Stress/Anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is used to describe feelings of worry, fear and unease. Typically, it incorporates both the emotional and physical sensations we experience when worried or nervous. Anxiety is related to the ‘fight or flight’ response and, while unpleasant, this is a normal reaction when our body perceives a threat.
We will all feel anxious at some time and it’s very common to feel tense or unsure about a potentially stressful situation, such as an exam, starting a new job, or moving home. However, some of us will be affected more than others. Despite being a normal experience, if these feelings are very strong or are lasting a long time, it can be overwhelming.
This fact-sheet will help you understand anxiety as a mental health problem and when to seek help. We will explore the common anxiety disorders and the treatment available, including anxinity counselling.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety can make you imagine things are worse than they are and prevent you from carrying out everyday tasks or even leaving the house. Whereas stress is something that will come and go, anxiety can affect a person even if the cause is unclear.
When under stress, our ‘fight or flight’ response will turn on. This acts as an internal alarm system, designed to protect us from danger in the wild. These days, we can recognise this system through the ‘butterflies in the stomach’ we feel when we’re nervous. Anxiety, however, may cause this response to be activated at inappropriate moments. You may feel this during normal, non-threatening situations.
Anxiety symptoms
While feeling anxious is a natural response, suffering from anxiety long-term can be very intense. Anxiety will affect people differently, however, there are common symptoms:
- Rapid and/or irregular heartbeat
- Fast breathing
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Trouble sleeping
- Feeling irritable
- Lack of concentration
- Panic attacks
When is the right time to seek help?
HOW I CAN HELP YOU HEAL AND OVERCOME ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS
The starting point of my approach is to help you as soon as possible to decrease the severity of the anxiety/panic symptoms so that you can engage fully with the recovery program. We will then conduct an assessment to find out what type of anxiety you suffer from, while we will also attempt to identify the causes. A very important next step will be for you to learn about your anxiety so as to demystify its symptoms, so it becomes a less ‘scary ‘experience, while at the same time helping you to understand that you have the power to heal.
Following this, we will work together to create a program of recovery and healing that is unique to your circumstances; a program that you will implement in your daily life. In general, the program will include:
- A combination of psychotherapies such as CBT and EFT, which will address both your thoughts and emotions and will give you unique insight regarding the causes of your anxiety;
- Guided imagery techniques (such as hypnosis) to target the deep-seated emotional part of your brain where anxiety resides;
- Relaxation methods, such as deep breathing and yoga for anxiety, in order to activate the parasympathetic part of your nervous system and help your body to ‘switch on ‘ its self-healing mechanism;
- Physical exercises specifically suited to your anxiety problem that will aide relaxation and assist with healing;
- Meditations specifically designed to help you alleviate day-to-day stresses and, most importantly, to ‘rewire ‘your brain to achieve a calmer state.
The above program will not only help you to overcome your anxiety and panic attacks but will also help you to develop habits and equip you with methods that will enhance your overall resilience to stress and anxiety for the rest of your life. It is also important to know that in this journey to healing yourself from anxiety and panic attacks, I will stand by your side, guiding you with great compassion, care and knowledge. You do not need to continue to suffer on your own; please get in touch so we can start working together to help you end your anxiety and panic attacks. I offer anxiety psychotherapy and counselling in person and online.
