Gender: Female
Age: 55-60
Presenting problem: Panic Attacks and a Haunted House
Treatment modality: BWRT
Number of sessions: 2
N has been suffering with anxiety and panic attacks for a long time.
The panic she experiences reaches into many areas of her life – including using lifts, travelling on planes, and driving over bridges or through tunnels. She was finally diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) seven years ago. Now, she is too afraid to travel anywhere and, with a family holiday fast approaching that she’s promised to go on, she’s on the verge of cancelling the trip and desperate for help. This is the prompt she needs to get in touch.
During our consultation N explains that life was quite carefree until the family moved into their current home in the early 00’s. Their new next-door neighbour visited one day to welcome them to the village and mentioned the tragedy which had befallen the previous owners.
The neighbour recounted how the old occupants had battled through a troubled and turbulent marriage, and that they would often hear the violent arguments. One day, she said, the husband suddenly moved out and, days later, it was discovered that his wife had died by an apparent suicide. Unknown to N until this moment, she now knew that the woman’s body was found in the living room of her new home.
Upon hearing this tragic story, N began to obsess that the house was haunted and something terrible would happen to her.
During our first session we put together a list of all her anxiety triggers and set to work on the most troubling fears . At this point, N truly believes that something dreadful will happen her and she’ll be trapped in a situation that she cannot escape from.
A week later, N arrives in an elated mood for our second appointment and tells me how, since we last met, she’d visited a few places that she usually avoided. She happily describes spending an enjoyable afternoon with her grandchildren at an enclosed play area.
However, she is still feeling anxious about the impending family holiday. In talking through her fears, it’s soon clear that – incongruously – she feels a deep anxiety at the idea of being away from home for any length of time. By the end of the session, N animatedly exclaims that she can no longer feel the old anxiety which had lived deep in the pit of her stomach.
She places her hand on her abdomen and describes the sense of excitement that has replaced the old anxiety.
Before she leaves the consulting room I ask N how she’s feeling about the originating event, when she discovered the house’s horrible history.
At the outset, she rated the anxiety attached to this memory as a 10 out of 10, the worst it could be. But now, as she ponders my question, she remarks that it doesn’t feel bad at all, wrinkling her nose as she eventually says “it’s maybe a 1…’”.
Laughing, she tells me that it feels ridiculous believing her house is haunted now, and that it could have affected her so much in so many ways., She thanks me profusely as we say goodbye, grabs her bag and skips out of the room, looking forward to her family holiday.
If you would like Claire to help with anxiety, panic attacks or Generalised Anxiety Disorder, get in touch, today.
