limbs ready for physical action and diverted away from systems like digestion (hence the effects of nausea or "butterflies"). Because of the adrenalin and increased breathing and heart rate the body is in "turbo" mode and begins to perspire.

If the panic attack is not stopped early on, or unless the person actually does fight or run, the body ends up "pumped up" for no good reason. This causes sweats, trembling and an excessively high oxygen level in the blood. The body has a natural reaction to the oxygen level. In order to return it to safe resting levels it constricts the airways around the chest and throat, reducing intake until the oxygen level returns to normal. It is this part of the process that tends to scare people, since they sometimes mistake the symptoms for a heart attack. It is also this part that leads to the self help techniques of breathing into a paper bag, or cupped hands. (by re-inhaling low-oxygen air that you have exhaled, you reduce the level in your lungs more gradually).

Depending on the severity of the panic attack, the client may experience a combination of some or all of the above, together with related symptoms such as visual distortion and dizzy feelings.

In the long run panic attacks or repeated fear arousal can create long lasting physical illnesses such as adrenalin imbalances, increased likelihood of heart complaints and increased blood pressure.

What can be done to relieve fear, panic attacks and phobias?

There are a number of things that are needed in combination. Some practitioners just give symptomatic relief treatment. This is not a good idea since unless underlying issues are addressed, the problem will inevitably return. Worse still it is always more disheartening when you thought you had overcome the problem!

Panic attacks can be similar in symptoms to medical conditions, therefore complementary health should be in complement to seeking medical advice. Usually your GP will be supportive towards his or her patients seeking counselling, psychotherapy or other complementary heath therapies. Always seek medical advice and note that complementary health therapy does not claim to "cure" medical complaints, but instead work to assist the client in helping themselves. Have a check up with your doctor to ensure your blood pressure and other issues are OK before assuming the cause.

What therapies are often used to assist Phobias, fear and Panic Attacks?

Underlying issues are addressed using counselling, psychotherapy and related "talking therapies".  These are designed to draw out those comments, traumas and beliefs that are stored without question in the subconscious and can lead to phobias being accepted into the mind. Just be drawing them out and being conscious of them, you gain an element of control over them. Of course it also means that once identified the issues can be tackled with other forms of therapy too. These might be positive visualisation, positive self-talk, positive affirmations, meditation, self-hypnosis, hypnotherapy, Neuro linguistic programming (NLP) or a combination of techniques best suited to the individual client.

In addition to treating the underlying causes, behaviour change techniques can be used directly to increase confidence, improve self-image and get the client to think positively about themselves and their lives. This changes the way people feel generally, keeps them on a more even keel, and prevents every "knock" in life dragging them down.  These are very effective, but should always be used in combination with treating the underlying causes. It is common for clients to commit to both, then start to feel better because of the behaviour change component, and think the work is done! Luckily most of the return and finish the process. This does however waste time and it is better to stick with the course and finish the process sooner!

By using visualisation and hypnotic suggestion (also NLP) the person can change the way they feel about certain situations (e.g. places or things that triggered fear and phobias). This is called reframing. The client can be taught to feel completely different in the situation that used to cause anxiety or fear before. This does however take perseverance and combination with other assistance. Claims of "one session" cures should be viewed with skepticism. You can disrupt a fear with a "quick fix" using for example NLP, but it does not prevent reoccurrence and does not address underlying issues that could pop up in another form!

As well as behaviour change and the talking therapies, life coaching is very useful. This is because a person's progress is optimised if their circumstances and environment are positive. Thus making positive changes in lifestyle and environment can nurture the client and their progress. Obviously remaining in a very negative environment is not helpful when you are trying to feel better!

All change can be a little scary, even painful when dealing with and facing underlying fears. Having said that, most people find the process of learning to love and respect themselves pleasant, uplifting and empowering.

Typically clients will have two or three initial sessions over three to five weeks. After the process is initiated, sessions are usually then spaced out at fortnightly intervals. This is important since the client needs time between sessions to make changes and discover information, "homework" if you like. In some locations the initial sessions are combined into a day of work, and following sessions are monthly instead. Where severe depression or anxiety exist, more frequent assistance may be required.

The award winning "Stress Pack" is used as a training tool with depressed and anxious clients. It is a personal analysis and development tool that helps clients to maintain progress between sessions and discover valuable information about themselves for their own reference and for discussion in sessions. This can be very useful in this type of case, since it boosts the client overall and strengthens their ability to cope.