Building defenses from childhood
Since childhood, we have built defenses to adapt to our environment. These defenses allow us to maintain a vital balance and lead the life we want or need.
Disruptions of Vital Balance
Vital factors can break this balance and our defensive structure, letting us be exposed. An anxiety attack is a symptom of that this might have happened.
The impact of an anxiety attack
The impact of an anxiety attack on the body is very strong, registering as a major trauma. Anything that reminds us of this moment can trigger similar sensations, or even another anxiety attack.
Sensitivity and body monitoring
As a result, the person becomes very sensitive and attentive to bodily sensations such as breathing, heart rate, tension and pain. During an anxiety attack, it is common to feel an intense and distressing feeling of impending catastrophe.
Sensations of danger
Any sensation that reminds you of the attack can trigger the same intense fear. Even if the person is safe, they may feel acute danger, even of death, which can be re-traumatizing.
Processing phases
The therapy to treat anxiety attacks or panic disorder is divided into two phases.
Phase One: Reducing Traumatic Effects
The first phase should be carried out as soon as possible after the anxiety attack. Its aim is to reduce the traumatic effects of the aggression and restore normality in the patient’s life. This is achieved through various psychotherapeutic techniques, both cognitive, analytical and symptomatological.
Phase Two: Resolving Deep Conflicts
The second phase begins when the patient has returned more or less to normal and has regained a certain sense of security. We work to resolve the deep conflicts that have led the person to this stressful situation so strong that it has broken down his emotional defenses. More in-depth therapeutic techniques are applied, from brief psychotherapy to address the specific problem to in-depth psychotherapy with the aim of a deep and lasting structural change of the personality.
