In 2003, Mike McNally had a panic attack so intense on a London tube train that he tried to climb out of the carriage doors. Other passengers held him back until the next platform. This incident led to a hypnotherapy session that uncovered a hidden childhood train crash, transforming his life.
A Decade of Growing Fear
McNally moved to Brixton from Surrey in the late 1980s and began experiencing increasing anxiety and claustrophobia, especially on public transport. By 2000, he had been living in London for over a decade and working at EMI Records for five years. His condition worsened, leading to a series of distressing panic attacks where the world felt like it was closing in.
In July 2003, during his daily commute between Brixton and the South Bank, he had a panic attack so severe he attempted to climb out of the moving tube carriage. Passengers restrained him until the train reached the next platform. He knew then he could no longer ignore the problem.
Hypnotherapy and a Crucial Question
The following year, his GP referred him to a hypnotherapist. In regression sessions, McNally sat in a chair, closed his eyes, and felt as if he was falling back through time. After three months, the therapist asked if he had ever been in a train crash. He said no, but she urged him to ask his parents, in case he was too young to remember.
When he visited his family home the next weekend, his parents admitted he had been involved in a train accident as a child. On 4 September 1965, at age four, he was returning from Ireland with his grandmother. Their train was struck by another at Holyhead, thrown backwards, and trapped inside. He and his grandmother were unharmed, but other passengers were seriously injured. His parents had tried to discuss it, but he would scream and run away, so they stopped mentioning it.
Clarity and a New Life
The conversation gave McNally clarity about a decade of fear. It explained his struggles with trains, planes, and even cars—his brain subconsciously returned to the crash whenever he felt trapped. With his therapist, he developed tools to stop living in fear.
In 2006, after finishing hypnotherapy, he took a work trip to Vancouver. A team meeting at the top of Whistler Mountain required a 30-minute cable car ride. Colleagues warned staff of his claustrophobia, and a halfway point was offered. But he felt calm and completed the journey, calling his hypnotherapist from the midpoint to share his success.
This newfound freedom became crucial when his daughter was born six years later. Now 14, they travel across London by train and tube to packed concerts together. McNally credits his unexpected discovery with enabling him to share these moments with her.
