Shawn chose science-based hypnosis to work through panic and agoraphobia
rather than harmful medications.
Meet Shawn:
An artist and public speaker from Texas. Despite the fact that he makes music, wrote a successful children’s book, and made a career out of traveling around to speak to large groups, he’s suffered from debilitating panic and agoraphobia over the years.
Some might think of agoraphobia as a fear of going outside, but Shawn put it eloquently:
“It’s the fear of experiencing panic outside of the home (the safe place), where you won’t be able to get the help you need.”
The last 17 years of Shawn’s life have been characterized by ups and downs.
The low points tended to begin with a panic episode, which made him feel like he was having a heart attack. Indeed, the physical symptoms he experienced— even vomiting— made these episodes that much scarier.
In 2006, Shawn was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, among other disorders. Like many of us (more than 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. will meet the criteria for anxiety disorder in their lifetime), he was prescribed an SSRI. “At the time, I had zero skills to deal with what I was facing,” he says. Shawn took the prescription, but he knew it wasn’t the end game. He dove into personal development and research on his brain and body chemistry, and weaned off the SSRI six years later.
Unfortunately, in 2013 he experienced another episode.
“I thought I was back to square one at this point… back to 2006,” Shawn says.
He had developed a fear of eating most foods. Shawn got to the point of only being able to eat six foods— that he prepared himself— because he feared getting a deathly allergic reaction. The extreme feelings of anxiety he went through impacted his memory, too. Sometimes he would open the food he just bought to prepare it, turn around, and then turn back with confusion upon seeing the open packaging. “Did I open this myself, or did I buy it like this and not notice it?” He’d throw it away as a precaution.
One of the turning moments for Shawn was when his longtime partner wanted to go to a restaurant for her birthday. Shawn went, and when he got his food, it came with mangoes — something he believed himself to be allergic to. He asked the waiter if the mangoes had touched his food, to which the waiter replied “I don’t know.” Shawn’s girlfriend said, “It’s ok, let’s just leave.” Shawn didn’t want to do this to his loved one.
“This was one of my first ‘F it’ moments. I can either keep making my world smaller, or I can do something different. If the bad thing I fear happens, I’ll deal with it.”
Shawn had a series of tremendous successes and learnings over the subsequent years, but he periodically unraveled and fell into dark places. This had detrimental effects on his relationships and work. He was no longer able to see his friends and family outside of his home, nor did he feel comfortable being at home without his partner for more than 10 minutes. When he was awake, he was constantly pacing. He couldn’t sleep unless his partner was awake, and even that was just an hour or two of shut-eye in the mornings.
Fortunately, Shawn had the wherewithal to continue fighting back. He read. He talked to his friends and family. He sought help from doctors. But he didn’t like the medications they prescribed him, as they would’ve turned him into a “zombie.”
Shawn found Reveri in early 2023, not long after another trough in his journey.
“Although I made a lot of progress on my trauma before finding Reveri, a lot of it was with the wrong goal in mind. I wanted to get rid of my anxiety and all bad feelings. Now, I realize that’s not the goal. I want to welcome my anxiety, see it for its beauty, and learn from it.”
How are you using Reveri?
“I guess I use it in an unconventional way… I mainly use the Review your Workout session, even though I don’t work out! I use this session to consolidate what I’m learning through this process of exposing myself to the things I fear. Putting myself in these situations of going out of the house on my own, to push myself, and being present with the feelings. Then, immediately afterward, I listen to the Review your Workout session.”
Shawn does something admirably well: He uses his imagination in his self-hypnosis endeavors. He swaps out some of the words from Dr. Spiegel in the exercise, within his own mind. Thus, he adapts the exercise to his specific goal and use case.
And it’s been extremely effective for him.
“I also listen to Be For, Not Against, a lot. I might listen to it right after a Review your Workout session. It reminds me of all the things I am for… I am for going out of the house. I am for going to see my friends and family. I am for sitting with my uncomfortable emotions, and learning from them,” Shawn says.
“I’m working towards the point where I can take a spontaneous trip to Austin, or to wherever else. And if I start to feel panicky, that is perfectly fine! I want to be perfectly fine with how I’m feeling.”
“I want to continue to observe and connect with myself. Dr. Spiegel asks in one of the sessions, ‘What can you do to be more in-tune with your body?’ This is what I’m working on, by practicing with Reveri every day.”
Shawn says Reveri has had a 10/10 life-changing impact on him.
He’s going out of the house to unfamiliar places by himself, and being present with all the sensations it brings.
Shawn realizes he could have numbed himself with medications to treat his symptoms, and potentially “fix” his trauma. But he refused to take that route. Shawn wants to say “yes” to life and what it means to be a human. Humans are emotional creatures — we experience fear, and excitement, and sadness, and love. He wants all of it, and he continues to face it every day.
“I was lying on the floor next to my bed feeling terrified, crying, and I said to myself, ‘Is this it dude? It’s been more than 15 years of dealing with this, do you want to make it 20? Enough is enough man. You know what you need to do. Just get up and do it.’”
Shawn’s experience is supported by science. In the U.S. alone, more than 70% of people report stress that impacts their physical or mental health, and about 1 in 3 people describe their stress as “extreme”. One in 12 adults in the U.S. takes anti-anxiety medications, which come with a variety of risks and side effects. Research is finding hypnosis to be safer and more effective than medications for anxiety, and potentially even more effective than mindfulness meditation.“I see what I’m doing with Reveri as skill-building. All of the imaginary suffering that comes with anxiety — I just watch it and sit with it. Then, as soon as it’s over, I reinforce the behavior with Reveri’s ‘Review your Workout’ session.”
If you could give advice to others who are experiencing panic, fear, and/or agoraphobia, what would you tell them?
“Build the skills of 1) being okay with what you're feeling and thinking, and 2) taking action on small quick goals. And for bonus points, immediately recognize and celebrate that you did those things when you do them.”
Shawn is a real Reveri member.
You can hear Shawn tell his story at a Reveri Community event with Dr. Spiegel (and get introduced to his music) here.