When people suffer a high level of anxiety this may reach panic proportions. Individuals in a state of panic experience a variety of very unpleasant symptoms. They may be subject to overbreathing, palpitations, sweating, and feelings of helplessness. In addition the excessive overbreathing leads to pins and needles in the hands and feet which causes further stress.
Performance anxiety responds particularly well to hypnotherapy. During the treatment session the therapist asks the patient to rehearse the performance which causes them anxiety. In the first half of the session this is carried out in hypnosis, where as in the second half it is repeated without hypnosis. For instance a violinist who has difficulty playing in public will actually play his or her instrument first during the hypnosis and then again when they have come out of the hypnosis. In some instances if the instrument if the instrument is too large to bring into the consulting room it is possible to practice the activity in imagination during the hypnosis and the patient will repeat this in real life at home as soon as possible after the session.
This treatment approach has extremely good results for all forms of performance anxiety.