[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak|remove link|no_popup[/img]When a new client called recently, I thought her request was unusual if not outright ridiculous – until I researched her issue on the Internet.

She asked if I had experience dealing with people who suffer panic and anxiety while wearing clothing. She is phobic about wearing clothes. When she puts clothes on, she feels, claustrophobic, sweaty, an increased heart rate. She develops a desire to run, has increased nervousness and strange feelings throughout her body.

I asked her to identify her strange feelings. By the time she had finished, it was apparent she undergoes extreme panic and anxiety when wearing clothing.

What does she wear when going out? No underwear, she said, and outer clothing as baggy and loose as she can imagine without looking weird.

Sounds Familiar

When my youngest daughter was between the ages of 3 and 6, she hated to wear clothing. At home, she would take off her clothes and run around the house naked. She had a mildly similar issue to this client. With patience and a change in her high carbohydrate diet, to include more protein, she stabilized quickly and soon was happy to wear clothing again. Today she is a fashion maven.

My new client had been experiencing these panic and anxiety attacks since she was six. She could even remember the first time. As we spoke, it was apparent her problem was easily fixed, as with 90 percent of panic-and-anxiety clients. Her first attack came when she had not been eating regularly. Her choice of foods was low in protein, high in carbohydrates.

Such a diet eventually will cause a rapid heart rate, sweating, irritability, insomnia and an inability to make logic-based decisions. Because the brain is used to so much sugar, (carbohydrates break down to sugar very quickly), it panics when it is not receiving the high quantities of sugar. The brain creates a scenario (panic attack) that causes an adrenaline rush, which then gives it the sugar it needs. The problem here is that the adrenaline rush further depletes the already low sugar levels, creating further panic attacks.

Wrong Interpretation

Instead of understanding that the brain is asking for more sugar, the person thinks something is wrong with him, that he is having a heart attack. Off he will go to the Emergency Room where he will be informed of the panic attack and given Valium to counter the next time a panic attack strikes,

He may believe that what he was doing at the time of the attack is the true cause. Absolutely wrong.

In all panic and anxiety, it is crucial for the person to change his diet to one that is low carbohydrate, high protein for at least 12 weeks. Afterward, the person may introduce more carbohydrates while remembering to eat protein in small quantities every two hours.

Within 72 hours, he will feel better because his blood sugar levels will have been stabilized.

The dietary change, along with hypnosis sessions to help to desensitize the person to the false-cause thinking, will eliminate panic and anxiety.

I am happy to report this young woman understood the program. Within a few sessions, she was wearing underwear and clothing that was appropriately fashionable.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net