[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak|remove link|no_popup[/img]Since she had to travel to New York to be with her sister, who was having medical problems, a friend contacted me awhile ago on a professional basis.

She was going to stay with her brother who lives on the 10th floor of an apartment block. However, she has a severe fear of elevators. If necessary, she would walk the stairs. Even though climbing up and walking down would keep her fit, it would consume time she did not want to waste. Importantly, she was tired of this fear that was limiting her life.

I promised I could help her.

At her first appointment, I learned her parents, as punishment, would often lock her in a closet several hours at a time.

She became afraid of the dark and closed-in spaces. When her parents put her in the closet, she was not permitted a light or anything to pass the time. Sitting in the confined space, she was to think about the wrong she had done, never more than 45 minutes. When released, she was sent to bed without a dinner.

This sounds barbaric. Remember, it was more than 50 years ago. We have no control over what happened then. Her parents are deceased. It is significant that she still loved her mother and father in spite of the punishment. They were great and loving parents, she said. This was their idea of punishment because they did not believe in hitting their children. Every person develops differently. Even though the same punishment was used on her sister, she grew up with no fear of elevators or dark spaces.

Fitting a Pattern

My friend was locked in the closet mostly between the ages of six and nine. After that, her parents put her in her room for punishment. This time frame falls in line with what I have discovered with my clients suffering from panic and anxiety. t

That she was put in the closet without a meal is a strong contributing factor to her panic. I have said repeatedly in many articles that a blood sugar level drop commonly has the effect of creating symptoms similar to a panic attack – shortness of breath, sweating, rapid heart rate, fear of having a heart attack and a strong desire to run. These low blood sugar symptoms when matched with what a person is doing at the time create the panic and anxiety.

The Birth of Fear

The subconscious experiences a sensation it has not had before (the blood sugar level drop). Rather than accepting the feeling as just a feeling, it does not understand where it comes from. So it attaches whatever we were doing at the time as the cause of the feeling. An example of this would be someone attempting to go onto the freeway suffers a sugar level drop in the process.

He does not know the cause, and before he realizes it, that connection to the subconscious has been made. Now the person will have the same feeling every time he approaches an on-ramp, growing so paralyzed ultimately that he never will attempt to use a ramp again – or even a freeway.

You can see how difficult this will be, just because of a blood sugar level drop he did not understand. The truth is, a blood sugar drop is causing the feeling, nothing else. Once a client understands this, real progress is being made.

This understanding, as well as conditioning while under hypnosis and a diet low in carbohydrates (which quickly breaks down to sugar and needs to be replaced by more just as swiftly) and rich in protein (which breaks down to sugar slowly) resolves the panic and anxiety.

When she first came to me, she was skeptical whether this would work. Like many clients, as long as they are willing to try hypnosis, the problem will be resolved.

After only two sessions, she asked me how she would know if the hypnosis is working. I told her to get on an elevator. To her amazement, she was calm, relaxed and not afraid in the least.

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