Later, in The Canon of Medicine (1025) \u2013 yes, 1025 \u2013 Avicenna (Ibn Sina), described forms of sudden fear and anxiety as part of neuropsychological disorders. Though his explanations still blended physical and spiritual reasoning, his work laid the foundation for a more nuanced understanding of mental health. He wrote: \u2018The movements of the soul begin in the heart and manifest in the body,\u2019 suggesting a deep interconnection between mind and physiology. Ibn Sina also discussed what we would now call psychosomatic illness, noting that \u2018strong emotions may alter the pulse and colour of the face.\u2019 His holistic view \u2013 that emotional and spiritual states directly influence physical health \u2013 anticipated principles of modern psychosomatic medicine by nearly a millennium.<\/p>\n
Ibn Sina is just one of many figures from the past who have gained or contributed real insight into treating mental illness, long before modern medicine. Take trepanation, for example \u2013 the act of drilling, scraping or cutting a hole into the human skull, while the person is still alive. While this practice wasn\u2019t effective in treating panic attacks or other mental disorders, it may have been successful in nearly half of the cases when applied to physical conditions such as intracranial pressure. We still use a modernised version of trepanation today, known as a craniectomy, to relieve pressure inside the skull \u2013 just with better tools and sterile environments.<\/p>\n
When it comes to panic attacks, though, force has never really been the answer. Across many cultures, the most effective approach has been to help the mind \u2013 or, as Islamic psychology often refers to it, the heart \u2013 relax. And for most people, that meant simply cheering up.<\/p>\n
Many peoples and societies have understood that \u2018cheering up\u2019 is intimately tied to the senses \u2013 especially the ears and eyes. Listening to something soothing often brings comfort. Seeing calming or familiar patterns can promote relaxation. In some cases, an intense or activating sensory pattern might be used to snap someone out of their panicked state.<\/p>\n
The ritual provides a structured space for emotional release, and reframes suffering as meaningful rather than shameful<\/p>\n
For example, for many centuries, across the Horn of Africa and in parts of the Middle East such as Egypt and Yemen, the Z\u0101r ritual has been a communal healing ceremony practised primarily by women. It addresses<\/a> symptoms that closely resemble modern diagnoses of panic and anxiety disorders: shortness of breath, chest tightness, trembling, and dissociative episodes. But, instead of labelling these experiences as purely psychological, the Z\u0101r tradition interprets them as signs of possession by a restless spirit.<\/p>\n The afflicted person, usually a woman \u2013 often someone burdened by emotional or social constraints \u2013 becomes the focus of an intense, rhythmic ceremony involving drumming, incense, dancing and chanting. She may enter a trance, during which she might shake, weep or speak in a different voice \u2013 seen as the spirit expressing itself. Yet, beneath the surface, the ritual serves a powerful psychological purpose: it provides a structured space for emotional release, community validation, and a reframing of suffering as meaningful rather than shameful.<\/p>\n And away from Africa, among the Evenki people of Siberia, shamans have also long used drumming, chanting and trance to address what psychiatry might call panic, dissociation or trauma. A person experiencing intense fear, recurring visions or emotional paralysis wouldn\u2019t be labelled as mentally ill, but rather as someone being<\/a> \u2018called by the spirits\u2019. In a sacred ritual, the shaman uses a large, oval drum \u2013 or the \u2018spirit horse\u2019 \u2013 to enter a trance, sometimes bringing the distressed person into it as well. Within this state, the individual can personify their fear and begin to reintegrate the experience through story, rhythm and movement. Far from isolating the person, the community embraces the event as meaningful.<\/p>\n In ancient Egypt too, healing was never merely physical \u2013 it was ritual, musical and symbolic. Even when symptoms appeared purely physical, Egyptian physicians often spoke of \u2018heart sadness\u2019 as a possible cause of cardiovascular distress, describing conditions where \u2018the vessels of the heart close up within.\u2019 One of the earliest known medical texts, the Ebers Papyrus (c1550 BCE), mentions<\/a> treatments for \u2018the trembling of the heart\u2019, likely referring to anxiety-like episodes. Healing took place in sacred sites, where repetition, rhythm and fragrance worked together to restore harmony between the body and the ka, the vital spirit.<\/p>\n What if we re-centred rhythm, sensory input and non-addictive methods of calming the mind?<\/p>\n Do you see a pattern? Exactly \u2013 it\u2019s the pattern itself. All those older methods of treatment relied heavily on rhythm, sound, visual stimulation and community support. These elements weren\u2019t just cultural flourishes \u2013 they were essential parts of the healing process. And yet, in many of our modern treatments, they\u2019re largely absent.<\/p>\n Today, some studies of benzodiazepines estimate<\/a> dependence in 15 per cent to 44 per cent of long-term users, depending on dosage, duration and individual history, after just three to six weeks of daily use. Withdrawal can be brutal \u2013 bringing rebound anxiety, panic attacks, tremors and, in rare cases, seizures. Some studies even suggest a troubling connection between long-term benzodiazepine use and later misuse of opioids or alcohol, particularly in vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n All of this raises a critical question: what if we went back \u2013 not in time, but in principle? What if we re-centred rhythm, sensory input and non-addictive methods of calming the mind?<\/p>\n In 2024, I worked on a brain research project<\/a> with Mayar Ashraf that explores the use of sleep-wave simulation as a treatment for panic attacks. Sleep waves are patterns of electrical activity in the brain that occur during various stages of sleep. We can measure them using electroencephalography (EEG). These waves reflect different levels of brain activity \u2013 some deep and slow, others light and fast. We looked at whether brainwave entrainment \u2013 via external auditory and visual patterns mimicking sleep frequencies \u2013 could coax the brain into calmer states. Though still under investigation, this approach resembles a modernised form of what our African ancestors once achieved with drums, chanting and trance. But, this time, it\u2019s not about spirits \u2013 it\u2019s about neurons. Still, the wisdom has some similarities.<\/p>\n A growing number of clinical psychologists today are using group-based rhythmic breathing sessions, sometimes combined with drumming or humming, to help patients with panic and anxiety disorders. One such method, inspired by Indigenous healing ceremonies, is holotropic breathwork, a structured, fast-paced breathing technique<\/a> developed in the United States in the 1970s by the psychiatrist Stanislav Grof. Holotropic breathwork draws on shamanic and spiritual traditions found among Indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin, Native North American tribes and Central Asian steppe cultures, where rhythmic drumming, breath control and chanting were used to reach altered states of consciousness for healing and emotional release. Participants lie on mats in a calm, darkened space, breathe rhythmically to steady drumming or music, and are encouraged to express whatever arises \u2013 crying, shaking and vocal release are all allowed. Facilitators provide guidance throughout the ritual.<\/p>\n Nick Wignall<\/p>\n Save Christian Jarrett<\/p>\n Save Pavel Chvykov<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2024-03-11t200135z_1613197689_rc2oj6aix70n_rtrmadp_3_usa-dailylife.jpg\"\/)
How to overcome a fear of fear<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/v2-final-gettyimages-1217801060.jpg\"\/)
How slow breathing calms down your brain<\/p>\n![\"Monks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/v1-final-2010-02-18t120000z_1211611089_gm1e62i1r7701_rtrmadp_3_china-usa.jpg\"\/)
Complexity science can deepen your mindfulness practice<\/p>\n