Is there a Cure for Panic Attacks?

What is a Panic Attack?

Also know as anxiety attacks, or panic disorder, one third of the population experience panic attacks at some stage in their lives. The experience is extremely powerful, often overwhelming with sufferers often thinking they may be having a heart attack, mental breakdown or dying. Norwegian painter Edvard Munch was known to suffer panic attacks, as depicted in his painting the Scream.

Despite being such a profound and scary experience, the good news is that they are remarkably easy to treat. Indeed most of our clients never have another panic after the first session which they can’t completely control within the first minute.*

Panic occurs when someone gets anxious, feels the anxiety and worries about it which then increases the feelings of anxiety which makes them even more worried and so on. The anxiety snowballs making the sufferer feel even more out of control and so on. This can last anything from a minute or two or for hours. It often leads to avoiding certain situations, e.g lifts, busy places, crowds, motorways, planes, cinemas, or anywhere where there seems to be no easy exit (often thought of as claustrophobia or agoraphobia). It can also cause increased monitoring of the body to check for an impending attack: “How’s my heart rate, how are my palms, does my chest feel OK?”, and ‘self-diagnosing’.