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Attacks can last anything up to an hour, or can be as short as just a few seconds. A negative reaction to an external stimulus (similar to state anxiety, or a conditioned reflex) encourages a vicious cycle to begin, with fear breeding symptom, and symptom breeding fear. Agoraphobia is a condition where there is a fear of not being able to escape from a situation. Anxiety that is not equal in proportion to what is actually being faced fills the bodily system in an almost trigger-like response. Overwhelming fear then plays its part in getting the person away from the situation as quickly as possible. This dread can sometimes be accompanied by a surreal feeling of time distortion, or a sense of non-reality. With most panic attacks, the physical source is nearly always the same. It is an inappropriate response of the amygdala (a part of the brain that regulates emotions and triggers response to danger).
A panic attack must be nipped in the bud before it escalates. Attention must be diverted away from what is causing panic through distraction and relaxation. A good way to distract your mind is to focus in on your breath. This can prevent hyperventilation from making the panic attack worse. Hyperventilation is when you breathe faster than is necessary for the given situation. By exhaling slowly and completely through pursed lips, you increase the relaxation response and decrease the fight or flight response. When breathing in through your nose, fill your lungs gently and without making a sound. If you breathe in too fast and forcefully, you only increase the arousal response. So breathe in quietly, and breathe out very, very slowly.
A person with heartburn could lead themselves to believe that they were in the first stages of a heart attack; but the one who just passes it off as heartburn does not create the precondition for fear to set in. The suggestion "I'm having a heart attack," has the instantaneous ability to establish a strong connection between fear and symptom. So long as the person focuses on the symptom, the link between fear and symptom is maintained. One must divert their attention to a point outside of themselves to sever the connection between fear in the mind and symptom in the body.
A panic attack will run its course if not stopped in its tracks. But if anything, panic is more of a cardio-workout for the body than an actual life-threatening experience. The fear of having another panic attack is often brought on by the first one. The fear of what's to come is what begins the cycle. One attack reinforces the next, until eventually they become an almost daily experience, with no catalyst even required to bring one on. How you reduce fear and prevent the cycle beginning in the first place, is by making it clear to your subconscious that panic attacks are not life-threatening. The foundation for a future panic attack is laid down before it's experienced; so invest time and energy anticipating a healthy future rather that pre-empting what you fear through imagination. A panic attack fuels and manifests itself. By taking away the fuel that ignites a panic attack, which is fear, you eliminate the possibility of having another one. Although the sensations experienced during a panic attack can be very unpleasant, scientific evidence has shown that these sensations cannot harm you. The real problem with having them is the level of anxiety reached every time you encounter one.
Panic attacks are common but this doesn't mean they should be tolerated. You must seek out their cause. This can be done with the help of a healthcare professional trained in the area. A certified hypnotherapist can regress a person to the time of the symptoms' original appearance using hyper-amnesia (a type of age-regression where details of memory become enhanced). Using a method known as free association, the client is encouraged to allow one memory after another to pop into consciousness while in hypnosis. During the course of analysis the unconscious mind grows accustomed to passing up memory for rationalization. This then prepares the individual to deal with and desensitize repression as it appears in consciousness. Hidden memories, guilty thoughts, suppressed beliefs, and traumatizing experiences all have the ability to create anxiety, panic, and other emotional disorders. Their conscious realization means that they are no longer outside of the person's control, but instead have new symbolic meaning through reasoning and reconciliation.
Overcoming panic requires you to locate and employ your natural resources. It is you against panic, and you must win. The same organs that create panic also reduce it, so trust and believe that you're going to be fine and that you are always in full control.
Author Resource:- By Author Cathal O’Briain
reference
http://www.hypnosisarticlesdirectory.com/Art/28248/276/Overcoming-Panic-Attacks-and-Panic-Disorder-using-Self-Hypnosis.html
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