CASE STUDY – ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACK
About Anxiety and Panic Attacks
It’s normal to feel anxious when facing a challenging situation, but if your worries and fears seem overwhelming and interfere with your daily life, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is more than just a feeling. Anxiety can involve a wide range of physical symptoms, as a by-product of the body’s fight-or-flight response. Because of the numerous physical symptoms, anxiety sufferers often mistake their disorder for a medical illness. They may visit many doctors before their anxiety disorder is discovered.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) provides a positive process to help you overcome your anxiety or panic attacks, without involving a lengthy analysis of where it started. It’s easy to do and works in line with the way we store our memories and related emotions. Anxiety and panic, as with phobias, can be a learnt behaviour (such as the physical symptoms of sweaty palms, increased heart rate, feeling faint), and NLP helps the sufferer to unlearn it and replace it with a more appropriate behaviour.
Case Study
CLIENT: Gaby
ANXIETY: Panic attacks after discovering a serious illness
DATE: June 2014
Background
Gaby’s anxiety attacks started after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. At times, she felt she was completely overwhelmed with the situation and found it difficult to make the most simple of decisions. During the initial diagnosis with the consultant, she experienced her first anxiety attack and was unable to comprehend or take in what was being said.
The decision about surgery seemed to come so fast after the initial consultation, leaving a feeling that there was no time to assimilate the situation before yet more information and more decisions were added to the pile. Friends and family were being wonderfully supportive, and providing even more information and opinions in helping Gaby make a decision.
On one day, Gaby felt so overwhelmed and in a state that she could only describe as a ‘meltdown’ that she was encouraged to contact Karen to work on some techniques to help her feel calm and in control again. Gaby wanted to be able to get some sleep, feel calm enough to make an informed decision about her recovery procedure and to feel mentally prepared for the surgery ahead.
Overcoming Anxiety with NLP and Neuroscience
Karen spent some time with Gaby understanding her situation and how she was feeling (there is usually an array of emotions during this time, including anger). Karen explained the basics of what was happening in her mind and how negative and limiting beliefs were adversely affecting Gaby’s sense of control. Together they then worked through a couple of techniques from NLP and Applied Neuroscience, prioritising the most important needs.
Karen provided Gaby with a method to help her achieve a calm state now and any time she felt overwhelmed in the future. Additionally, they worked through a technique that Gaby could use to regulate her own negative and fearful emotions by reducing the activity in this part of her brain (which Karen calls the “emotional cocktail”).
Within 90 minutes, Gaby was visibly more relaxed and calm, thinking positively about how she was going to handle her future recovery. She was amazed at the effectiveness in such a short space of time and was determined to practice the techniques in preparation for her surgery.
On the day Gaby ensured that she knew how to get into a calm state when she felt any sense of panic rising, and found herself surprised about her increased sense of control when talking to the doctors, nurses and consultants and making the necessary decisions.
What Gaby had to say:
“You genius, I had a much better sleep though I had to get up really early! I really can’t thank you enough…having woken up yesterday finding it impossible to make any decision, I was much calmer and in a better place today… the world needs you!!
Not only did the techniques you taught me allow me to visibly calm myself but it also opened up a place where I could hear and assimilate the information that I was being given at such a crucial time.
There is nobody else I would have preferred to accompany me on the day of surgery – if only everyone in my position was aware of these turnaround miraculous techniques. I’m convinced that the emotional calm they could achieve would help them in making the right decisions and approaching what is a very difficult and frightening crossroads in their lives with the calm disposition I believed I had lost.”
What Karen had to say:
It’s been an absolute honour to help someone at such a tough time in their life. The speed from diagnosis to surgery is understandably overwhelming and I can’t think of a better use of the knowledge of NLP and Applied Neuroscience to give a real sense of control back at such a stressful time. I wish Gaby a speedy recovery, with love and total respect.
Case Study
CLIENT: Jordan Collyer
ANXIETY: Fear of fainting, panic attacks 2-3 times a day
DATE: February 2014
Background
Jordan’s initial worries started when she got heart palpitations from drinking too much coffee. In addition, the anxiety seemed to exacerbate when she fainted at the doctors, but numerous tests showed that she was physically in good health.
Despite the reassurances from her doctor, Jordan was worried that she would faint again, and became anxious in any situation she felt she couldn’t easily get herself out of (eg meetings, interviews, trains, tubes and Doctor’s surgery). This had been happening for a couple of years, but the attacks were becoming more regular (2-3 times a day) over the last few months.
These anxiety attacks and panic attacks were not only affecting her day to day life, but were starting to encroach on her career. Jordan wanted to feel alive again, be able to do what she wanted and when she wanted, and ultimately to feel happy again.
Overcoming Anxiety Attacks and Panic Attacks with NLP
Jordan contacted Karen in order to overcome this anxiety once and for all, and the session was booked. Before the session, Karen asked Jordan complete a client questionnaire, to help Jordan to formalise her personal concerns and symptoms and start to identify how it may have started. It had already been confirmed by a doctor that there were no medical concerns, and that the continued anxiety was likely to be neurological.
Jordan and Karen worked through a number of NLP techniques, to control the anxiety symptoms and to also let go of a number of limiting and negative beliefs Jordan was holding on to and were adversely affecting her abilities and confidence.
Within 60 minutes, Jordan had been able to change her response to the various situations where she had previously become irrationally anxious, and was visibly more relaxed and optimistic about the future.
What Jordan had to say:
“I had been suffering from anxiety for a while and it was getting progressively worse, to the point that it was affecting my normal day-to-day life. I couldn’t go into a Doctor’s, get on a tube, be in an enclosed space, drink tea or coffee without thinking I may pass out.
I was convinced that overcoming my anxiety would be a long and steady process that would take a good few months. Karen was extremely empathic and really great to work with and after just one session I felt a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Now I happily get a tube/train every day without any anxiety and I’m also drinking coffee again after 3 years of not having it!
Never in my wildest dreams did I think my anxiety would completely vanish in a 1 hour session. I can’t thank Karen enough and would recommend NLP (Karen) to anyone who wants to get rid of anxiety/fears/phobias ASAP!”
HELP AVAILABLE
If you are suffering from anxiety attacks or panic attacks and think that Neuroscience and/or NLP may be able to help you, then please contact us using the Contact Form for an initial discussion.
Find out a little more about Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) here