Over Come Panic/Anxiety and Agoraphobia Part IV
by Richard Kuhns, B.S.Ch.E.
How to shift Jane from her conditioned response of anxiety to freedom was my challenge.
From Clara Weaks' book, Healing Your Bad Nerves (out of print), I remembered that there were three phases to panic and an anxiety attack. First there's an alarm. This is also true of the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). The alarm is what takes us away from our homeostatic level. It is a stressor. The next phase is the reaction which is usually physical--activation of the fight/flight. At this point, muscles tighten, breathing quickens and becomes upper chest, extremities become cooler, heart rate quickens, blood pressure raises... preparing the individual to either fight or run.
