Really struggling with increased anxiety

Hi since I started this program (I'm on day 10) I'm really struggling with bad anxiety and panic. My back and leg pain has decreased but my anxiety awful. My heart feels like it's pounding fast all day and I feel very shaky. I have a history of anxiety but it's gotten worse since I started program. I know a few people have said to feel the anxiety and let it pass but how do u do that when u feel so shaky and tense and hearts pounding?? I want to continue with the program I'm just really struggling getting through this bad anxiety. Advice ? Thanks!

 

Marnster: a word of encouragement.
As we start to understand and face that the causes of our malaise are our emotions (conscious and/or subconscious); and the way we respond to life; and that much of the life s....t happening to us, we mostly choose it (or put our self in situations conducing to it - or "inherited" to deal with from previous life experiences), it can get scary. Anxiety is basically "fear of Life". Two pieces of advise
1) During this time of truth and discovery of oneself, is Invaluable to aid yourself with a good friend, counselor, therapist or the like, with whom verbally externalize your "inside". That in itself help us to see our self and our fears in a different light (instead of having them scavenge inside our head and body). Even better if we can find somebody that can help to take concrete steps in gathering the courage of facing and "changing what make us sick".
2) Once we identifies the character traits and emotions that "block" or "invalidate" us and our real development (I would even get a bit philosophical stating that development might involve aligning our ego and mind and heart with our soul mission on this earth), among others, a very inexpensive and effective tools to rebalance our "out of tune" emotions are Bach Flowers (and Flower Essences in general, that can be even used just externally, don't even have to be ingested).
Wishing you much luck and success and health, and the courage to pursue it.
PS: if the legs are were your pain/symptoms are manifesting, maybe consider examining who or what is blocking you from "going" in a certain direction with your life...and "taking steps" toward it.

 

How do I manage though when my hearts pounding and I feel so shaky? Everyday I've been waking up with a pounding racing heart and feeling shaky and nervous

 

I just read Claire Weekes' book Hope and Help for Your Nerves. That pretty much squelched all my fears about heart palps from anxiety that I recently developed. I highly recommend it. Avik on here recommended it to me.

 

I would warmly recommend as a first intervention tool to stabilize you, to invest $20 and take Bach Flower Resque Remedy (4 drops in water, even every 10 minutes until the pounding cease). You can buy it in most Drugstores or online. I enclose a couple of articles that I hope will be of interest and help.
Excerpt from
The Natural Medicine Guide to Anxiety
by Stephanie Marohn

Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher

The Natural Medicine Guide to Anxiety
by Stephanie Marohn
Published by Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2003

Other books by Stephanie Marohn that feature the use of flower essence therapy as described by Patricia Kaminski are The Natural Medicine Guide to Addiction, The Natural Medicine Guide to Depression and Natural Medicine First Aid Remedies. Read about these and other books on her website.

Chapter 6
Energy Medicine III: Flower Essence Therapy


What Is Flower Essence Therapy? | The Soul Message in Anxiety
Kendra: Stopped by Fear | The Medication of Souls


Like homeopathy, flower essence therapy works on an energetic level to restore the equilibrium of the body, mind, and spirit. The particular specialty of flower essences is the realm of emotions and attitudes, which exert a powerful influence on health and ill health. As Edward Bach, an English physician and homeopath and the father of flower essence therapy, stated it, “Behind all disease lie our fears, our anxieties, our greed, our likes and dislikes.”163 By addressing underlying psychospiritual issues and promoting energetic shifts in the mind and emotions, flower essences promote a return to health on all levels.

Put simply, flower essences are “catalysts to mind-body wellness,” explains Patricia Kaminski, co-director of the Flower Essence Society in Nevada City, California, and a renowned innovator in the field of flower essence therapy for more than 20 years (see “What Is Flower Essence Therapy?”). Or you could say they act as a bridge between the realms of the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul.164

As homeopath Carola Lage-Roy pointed out in the previous chapter, every illness, including anxiety, contains a lesson for the person afflicted. From the viewpoint of flower essence therapy, this lesson regards a psychospiritual issue that is not being dealt with or a psychospiritual need that is not being met, says Kaminski. These neglected areas of the individual create energy imbalances that over time can manifest in illness. By helping to bring psychospiritual issues and unmet needs to light, flower essences facilitate the resolution of these issues, rebalancing of the attendant energy disturbances, and restoration of health.
A purely biochemical model fails to address the emotional, psychological, and spiritual components of anxiety. Manipulating brain chemistry, as with anti-anxiety drugs, may mask the symptoms of anxiety, but it does nothing to correct the root causes of the anxiety. If brain chemistry is skewed, what caused that to happen? According to the flower essence model, the biochemical imbalances found in anxiety are caused by the distress of the spirit, or soul, says Kaminski. Thus, a purely biochemical approach will not cure anxiety because it does not deal with the source—the soul’s crisis.

The embrace of the biochemical model in medicine reflects our cultural bias for physical development over psychospiritual development, she observes. For example, exercising the body to develop its strength or undergoing physical therapy to redevelop strength after a stroke or an injury are standard and widespread practices. But a similar emphasis on psychospiritual development in “mental disorders” is lacking. Instead, medical intervention seeks to remove the symptoms as quickly as possible. “We intervene earlier and earlier when someone is in emotional pain and distress,” states Kaminski. “We use biochemical therapies to ‘fix’ the problem at its current level of symptom manifestation, rather than encouraging further psychological development.”
This is where flower essences can be a valuable tool. “The approach of flower essence therapy is to recognize the dignity of the human soul and to recognize the capacity of the human soul to change and become stronger,” she elaborates. “The soul isn’t connected to the aging of the body, so even if you’re 70 years old, you can still be developing from the point of view of the soul. What we want to look at when somebody is facing a crisis, when they present with anxiety, with depression, with an addiction, is: what is it that the soul is really facing? . . . There’s enormous capacity in the human spirit and the human soul to acquire skills for transforming what is a problem into a gift, if the therapy goes deep enough.”
What Is Flower Essence Therapy?

The use of flower essences is often dismissed in the United States, even by some alternative medicine practitioners, as a “lightweight” therapy that may be pleasing but has little therapeutic value. One reason for the misconception may be the general lack of understanding in this country about energy medicine, which is widely accepted in Europe. As the promising results of scientific investigation into flower essence therapy and other forms of energy medicine are mounting and an increasing number of alternative medicine physicians and other health care professionals are routinely employing these modalities, the misconceptions are gradually being dispelled. More people are discovering the truth about flower essence therapy, which is that it has the capability to stimulate profound change on a deep level, Kaminski states.

To clarify another common misunderstanding, essential oils (aromatherapy) and flower essences are two different kinds of medicine. While essential oils contain the biochemical components of the plants from which they are extracted, flower essences are closer to homeopathic remedies in nature, in that they are energetic imprints of their source. Another way of saying this is that a flower essence contains the life force of the flower.
A flower essence is made by sun-infusing the blossoms of a particular plant, bush, or tree in water. (This is a simplistic summary of the process, which involves timing the picking of the flowers according to life-cycle, environmental, and other factors.) The liquid is then diluted and potentized in a method similar to the preparation of homeopathic remedies, and preserved with brandy (or a nonalcoholic substance, if need be). The result is a highly diluted, potentized substance that embodies the energetic patterns of the flower from which it is made. This means that the therapeutic effects of flower essences are vibrational or energetic.165

Despite Einstein and solid science demonstrating that matter is energy, the fact that you can contain energy in a liquid and influence human energy fields to help resolve ailments is not widely known. Yet, that is precisely what flower essence liquids do. When you take flower essences, the energy they contain affects your energy field, which in turn has an impact on your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual condition, as these aspects are all energy based.

In the 1930s, Dr. Edward Bach developed 38 different flower essences to address 38 different emotional-soul or psychological types. As an example of the “profile” associated with a remedy, the flower essence Willow is indicated for someone who, when out of balance, feels resentful, bitter, and envious of others and adopts a “poor me” victim stance. Dr. Bach’s remedies are still available today—the Bach Flower Remedies seen in health food stores everywhere.

The Flower Essence Society (FES) in Nevada City, California, headed by Kaminski and her husband, Richard Katz, has expanded on the work of Dr. Bach and significantly furthered the field of flower essences. Founded in 1979 by Katz, FES is a pioneer in flower essence research, compiling and analyzing case study data from tens of thousands of practitioners around the world and conducting longitudinal studies as well as botanical field studies.
FES also funds double-blind placebo trials with specific flower essences. In two such studies, clinical and research psychologist Jeffrey Cram, Ph.D., director of the Sierra Health Institute in Nevada City, looked at the efficacy of specific flower essence formulas in alleviating stress. Physiological measures showed significantly reduced reactivity in subjects who received the flower essences versus those given a placebo.166 Currently under way is a major study on the application of flower essences in depression.167

In addition to the society’s involvement in research, Kaminski and Katz expanded on Bach’s remedies, developing a line of more than 100 flower essences derived from North American plants. They developed the line (the FES brand, also found in many health food stores) to expand the emotional repertoire of flower essences; to provide North Americans with essences derived from indigenous plants, which might better resonate with their healing issues; and to address the more complicated emotional and psychological makeup of people today.

There are many flower essence practitioners. The Flower Essence Society operates a Practitioner Referral Network, with a listing of about 3,000 flower essence therapists in the U.S. and Canada alone; contact Flower Essence Society, P.O. Box 459, Nevada City, CA 95959; tel: 530-265-9163 or 800-736-9222.

The Soul Message in Anxiety

While every person is different and the causes of anxiety are many, Patricia Kaminski has observed in her practice a common theme, or soul message, if you will. “The underlying soul predicament with anxiety is fear, and underlying that fear is a lack in the ability to meet the world, to take on the world. The virtue that is lacking is courage.”

The definition of courage that for her best describes the relationship of fear and courage in flower essence therapy comes from Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, who said during the crisis after the 9/11 attacks, “Courage is realizing you’re afraid and still acting.” In flower essence terms, the therapy does not get rid of the fear, but helps people to find the courage to move forward in their lives even though they are afraid.

This is in sharp contrast to the pharmaceutical approach, which tranquilizes the system in order to suppress the fear. “Somehow we believe that if we could just take something, then we wouldn’t have fear,” says Kaminski. “But there is always going to be fear, particularly in the culture we live in now, with bioterrorism, etc. We’re not going to get rid of fear. But what is within the capacity of the human soul to do is to meet the fear and act anyway.”
In contrast with depression, which is a kind of shutting down of the body—a lethargic condition—anxiety is a speeded-up condition, with the body going into overdrive, as typified by the heart palpitations, rapid pulse, and sweating, she explains. While in depression the emotional challenge is to contact buried feelings; in anxiety the challenge is to gain emotional objectivity and not allow certain emotions to take over.

People with anxiety disorders “need to step back from a kind of hyper-emotional reaction to life,” Kaminski states. “They need calming, but not as in shutting the doors and not going out into life. What they need to develop is courage to meet life, and to trust life on its own terms.” Flower essences can help anxious people meet life instead of shrinking from it.

From the flower essence perspective, it is important to consider any disorder as a spectrum within the possibilities of a human being, says Kaminski. This means that, while some people are on the extreme end of the anxiety spectrum, suffering from severe phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorder, for example, we all carry those conditions within us, and given the right circumstances we could develop them. “I’ve known people in prison who started to develop certain aspects of those disorders because of the enormous stress and fear of that experience. We all could be pressed into these corners of the human psyche.”
Given the level of fear in our society today, it is important for us to find healing approaches that help us deal with fear. Flower essence therapy is one of these.

Kaminski cautions against approaching flower essence therapy in a mode similar to drug treatment, merely substituting a natural product for the chemical, in the hopes that the medicine will get rid of the fear more safely. Certainly, a natural approach is preferable where possible, but to regard any substance as the “magic bullet” that will fix a disorder is to misunderstand the true nature of healing. Yes, there are flower essences that work quickly to calm a person in an emergency situation, notably Rescue Remedy (also known as Five-Flower Remedy). “But an emergency intervention formula will not work over the long haul with something like an anxiety disorder,” notes Kaminski.
Truly dealing with anxiety and other “mental” disorders through flower essence therapy involves working in layers, and it is a process, not a quick fix, says Kaminski. “It’s a whole developmental process for the soul. The developmental process involves steps—metamorphoses that have to happen. We have to work in a way to bring the consciousness up in the person. Whereas in typical medicine, we mask the consciousness, what we do with flower essences is try to stimulate the consciousness to see these pictures, these parts of the soul.”

The following case history is based on information provided by the “patient” herself, Kendra. Although she was not treated by Kaminski, she became her student. Kendra was so impressed by how flower essences were able to release her from severe anxiety and depression that she went on to complete the Flower Essence Society’s practitioner training program so she could help others discover the healing power of this therapy. Her story offers the unique perspective of the healed and the healer.

Kendra: Stopped by Fear

At 16, Kendra was put on an antidepressant due to her severe anxiety and depression. She had frequent panic attacks when she was at school, at work, or in another public place. At these times, she was filled with fear, her heart raced, she felt like she couldn’t breathe, and she wanted to get home where no one could see her. Her fear was of people looking at her and of them seeing her do something wrong. These symptoms are characteristic of social anxiety disorder.

“When I was out in public, I felt very vulnerable and I would have anxiety attacks,” she says. “Then I would go home, feel terrible about being like that, and get really depressed. That was my cycle.”

Kendra avoided the panic attacks by staying home, so consequently missed a lot of school. “I hung out by myself because I was in a dark space inside. I felt empty and stuck,” she recalls. “I wasn’t being creative. I couldn’t find any inner motivation. I was just a stuck teenager.”

On a scale of one to ten, with ten being most severe, Kendra rated her condition as at the top of the scale. She would be better at some times than others, but her panic attacks were “tens,” she recalls. There didn’t seem to be an external reason for her state, as her childhood had been a happy one and she had a “wonderful family.”

The antidepressant didn’t offer Kendra much relief. Although it lessened the depression a little, she still felt empty inside and still had the panic attacks. The drug also didn’t do anything for her feeling of being stuck. “It wasn’t moving me forward in my life,” she says. “I was frustrated. I knew there was more for me in my life, but I didn’t have any skills or tools to help me move forward.”

Kendra had a job in a store that sold flower essences. She hadn’t heard about them before that. Over time, she learned that flower essences were especially good in the emotional arena. That prompted her to go to her doctor and ask about the possibility of taking flower essences. The doctor advised her not to go off the drug. “The doctor said they wouldn’t work and that I would probably never come off antidepressants.” Not knowing any better, Kendra discarded the idea of flower essences.

Two years after she had begun taking the antidepressant, her condition was much the same. One day at work, Kendra’s boss witnessed one of her panic attacks. She could see Kendra’s tremendous anxiety, and there was nothing happening around her to prompt it, so it was clear that it arose from within. “I felt so horrible that she was witnessing it,” recalls Kendra, “but she grabbed a flower essence bottle and said, ‘Here, take this.’ It was Mimulus, which is for fear of known things. As soon as I held the Mimulus in my hand, it was like a big sigh came out of my heart. I actually physically sighed.”
Mimulus

Just from holding the bottle, Kendra felt a shift in her. “I haven’t had a panic attack since that day, and I haven’t taken medication since then either.” From that moment, Kendra stopped taking the antidepressant and began taking the standard flower essence dose of four drops four times a day. (Note that it is not recommended to discontinue psychiatric medications without medical supervision. A gradual tapering off of the dosage is the method generally advised in order to avoid ill effects. Kendra was fortunate in that she had no adverse reactions to her abrupt discontinuation.)

“ I stopped taking the drug immediately after I discovered the Mimulus because the flower essence gave me an inner light, inside my heart. The Mimulus flower is yellow, like the sun. Also, my anxiety was centered in my solar plexus (stomach), and the color of that chakra is yellow. The Mimulus helped my stomach not to be churning with anxiety.” She also noticed that the flower essence began to fill her with self-worth, and the feeling of emptiness subsided. The flower essence didn’t get rid of her fear, but gave her the message that the emotions she was feeling were fine and that it was possible to look at them in different ways.
“ I started moving forward, one step at a time. That was what I had needed—a catalyst.” She began to go out in the world more, started studying aromatherapy and, later, flower essences. Meanwhile, Kendra’s boss at the store taught her more about flower essences, and she began to take others as she felt she needed them.

The ones that were particularly helpful, in addition to Mimulus, were Crab Apple and Walnut. “Crab Apple helps to cleanse you of feeling unclean and impure. That was important for me, too. The emptiness inside of me made me feel gunky. There wasn’t a lot of light. The Crab Apple helped me to cleanse and move forward. Walnut is also for moving forward with courage.”

Crab Apple

Walnut

Kendra, now 25, regards Mimulus as an ongoing healing and still takes it today, although not at the original dosage. “I’m continually taking flower essences,” she says. “I take a different blend every month. I still get anxious, but nothing like before. I get healthy anxiety. Sometimes I feel a little bit vulnerable when I’m putting myself out there in the world or I notice that I’m falling back into my old pattern, and I just put some Mimulus back into my blend. It’s like a best friend.”

She views Mimulus as the archetypal essence for this time in her life. “The Mimulus gives me the courage to go on with my life and not worry about the little things, like people looking at me or seeing me do something wrong. It was those little anxieties that became unhealthy and interfered with my functioning. The Mimulus gives me the courage to do what I have to do and to be myself.”

In looking back at her anxiety and depression, she thinks that they may have been an outgrowth of getting stuck in the transition from childhood to adulthood. “All teenagers go through some sort of change. They need to find where they need to go, and they need to have positive inspiration. I got stuck in that transition. I had no insight.”

Kendra found it difficult to talk to anyone about her depression and panic attacks and, like many young people, felt that nobody understood her. After the antidepressant didn’t work, she didn’t think there was anything that could help her. “I wanted to get better, I wanted to enjoy my life, but I didn’t have the tools.”
Fortunately, Kendra found a tool that worked to get her moving again. Flower essences helped summon qualities in her that she didn’t know how to bring out on her own. “The pharmaceutical drugs didn’t fill me up inside with the love and wonder and beauty of life,” she says, which is what she needed and what the flower essences did for her. “I was empty inside. I needed to come from a whole place in myself before I could go out into the world.”
Kendra echoes Kaminski’s point that true healing is not a quick fix. “To get to your core issues is a big journey that not everyone wants to take. I was willing to take responsibility for everything inside of me, and I think that’s one reason the flower essences helped me. I feel like I got to the core, and every day now I’m really light. Now the rest of my life is just unfolding, and it’s a wonderful journey.”

Kendra reports that at this point she has tried almost all of the Bach and FES remedies and has found them all helpful. They bring forth the rainbow of human qualities that are already there, but need help in coming out into the world, she says.

Flower essences are a direct path not only to connection with all aspects of being human, but also to connection with the natural world. “We’re so concerned right now with the material world. We need to connect more with nature. When we do, we connect with ourselves.” Kendra observes that the sense of beauty and wonder you get from walking through a forest or being in your garden is how she feels when she takes the flower essences. Since you can’t always be in your garden or walking in a forest, flower essences are a way to keep that sense of connection, beauty, and wonder in your everyday life, she notes, which can go a long way toward dissolving anxiety.

The Medication of Souls

“It’s not easy working with anxiety and depression in our culture, because of the tremendous emphasis on medication,” Kaminski states. “The longer somebody has been on psychiatric drugs, the more challenges we have. The sooner we can get to somebody, if they have been on the drugs for a short time, the more successful we’re going to be. That’s actually true of both flower essences and homeopathy.”

It’s not that people who have been on pharmaceuticals for a long time can’t be helped by flower essences. It just makes the case more complex, she says. The flower essence practitioner has to work then with the chemical situation that has been set up in the body as well as with the emotional layers.

Kaminski cautions that this is not to say that people should simply throw away their prescription drugs. Stopping needs to be done under the supervision of a qualified physician, and obviously if someone is suicidal or psychotic, the drugs may be saving their life.

Like Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman, Kaminski has a vision of another way that people can be helped in times of crisis. She would like to see doctors put patients whose “mental” disorders are not life-threatening on flower essences first. “That’s what’s happening in Cuba,” she states. “The flower essences have become part of the medical model there. They’ve seen the results.” The Cuban Ministry of Public Health recognizes flower essence therapy as a valid medical modality and has sponsored practitioner training in its use in ten of the country’s 15 provinces.168

Kaminski adds: “What I would like to see is a revolution in the health-care industry, that at the early stages of intervention, when somebody needs emotional help, we provide, in addition to counseling, therapeutic modalities that are much safer and much more holistic. If those don’t work, then we can consider stronger chemical options.”

Again, with somebody who’s suicidal or psychotic, immediate brain intervention in the form of medication may be necessary. “If your hand is in the fire, you can’t go right to giving a remedy for healing the hand,” says Kaminski. “The first thing you have to do is get the hand out of the fire.” It’s important to remember, however, that a tranquilizer or an antidepressant is never a cure, she cautions. Rather, it only temporarily changes behavior and enables the brain to function differently.

Unfortunately, those facts seem to have been forgotten. Kaminski points to an alarming trend in the use of pharmaceuticals. “It’s just unconscionable to me how many people are being put on psychiatric drugs at the drop of a hat.” Statistics on the huge increase in the prescription of such drugs over the past two decades demonstrate what Kaminski calls “the normalization of psychiatry.”

In other words, she says, “more and more and more of the population is being medicated. If somebody comes in suffering from lethargy, panic, anxiety, or PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], we right away medicate them. Children are being medicated. The elderly are being medicated. Prisoners are being medicated.” What medication does is rob individuals of the capacity to deal with their soul and the messages it has to communicate, she says. “Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, we’re actually developing a model that is robbing people of their developmental capacity. There is a trend, both in psychiatry and in medicine, to medicate away problems.”

The use of psychiatric drugs is behavior modification to help people adjust to their lives the way they are, according to Kaminski. “It isn’t a transformative model of a human being. It’s a behavioral adaptive model.” She sees the results of this in people who come to her who have been on psychiatric drugs for a while—there is no movement in their lives.

The psychiatric drug model also seems to be promoting the idea that “we’re supposed to somehow have the smiley face all the time,” she observes. “The truth of the matter is, life hurts. There are failures and disappointments.”

Kaminski envisions the development of a different model of human potential, one that doesn’t only seek to fix, but asks why the breakdown happened. “What’s standing in the way of that person being able to move on, to be a more loving and more productive person in human society? That for me is the goal of flower essence therapy—to wake people up, even if it’s painful. When we open our heart to take risks, then our lives are more healthy, they’re more whole.”

Related article of interest: “Panic Attacks: Treating the Soul - Not the Symptoms” by Dr. Marina Angeli

 

[/QUOTE]

The second article that I invite you to read :

Panic Attacks and Flower Essences
by Marina Angeli
Several years of work with patients suffering Panic Disorder have convinced me that flower therapy, when combined with psychotherapy, can result not just in an almost immediate relief from symptoms with no need for chemical medication, but also in a fast and profound treatment of the underlying emotional causes of this problem.

In our days, many people are suffering from the so-called Panic Disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by spontaneous, unexpected panic attacks. The typical picture of a panic attack is that of a person who, all of a sudden, experiences symptoms such as tachycardia, dyspnea, palpitations and sweating. Marina AngeliThe symptoms increase rapidly during a period of 5-10 minutes. Symptoms may feel as life threatening and the great fear that arises because of them can result in a further worsening of the situation. Panic attacks most typically occur in closed-in places, in a crowded bus for example or in any sort of place from where the person could not get out immediately, although such crises may happen anywhere at any time. The crises last usually only for 20-30 minutes to a maximum of one hour, and during them sufferers experience great fear and anxiety. Soon after the first 1-2 episodes, they develop a great fear and apprehension about having similar crises. They suffer because of this fear and usually try to change their habits and life style in ways that make them 'feel safe'.

More often than not, they start to avoid going out in the public, unless accompanied by someone they know well, for the fear of a sudden panic attack, which would expose them publicly. This is known as 'agoraphobia', and then we speak of 'Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia'. They may also develop claustrophobia, a situation in which the person avoids closed-in spaces or vehicles, such as tunnels, bridges, elevators, buses, trains or airplanes. If they make it to go to a theatre or cinema, they will try to have a seat next to the corridor and preferably near the exit, for the case they get into panic and want to leave the place immediately.

Typically, people who suffer panic attacks visit many physicians and have lots of medical examinations, always without pathological findings. One will meet them in the emergency rooms of hospitals at any hour of the day or the night, being reassured by the doctors that nothing is wrong with their heart, and that their health is perfectly all right. They will return home, only to come back to the doctor with another panic episode, a few hours, days or weeks, and rarely, months later.

Finally, their physicians tell them that their crises result from anxiety and that they should seek psychological treatment. It is at that point they start visiting a psychiatrist.

Conventional medicine usually treats Panic Attacks with antidepressants and/or mild tranquilizers. Alprazolam, a benzodiazepine with the commercial name 'Xanax', has been the drug of choice over the last years. Patients strongly depend on it and they usually take it on a regular basis to have their anxiety and fear temporarily appeased. According to the current conventional medical treatment of Panic Disorder: “Once effective, pharmacological treatment should generally continue for 8-12 months. The available data indicate that panic disorder is a chronic, perhaps lifelong, condition that will recur when treatment is discontinued. Studies have reported that from 30 to 90 percent of successfully treated panic disorder patients relapse when their medication is discontinued. Various reports have concluded that cognitive and behavior therapies are superior to pharmacotherapy alone; other reports have concluded the opposite.” (Kaplan & Sadock 'Synopsis of Psychiatry': Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia)

It took a long time of experimenting with different flower essences before 'a formula' that really works in panic attacks became obvious. In the beginning, my attention tended to be 'symptom oriented', focusing on the symptoms of fear and trying to have the fear relieved with flower essences. So I tried all essences concerning fears, like Mimulus, Aspen, Rock Rose, Rescue Remedy and more. To my surprise, they would make practically no difference, as people's emotional situation would not change to any considerable degree, nor did their psychosomatic symptoms. I knew from experience how effective flower essences concerning fears had proven to be. So, why had we no results here? If panic was the real issue, why did it not respond to the essences?

Soon, I tried to change perspective and hypothesize that, although panic attack sufferers insisted that excessive fear was their main, if not exclusive emotion during, as well as between the crises, fear might actually be the outer expression of a more complex emotional situation lying underneath, which could be responsible for the psychosomatic phenomena they had experienced. This might explain why flower essences for fears had proven inadequate to handle the fears and anxiety and to remove the agoraphobic reactions. Viewing panic attack as the effect rather than the cause might be necessary in trying to apply flower therapy in this problem. As a matter of fact, such questions as: 'How was the patients' life before the panic attacks? What led to such a level of anxiety? How is their life now, except for their symptoms?' became important.

The first step was to try to understand the emotional state of someone who has acquired so much an inner tension that he suddenly witnesses enormous anxiety exploding in his body. A number of essences started to appear as potentially useful. At first, the very 'explosive' nature of the symptoms seemed to be pointing towards Cherry Plum. The person was acting as if unable to tolerate the inner tension any longer, bursting out, the loss of control being expressed as a physical turmoil, an aimless intensification of body functions to a state of emergency. Many times the suffering person is literally feeling that s/he is going crazy. On the other hand, the fact that, such crises often occur in closed-in or crowded places, where the person has little or no control over staying of leaving immediately if s/he wishes, should perhaps be viewed as symbolizing a lack of control in the person's life. The restricting outer situations could just symbolically represent an inner state of emotional 'suffocation' and despair, where finally emotions get out of control, such as found in the negative Cherry Plum state.

Next, one could detect a tremendous impatience, during, but also, between the crises. The patients wanted to exit the closed-in space immediately. Their psychosomatic symptoms of tachychardia, dyspnea, etc., were all symptoms of emergency. Moreover, I noticed that these people were constantly in a state of impatience, though not aware of it. Impatience was their natural reaction to their intolerable inner tension and dissatisfaction, which, like in a volcano explosion, would find a way out and become released during the crises. So the next essence might well be the Impatiens.

The third striking thing in cases of panic attacks, was that the person never seemed to have the slightest idea about the cause of their problems. Being in such an emotional emergency, they still considered their problems entirely physical. They would visit practitioners of all medical specialties except psychiatrists or psychologists, they would come for therapy only when referred by their physicians, and even then, they were unable to make any correlation between their symptoms and their overall life situation. The idea of attempting a psychological interpretation never seemed to occur to them, not even when they were prompted to. They did not seem to think that a panic episode is not much likely to appear out of the blue, and that a high level of tension must have already been present in them, long before the onset of the physical symptoms. They could not understand themselves, and this increased their panic. I took this as an indication for Chestnut Bud.

Working with Panic Attacks sufferers, I noticed over time that they almost always were extrovert personalities, who tried to avoid their problems and to shift their attention to pleasant diversions for as long as they could. When panic attacks appeared, they kept their panic and anxiety to themselves or within the family and did their best to appear normal and even cheerful to the outside. All of them greatly suffered at the idea of having panic attacks in the presence of others, thus becoming agoraphobic. So, Agrimony was added to the formula.

With Cherry Plum promoting emotional differentiation and accelerating contact with the inner feeling life, with Chestnut Bud increasing awareness about the causes of personal difficulties, with the soothing effect of Impatiens and with Agrimony relaxing the need to hide negative emotions, people were now becoming able to look inside themselves and perceive a lot of what was going on within them. So, it was now possible to ask them questions such as: “Is there any situation in your life where you feel trapped in or pressed by, a situation that causes you to feel about to explode? From what in your life you would like to escape from, to get rid of? Are there instances in your life where you feel as dependent, uncomfortable, powerless, suffocating, as in the panic episodes?”

It always appeared that, in fact, patients had become increasingly dissatisfied with their lives, already for quite some time before the onset of symptoms. They found their life conditions intolerable, but felt unable and/or unjustified to change them. Such conditions always concerned close relationships, usually with family members, most often with parents, who were overprotective, over-caring, and at the same time, psychologically and in some cases even physically, very dependent on the patient. The panic attack sufferer typically was over-concerned about the loved ones, felt responsible for them, let him/herself be manipulated by them, felt overburdened by their problems and their attitudes towards him/her, but at the same time doubted his/her ability to cope without their help. In addition, some patients felt trapped in conditions such as a job they did not like, even an entire lifestyle, which did not suit them, but they could see no way how to change it.

Since worry about loved ones was the main reason they resigned from trying for the better in themselves, Red Chestnut was the next choice among the essences. Although the negative Red Chestnut state was not apparent in the initial stage, it became obvious when the patient was confronted with the need to take action and to do what he or she needed in order to change his/her life and be happy. “They need me. How can I ignore them and do my own thing?” Red Chestnut has proven a 'strategic' choice, as it opened the way for them to break free from dysfunctional patterns in relationships and thus, move towards health.

This initial formula of Agrimony, Cherry Plum, Chestnut Bud, Impatiens, Red Chestnut proved really effective. Already from the first few days, patients would experience a profound relief from their symptoms. Their panic attacks would either very much decrease in frequency and intensity or would not appear at all. Gentian was added to protect from disappointment from possible setbacks. Sometimes, particularly sensitive people would experience 'uneasiness' or anxiety for a few days in the beginning of flower therapy, which might be compared to a 'therapeutic crisis', as a result of a big change in awareness. Star of Bethlehem helped to overcome or minimize this problem.

But relief from symptoms was not the only benefit. The important thing was the change in consciousness. Already from the second session, the patients would shift their attention from being symptom-oriented to becoming insight-oriented. Spontaneously, they were now able to perceive what was happening in them. Even though they were not able to handle situations in a different way yet, the fact that, finally, they could be in touch with their own emotions and understand the psychological issues responsible for their situation, had a profoundly calming and liberating effect on them. Chestnut Bud was 'pouring' insights into their consciousness, and this gave them a sense of safety and self-confidence, because they could now understand what was being wrong, which was giving them control over their situation. The beautiful thing in the use of Chestnut Bud was that symptom interpretations came directly from the patients, based on their insights. They were not a professional' s interpretations, which the patients were asked to adopt. Cherry Plum was catalyzing this process, by 'melting' the explosive inner tension, educating them in the language of feelings, opening the way for an inner dialogue. With Impatiens they could calm down and give time to the process instead of aimlessly rushing around in panic. Agrimony was giving them the freedom to genuinely experience and express thoughts, feelings and worries that, until then, they found 'unacceptable' and to work with these psychological issues in a therapeutic context. Finally, Red Chestnut was freeing them from dysfunctional attachments and fears about others, so that they no longer had to feel guilty about attempting changes, which were necessary for them.

Interestingly, none of the above essences are directly related to fear or panic. However, as I was becoming familiar with more flower essences over the years, a few more essences were added to the combination mentioned above. These are: three Australian Bush essences, the Dog Rose, for worry and fear, Dog Rose of the Wild Forces for the 'somatization of anxiety' (to keep the emotional tensions from affecting the body functions), and the Emergency Essence for courage in facing threatening situations. Also, three Pegasus essences: Pimpernel (for coordinating the awakening energy, to be released into the personality in an organized fashion), Blackberry (for fear of coming death, to the self or to a loved one), and Apricot (for lightness and cheer, to lighten up the patients' burdened state of mind). With the addition of these essences, the panic symptoms now practically disappear during the first week.

No special treatment has ever been necessary for the possible accompanying agoraphobic symptoms, as they subside by themselves, following the general improvement.

Although the person no longer experiences panic attacks, the above combination of flower essences is being repeated for several weeks or months, depending on how long it takes one to work out the basic underlying causes and make the necessary changes in life, in order to feel solid and free. Each person follows his/her own pace. They all do amazingly well, with the exception of few cases, where the person refused to continue the process when she started to realize the impact that a dysfunctional relationship with her spouse was having in her life. Although they reported that their panic symptoms dramatically decreased during the first few days, they prematurely discontinued therapy, because of the unrealistic worry that, becoming aware of problems would be a threat to their relationship. However, with the assistance of flower therapy, the big majority of panic attack sufferers experience personal transformation and change as an easy, exciting and enjoyable process.

During the first session, I usually do not talk much with the patients. The main issue is to decrease the level of their panic and also provide them with the ability to access personal insights. With flower essences, both these goals can be achieved very fast, while talk would be of very little help in this stage. I only listen to the patients describing their physical symptoms and just give them the essence bottles, simply telling them that they are going to feel a lot better soon. I tell them that, their symptoms, no matter how annoying, are not dangerous for their health. I tell them that I will be available in case of any questions or acute complains. In this first session, I always avoid to schedule the next appointment, as they still feel in an emergency and need to know they can come whenever they feel the need to. Also, as for most of them this is their first time to try flower essences, they need to feel free to check if this sort of therapy is helpful and suitable for them, before committing themselves to continuing with it.

In the second session, usually about two weeks later, they come with sufficient insight about their situation, enabling psychological work to begin.

It is not very unusual for a panic attack sufferer to experience a sort of therapeutic crises during the first days of taking the essences. As contact with suppressed emotions is made, and they are brought face to face with realizations they have avoided so far, in some cases people react with anxiety. Star of Bethlehem can be of help here. Informing the patient in advance about the possibility of such a 'therapeutic crisis' is important. It needs care to tell something like that to someone who is in panic, and there have been a few patients who did not dare to take their flower essences after this remark. But usually, reassuring them that nothing dangerous will happen, that this will rather be an indication that profound changes are taking place in them, helps them adopt a positive, courageous attitude. I suggest that, if they experience this sort of problem, they either stop taking the essences for a day or two or try to take them less frequently for 2-3 days, slowly increasing the frequency to normal, or just call me if they feel uneasy.

While improvement is visible in the first 2-3 days, fears about possible recurrence of panic symptoms take longer to disappear. However, no matter what difficulties a person may encounter in the future, panic symptoms have never re-appeared in the follow ups for years, apparently because people acquire a much better level of awareness and body-mind connection, as well as functional, conscious defenses and strategies in handling their problems.

Concerning chemical medication, I never needed to prescribe drugs for Panic Attacks. In cases of people who were put under drug treatment before coming to flower therapy, I do not suggest they stop taking the medicine at once, as this could make them feel anxious or insecure, not to mention the symptoms that could arise because of the sudden discontinuation of the drug. I tell them that soon they are going not to need the drug, but for the time they can do as they feel, perhaps try to gradually take less of the medicine to the point they feel comfortable to. So, they reduce and finally stop taking the medicine, usually during the next few weeks. An exception concerns people who have been using Lorazepam for their panic attacks for many years. They develop a strong dependency on this particular drug and refuse to give it up completely. However, soon they are able to reduce the quantity to placebo levels (0,5- 0,25mg/day).

So, Panic Attacks have proven to be one of the easiest and most rewarding issues to work with. Prognosis is excellent for all those who go through the process. Z. S., a 23-year-old girl who came with panic attacks about a year ago, told me lately: “Last week I became One Year Old!!! I have been living only for one year. It was not life, that what I was living until a year ago…”
=========================================================================
Bach
http://www.bachflower.com/cure-negative-emotions-bach-flower-remedies/ (Cure Negative Emotions with The Original Bach Flower Remedies)
Panic Attacks.
Rescue Remedy: Helps at any stressful situation where you need to be able to collect yourself and be in charge of your emotions.
Aspen: Panic, nightmares, pounding heart, sweating for no reason, anxious but don’t know why.
Rock Rose: When you feel that the fear is so great that you are unable to move or react, a frozen fear.
Mimulus Helps you when you feel fear, the type of fear that you can identify such as fear of spiders, being alone, losing a job, illness etc. You are overly sensitive, get embarrassed and nervous.
Cherry Plum: Helps you when you feel that your mind is being over-strained, you feel like you are going to explode or do irrational things.

 

The second article that I invite you to read :

Panic Attacks and Flower Essences
by Marina Angeli
Several years of work with patients suffering Panic Disorder have convinced me that flower therapy, when combined with psychotherapy, can result not just in an almost immediate relief from symptoms with no need for chemical medication, but also in a fast and profound treatment of the underlying emotional causes of this problem.

In our days, many people are suffering from the so-called Panic Disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by spontaneous, unexpected panic attacks. The typical picture of a panic attack is that of a person who, all of a sudden, experiences symptoms such as tachycardia, dyspnea, palpitations and sweating. Marina AngeliThe symptoms increase rapidly during a period of 5-10 minutes. Symptoms may feel as life threatening and the great fear that arises because of them can result in a further worsening of the situation. Panic attacks most typically occur in closed-in places, in a crowded bus for example or in any sort of place from where the person could not get out immediately, although such crises may happen anywhere at any time. The crises last usually only for 20-30 minutes to a maximum of one hour, and during them sufferers experience great fear and anxiety. Soon after the first 1-2 episodes, they develop a great fear and apprehension about having similar crises. They suffer because of this fear and usually try to change their habits and life style in ways that make them 'feel safe'.

More often than not, they start to avoid going out in the public, unless accompanied by someone they know well, for the fear of a sudden panic attack, which would expose them publicly. This is known as 'agoraphobia', and then we speak of 'Panic Disorder With Agoraphobia'. They may also develop claustrophobia, a situation in which the person avoids closed-in spaces or vehicles, such as tunnels, bridges, elevators, buses, trains or airplanes. If they make it to go to a theatre or cinema, they will try to have a seat next to the corridor and preferably near the exit, for the case they get into panic and want to leave the place immediately.

Typically, people who suffer panic attacks visit many physicians and have lots of medical examinations, always without pathological findings. One will meet them in the emergency rooms of hospitals at any hour of the day or the night, being reassured by the doctors that nothing is wrong with their heart, and that their health is perfectly all right. They will return home, only to come back to the doctor with another panic episode, a few hours, days or weeks, and rarely, months later.

Finally, their physicians tell them that their crises result from anxiety and that they should seek psychological treatment. It is at that point they start visiting a psychiatrist.

Conventional medicine usually treats Panic Attacks with antidepressants and/or mild tranquilizers. Alprazolam, a benzodiazepine with the commercial name 'Xanax', has been the drug of choice over the last years. Patients strongly depend on it and they usually take it on a regular basis to have their anxiety and fear temporarily appeased. According to the current conventional medical treatment of Panic Disorder: “Once effective, pharmacological treatment should generally continue for 8-12 months. The available data indicate that panic disorder is a chronic, perhaps lifelong, condition that will recur when treatment is discontinued. Studies have reported that from 30 to 90 percent of successfully treated panic disorder patients relapse when their medication is discontinued. Various reports have concluded that cognitive and behavior therapies are superior to pharmacotherapy alone; other reports have concluded the opposite.” (Kaplan & Sadock 'Synopsis of Psychiatry': Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia)

It took a long time of experimenting with different flower essences before 'a formula' that really works in panic attacks became obvious. In the beginning, my attention tended to be 'symptom oriented', focusing on the symptoms of fear and trying to have the fear relieved with flower essences. So I tried all essences concerning fears, like Mimulus, Aspen, Rock Rose, Rescue Remedy and more. To my surprise, they would make practically no difference, as people's emotional situation would not change to any considerable degree, nor did their psychosomatic symptoms. I knew from experience how effective flower essences concerning fears had proven to be. So, why had we no results here? If panic was the real issue, why did it not respond to the essences?

Soon, I tried to change perspective and hypothesize that, although panic attack sufferers insisted that excessive fear was their main, if not exclusive emotion during, as well as between the crises, fear might actually be the outer expression of a more complex emotional situation lying underneath, which could be responsible for the psychosomatic phenomena they had experienced. This might explain why flower essences for fears had proven inadequate to handle the fears and anxiety and to remove the agoraphobic reactions. Viewing panic attack as the effect rather than the cause might be necessary in trying to apply flower therapy in this problem. As a matter of fact, such questions as: 'How was the patients' life before the panic attacks? What led to such a level of anxiety? How is their life now, except for their symptoms?' became important.

The first step was to try to understand the emotional state of someone who has acquired so much an inner tension that he suddenly witnesses enormous anxiety exploding in his body. A number of essences started to appear as potentially useful. At first, the very 'explosive' nature of the symptoms seemed to be pointing towards Cherry Plum. The person was acting as if unable to tolerate the inner tension any longer, bursting out, the loss of control being expressed as a physical turmoil, an aimless intensification of body functions to a state of emergency. Many times the suffering person is literally feeling that s/he is going crazy. On the other hand, the fact that, such crises often occur in closed-in or crowded places, where the person has little or no control over staying of leaving immediately if s/he wishes, should perhaps be viewed as symbolizing a lack of control in the person's life. The restricting outer situations could just symbolically represent an inner state of emotional 'suffocation' and despair, where finally emotions get out of control, such as found in the negative Cherry Plum state.

Next, one could detect a tremendous impatience, during, but also, between the crises. The patients wanted to exit the closed-in space immediately. Their psychosomatic symptoms of tachychardia, dyspnea, etc., were all symptoms of emergency. Moreover, I noticed that these people were constantly in a state of impatience, though not aware of it. Impatience was their natural reaction to their intolerable inner tension and dissatisfaction, which, like in a volcano explosion, would find a way out and become released during the crises. So the next essence might well be the Impatiens.

The third striking thing in cases of panic attacks, was that the person never seemed to have the slightest idea about the cause of their problems. Being in such an emotional emergency, they still considered their problems entirely physical. They would visit practitioners of all medical specialties except psychiatrists or psychologists, they would come for therapy only when referred by their physicians, and even then, they were unable to make any correlation between their symptoms and their overall life situation. The idea of attempting a psychological interpretation never seemed to occur to them, not even when they were prompted to. They did not seem to think that a panic episode is not much likely to appear out of the blue, and that a high level of tension must have already been present in them, long before the onset of the physical symptoms. They could not understand themselves, and this increased their panic. I took this as an indication for Chestnut Bud.

Working with Panic Attacks sufferers, I noticed over time that they almost always were extrovert personalities, who tried to avoid their problems and to shift their attention to pleasant diversions for as long as they could. When panic attacks appeared, they kept their panic and anxiety to themselves or within the family and did their best to appear normal and even cheerful to the outside. All of them greatly suffered at the idea of having panic attacks in the presence of others, thus becoming agoraphobic. So, Agrimony was added to the formula.

With Cherry Plum promoting emotional differentiation and accelerating contact with the inner feeling life, with Chestnut Bud increasing awareness about the causes of personal difficulties, with the soothing effect of Impatiens and with Agrimony relaxing the need to hide negative emotions, people were now becoming able to look inside themselves and perceive a lot of what was going on within them. So, it was now possible to ask them questions such as: “Is there any situation in your life where you feel trapped in or pressed by, a situation that causes you to feel about to explode? From what in your life you would like to escape from, to get rid of? Are there instances in your life where you feel as dependent, uncomfortable, powerless, suffocating, as in the panic episodes?”

It always appeared that, in fact, patients had become increasingly dissatisfied with their lives, already for quite some time before the onset of symptoms. They found their life conditions intolerable, but felt unable and/or unjustified to change them. Such conditions always concerned close relationships, usually with family members, most often with parents, who were overprotective, over-caring, and at the same time, psychologically and in some cases even physically, very dependent on the patient. The panic attack sufferer typically was over-concerned about the loved ones, felt responsible for them, let him/herself be manipulated by them, felt overburdened by their problems and their attitudes towards him/her, but at the same time doubted his/her ability to cope without their help. In addition, some patients felt trapped in conditions such as a job they did not like, even an entire lifestyle, which did not suit them, but they could see no way how to change it.

Since worry about loved ones was the main reason they resigned from trying for the better in themselves, Red Chestnut was the next choice among the essences. Although the negative Red Chestnut state was not apparent in the initial stage, it became obvious when the patient was confronted with the need to take action and to do what he or she needed in order to change his/her life and be happy. “They need me. How can I ignore them and do my own thing?” Red Chestnut has proven a 'strategic' choice, as it opened the way for them to break free from dysfunctional patterns in relationships and thus, move towards health.

This initial formula of Agrimony, Cherry Plum, Chestnut Bud, Impatiens, Red Chestnut proved really effective. Already from the first few days, patients would experience a profound relief from their symptoms. Their panic attacks would either very much decrease in frequency and intensity or would not appear at all. Gentian was added to protect from disappointment from possible setbacks. Sometimes, particularly sensitive people would experience 'uneasiness' or anxiety for a few days in the beginning of flower therapy, which might be compared to a 'therapeutic crisis', as a result of a big change in awareness. Star of Bethlehem helped to overcome or minimize this problem.

But relief from symptoms was not the only benefit. The important thing was the change in consciousness. Already from the second session, the patients would shift their attention from being symptom-oriented to becoming insight-oriented. Spontaneously, they were now able to perceive what was happening in them. Even though they were not able to handle situations in a different way yet, the fact that, finally, they could be in touch with their own emotions and understand the psychological issues responsible for their situation, had a profoundly calming and liberating effect on them. Chestnut Bud was 'pouring' insights into their consciousness, and this gave them a sense of safety and self-confidence, because they could now understand what was being wrong, which was giving them control over their situation. The beautiful thing in the use of Chestnut Bud was that symptom interpretations came directly from the patients, based on their insights. They were not a professional' s interpretations, which the patients were asked to adopt. Cherry Plum was catalyzing this process, by 'melting' the explosive inner tension, educating them in the language of feelings, opening the way for an inner dialogue. With Impatiens they could calm down and give time to the process instead of aimlessly rushing around in panic. Agrimony was giving them the freedom to genuinely experience and express thoughts, feelings and worries that, until then, they found 'unacceptable' and to work with these psychological issues in a therapeutic context. Finally, Red Chestnut was freeing them from dysfunctional attachments and fears about others, so that they no longer had to feel guilty about attempting changes, which were necessary for them.

Interestingly, none of the above essences are directly related to fear or panic. However, as I was becoming familiar with more flower essences over the years, a few more essences were added to the combination mentioned above. These are: three Australian Bush essences, the Dog Rose, for worry and fear, Dog Rose of the Wild Forces for the 'somatization of anxiety' (to keep the emotional tensions from affecting the body functions), and the Emergency Essence for courage in facing threatening situations. Also, three Pegasus essences: Pimpernel (for coordinating the awakening energy, to be released into the personality in an organized fashion), Blackberry (for fear of coming death, to the self or to a loved one), and Apricot (for lightness and cheer, to lighten up the patients' burdened state of mind). With the addition of these essences, the panic symptoms now practically disappear during the first week.

No special treatment has ever been necessary for the possible accompanying agoraphobic symptoms, as they subside by themselves, following the general improvement.

Although the person no longer experiences panic attacks, the above combination of flower essences is being repeated for several weeks or months, depending on how long it takes one to work out the basic underlying causes and make the necessary changes in life, in order to feel solid and free. Each person follows his/her own pace. They all do amazingly well, with the exception of few cases, where the person refused to continue the process when she started to realize the impact that a dysfunctional relationship with her spouse was having in her life. Although they reported that their panic symptoms dramatically decreased during the first few days, they prematurely discontinued therapy, because of the unrealistic worry that, becoming aware of problems would be a threat to their relationship. However, with the assistance of flower therapy, the big majority of panic attack sufferers experience personal transformation and change as an easy, exciting and enjoyable process.

During the first session, I usually do not talk much with the patients. The main issue is to decrease the level of their panic and also provide them with the ability to access personal insights. With flower essences, both these goals can be achieved very fast, while talk would be of very little help in this stage. I only listen to the patients describing their physical symptoms and just give them the essence bottles, simply telling them that they are going to feel a lot better soon. I tell them that, their symptoms, no matter how annoying, are not dangerous for their health. I tell them that I will be available in case of any questions or acute complains. In this first session, I always avoid to schedule the next appointment, as they still feel in an emergency and need to know they can come whenever they feel the need to. Also, as for most of them this is their first time to try flower essences, they need to feel free to check if this sort of therapy is helpful and suitable for them, before committing themselves to continuing with it.

In the second session, usually about two weeks later, they come with sufficient insight about their situation, enabling psychological work to begin.

It is not very unusual for a panic attack sufferer to experience a sort of therapeutic crises during the first days of taking the essences. As contact with suppressed emotions is made, and they are brought face to face with realizations they have avoided so far, in some cases people react with anxiety. Star of Bethlehem can be of help here. Informing the patient in advance about the possibility of such a 'therapeutic crisis' is important. It needs care to tell something like that to someone who is in panic, and there have been a few patients who did not dare to take their flower essences after this remark. But usually, reassuring them that nothing dangerous will happen, that this will rather be an indication that profound changes are taking place in them, helps them adopt a positive, courageous attitude. I suggest that, if they experience this sort of problem, they either stop taking the essences for a day or two or try to take them less frequently for 2-3 days, slowly increasing the frequency to normal, or just call me if they feel uneasy.

While improvement is visible in the first 2-3 days, fears about possible recurrence of panic symptoms take longer to disappear. However, no matter what difficulties a person may encounter in the future, panic symptoms have never re-appeared in the follow ups for years, apparently because people acquire a much better level of awareness and body-mind connection, as well as functional, conscious defenses and strategies in handling their problems.

Concerning chemical medication, I never needed to prescribe drugs for Panic Attacks. In cases of people who were put under drug treatment before coming to flower therapy, I do not suggest they stop taking the medicine at once, as this could make them feel anxious or insecure, not to mention the symptoms that could arise because of the sudden discontinuation of the drug. I tell them that soon they are going not to need the drug, but for the time they can do as they feel, perhaps try to gradually take less of the medicine to the point they feel comfortable to. So, they reduce and finally stop taking the medicine, usually during the next few weeks. An exception concerns people who have been using Lorazepam for their panic attacks for many years. They develop a strong dependency on this particular drug and refuse to give it up completely. However, soon they are able to reduce the quantity to placebo levels (0,5- 0,25mg/day).

So, Panic Attacks have proven to be one of the easiest and most rewarding issues to work with. Prognosis is excellent for all those who go through the process. Z. S., a 23-year-old girl who came with panic attacks about a year ago, told me lately: “Last week I became One Year Old!!! I have been living only for one year. It was not life, that what I was living until a year ago…”
=========================================================================
Bach
http://www.bachflower.com/cure-negative-emotions-bach-flower-remedies/ (Cure Negative Emotions with The Original Bach Flower Remedies)
Panic Attacks.
Rescue Remedy: Helps at any stressful situation where you need to be able to collect yourself and be in charge of your emotions.
Aspen: Panic, nightmares, pounding heart, sweating for no reason, anxious but don’t know why.
Rock Rose: When you feel that the fear is so great that you are unable to move or react, a frozen fear.
Mimulus Helps you when you feel fear, the type of fear that you can identify such as fear of spiders, being alone, losing a job, illness etc. You are overly sensitive, get embarrassed and nervous.
Cherry Plum: Helps you when you feel that your mind is being over-strained, you feel like you are going to explode or do irrational things.[/QUOTE]


Thanks! Where in a drug store is this located? Sounds great

 

Depends where you live. Usually in the Pharmacy area. Even better call/ask any local Natural/Health Food products store. I also warmly invite you to research a bit on the internet what are Flower Essences and to familiarize yourself with the particular ones
you will decide to take. Will be useful to you to know two things: 1) they don't have any contraindication or interaction with any medication and/or other treatments 2) keep a journal of your feelings (as also Dr. David Schechter and Dr Larry Berkelhammer recommend). Layer of buried emotions will surface. Don't panic. They resurface to be faced, lifted and finally melt/drift away (like little clouds in the sky....). At least Two good reasons to keep a journal: 1) you externalize, clarifies, shape, visualize and ultimately "face" better your fears/problems 2) you might have to face and pass unpleasant moments and stages, but then reviewing your notes, you will see how much progress you did with yourself!
As I mentioned earlier, a good friend or therapist (even one to just "vent" out loud your emotions) can be valuable to go trough "the mess" time. if you do better with a stranger, almost everywhere there are low income/all insurance accepted Therapy Centers. Depending on the severity of your issues, you might not need a therapist or friend that is a"eagle", just somebody that listen!

 

Soothing music with headphones may also help!! Take a two minute, five minute break from the mind, and allow yourself to be supported by this.

 

This is an incredibly good exchange of posts. I can't think of anything to add to them. I sure think flower therapy is worth a try. I find lavender scent very relaxing.