When Your Body Sounds the Alarm
When Your Body Sounds the Alarm
It can happen anywhere. In the middle of the weekly shop in Canterbury, or while you’re simply sitting in your car before heading into work. One minute you’re fine, the next your heart is hammering against your ribs and the world starts to feel distant and unreal.
Your breath gets short, you might feel dizzy, or a terrifying sense of dread washes over you. For a few minutes, it feels like you are in terrible danger, even when you know, logically, that you’re safe. And then, as quickly as it arrived, the intensity fades, leaving you shaky, exhausted, and confused.
This is the reality of a panic attack. And I find the aftermath is often just as difficult as the attack itself. The experience leaves behind a lingering fear: when will it happen again? This fear can start to make your world feel smaller, as you begin to avoid places or situations you associate with the panic.
Why Does This Happen?
A panic attack is essentially your body’s internal alarm system – the ‘fight or flight’ response – going off at the wrong time. It’s a powerful survival instinct that’s designed to protect you from genuine danger. But for reasons we can explore, your alarm has become overly sensitive.
It mistakes everyday stress or even a random physical sensation for a major threat. This is a key point we often discuss in sessions, because it shows that your body isn’t ‘broken’; it’s just trying too hard to protect you. This is something we’ve explored before in our article, 'When Anxiety Lives in Your Body, Not Just Your Mind'.
The problem is that the physical feelings are so intense, your mind races to find an explanation. Thoughts like “I’m losing control” or “I’m having a heart attack” flood in. These catastrophic thoughts then pour fuel on the fire, making the physical symptoms even worse and creating a terrifying loop.
How CBT Can Help You Cut the Wires
This is where a practical approach like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be incredibly effective, and it’s a cornerstone of the panic attack therapy we offer here in Kent. CBT doesn’t just involve talking about your feelings; it gives you concrete tools to manage the panic cycle.
Together, we would work to:
- Understand Your Triggers: We’d look at what’s happening in your life, your thoughts, and your body right before an attack. Identifying the pattern is the first step to changing it.
- Challenge the Thoughts: We would practise noticing those catastrophic thoughts and learning to question them. You learn to create a rational response that calms the alarm, rather than escalating it.
- Manage the Physical Sensations: We would work with simple, effective breathing techniques that directly tell your nervous system that you are safe, helping to stop the panic in its tracks.
This approach helps you move past that awful sense of being trapped, which we discuss in 'That Frozen Feeling: When Anxiety Leaves You Stuck'. If you're wondering if this is the right path, you might find our guide, 'Is CBT Right For Me? A Guide for People in Kent', helpful.
A Space to Understand the Anxiety
Sometimes, panic is just one part of a wider picture of stress or anxiety. Counselling provides a confidential space to explore what’s going on underneath the surface. It can be a relief to finally talk about the pressure you're under, especially when your own mind feels like the hardest place to be.
From our therapy rooms across Kent – and online via Zoom – we help people untangle the worries that feed their anxiety. It’s a calm, non-judgemental process aimed at helping you find your feet again.
Getting Support in Kent
If you're feeling overwhelmed by panic and don’t know where to start, please know that effective support is available. We offer specialist panic attack therapy across Kent, with appointments available in person in locations including Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, as well as online.
Our sessions are booked one at a time, so there’s no pressure for a long-term commitment. Our fee is £68 for a full hour session. The goal is simple: to give you the understanding and the strategies to manage panic and get back to living your life with more confidence.
If you’d like to book an initial appointment, please get in touch. We’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Written by Sian Jones, Founder of CBT & Counselling Kent. Sian has extensive experience helping individuals manage anxiety, stress, low mood and other emotional challenges.
