I have had cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) twice as well as cognitive hypnotherapy. While the latter helped me to learn some grounding techniques, the former never really tackled the root of my attacks, instead focusing on the general anxiety disorder I’d developed in my late teens (which I’m certain happened because of the shame I felt at entering my 20s and still being incapable of leaving home). The "cognitive" focus of the therapy wasn't helpful for me, because I can never pinpoint a negative thought that occurs before the panic sets in; instead, a feeling of terror comes on with no warning, and I feel violently sick. If I don’t have a chance to rationalize the fear, then my breathing becomes aggressively short and my body starts convulsing. I cry until I think I’ll be sick, and react as though something awful has happened or is imminent. It's like a combination of feeling abandoned and trapped; that there’s no way out of the spiral and that no one can help.