Nick Kemp - Treating Panic Attacks

People who describe having "panic attacks" often can point to a number of specific instances where they "feel attacked by an overwhelming sense of panic". These panic attacks often occur in confined places such as, shopping centres, trains, crowds and similar places. Once a person has experienced this overwhelming sense of panic they tend to continue to reference the exact same feeling, almost like a GPS device seeking out a specific location. This then generalises out into a sense of dread about what they "imagine will happen" as they vividly imagine having a panic attack (or remember having one or more of these attacks), talk or yell to themselves in a panicky internal tone, feel feelings they describe as 'panic' internally, so these thoughts cause feelings which then loop round and round in an unhelpful manner

Often this cycle will occur at such a speed that the client won't be aware of anything regarding the actual sequence and instead only be aware of the unpleasant feeling as if they were "being attacked". This is associated with marked and rapid changes in breathing rate and rhythm, depth and subsequent marked disturbances in the body's' equilibrium

In some instances, panic attacks can result in a blackout or fainting, or even spasm of the hands and arms.

My approach to resolving this condition is to change the way in which a client "thinks and feels", so they feel different. This approach is fundamentally different to counselling because instead of returning to past events to "try to come to terms with them" we focus on what is needed to create a new sense of well being. I have seen many clients who have spent extensive periods of time in therapy "analysing the problem" but don't feel any different and the success of any approach is all about changing how a person feels, and indeed, how they are able to feel.