Self Help For Panic Attacks: Why Self-Hypnosis Didn’t Work Last Time

Symptoms of anxiety and depression are best treated with medication in conjunction with regular therapy sessions. Because Panic Disorder usually accompanies other disorders like Depression or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the drug that you are prescribed can often also quell the frequency and severity of panic attacks with one single medication rather than using different drugs to address each problem. The benefits of this are obvious, and treatment for any psychological disorder should not be stopped suddenly unless you are monitored by a professional.

One effective treatment for panic attack symptoms, in addition to drug therapy, is to learn, and regularly use self hypnosis. As strange as this idea may seem to some, if you have experienced panic attacks in the past, you will no doubt have already tried numerous so-called cures for your Panic Disorder, and be willing to keep trying new methods until you find one that works. Please note that I am not implying that self hypnosis or anything else can be touted as a magic cure for Panic Disorder, but you absolutely can cure some of the symptoms. If I had the cure you would have recognized my name, and I would be wearing Manolo peep-toe heels (red, thank you), not Nike.

Learning how to use self hypnosis is brilliant idea for several reasons. Once you know how, you can use self hypnosis no matter where you are if a panic attack threatens; it’s a drug free remedy to stopping panic attack symptoms dead in their tracks, and you don’t need anyone else’s help you do it. If you are at a social event when an attack threatens to ruin your evening, you can excuse yourself, treat your symptoms, and return to the party a short time later as if nothing at all had taken place.

If you have tried self hypnosis in the past and it didn’t work, don’t give up just yet. What (some of) the over commercialized affiliate hypnotherapy websites do not tell you, is that the lose weight hypnosis CD or DVD you are about to purchase is not going to be effective, because it is not teaching you how to lose weight, and it is not teaching you self hypnosis. It is merely someone else telling you that you will lose weight, and when you don’t, you throw the product on the top shelf of the closet to gather dust and sneer at the idea every time someone else recommends it. What some of these products can do for you, however, is to teach you the techniques used for self hypnosis, and then you can do it yourself. I will be providing you with tips that I use for self hypnosis, in the next chapter of this series.

To clarify; Self hypnosis means that you are giving yourself the instructions and affirmations; when you listen to a hypnotherapy tape or CD, you are listening to another person’s voice, which means it is ‘hetero’ hypnosis. Furthermore, most people purchase these products thinking they can find a quick fix, without having to do any of the work themselves. On the surface it makes perfect sense, because the person on the CD is well trained and is a professional, however, your reason for trying self-hypnosis in the first place must come from an absolute and honest desire to make positive changes for yourself, not because the product was cheap (or not) and not because all you want to do is push play for an hour each day and expect it to work. It won’t. Anyone who has had panic attacks and wants to avoid them as much as possible will understand completely, what absolute desire means.

As you can see then, treating panic attack symptoms, losing weight, or anything you want to use self hypnosis for, is all about the mindset you have, for you. This principle applies to any change you want to make. By learning self hypnosis and giving yourself the instructions, they remain planted firmly in your mind and will become automatic responses to the situation/s you have programmed them to address.

The information in these articles is derived from personal experience, and prior training in hypnotherapy. It should not be used to replace professional medical care, treatments, and advice.