Do you worry, panic or feel anxious much of the time?

Everyone feels anxiety at some point. It's an important factor in keeping ourselves safe and responding to danger. But sometimes our minds and bodies over-react as though there is a threat when objectively the risk may be quite small. Or we go over things in our heads repeatedly, unable to accept the evidence of reality.

If this pattern becomes a habit then worry or the anticipation of something bad happening can dominate our lives and limit the options we feel are open to us. It is believed that around 13% of the population suffer from anxiety disorders which affect the way they live. Instead of helping us to remain alert and safe, long-term anxiety can become pervasive and debilitating, and is often linked with depression. At this stage - or sooner if possible - it is wise to seek professional help, as the longer these feelings continue the more they can undermine your confidence and general health.

What sort of anxiety do you experience?

Anxiety is usually divided into several distinct types, and it is helpful to identify your main problem, although many people  experience more than one form of anxiety at the same time:

•    Stress and Burn-out

Stress results from the way we perceive and react to life events, or the balance between demands on us and how well we feel able to cope with them. When we become aware of stress it usually manifests in feelings of pressure and being overwhelmed, beliefs that we will not manage adequately, and a wide range of physical symptoms. 

Stress is often relatively short-term and clearly related to specific circumstances. If life pressures persist for long periods of time without remission, chronic stress can lead to problems such as "burn out", and this is more likely if there is an inherent vulnerability to anxiety which stems from childhood.  Brief therapy is usually effective (typically 6 ninety minute sessions with hypnosis, or a group programme over 8 weeks), with an emphasis on stress management techniques to aid relaxation and problem solving to make life more manageable. Follow this link for more information on stress and treatment options.

•    Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

has two main features:

1. Worry about something bad that might. but is unlikely to, happen in the future. It includes a continual feeling of nagging worry and apprehension and anticipating specific problems.  Examples could include worry about the health of family members, over-concern about safety if young people drive or go out, ruminative thoughts about not being good enough as a parent or at work. or fear of something like being made redundant  when there has been no suggestion this could happen.
2. A continuous sense of tension, nervousness and unease which may produce a variety of other symptoms such as muscular tightness, headaches,  stomach upsets, difficulty sleeping and poor memory and concentration.

•    Panic

A sudden surge of intense fear, that can make you believe you are about to collapse or even die, accompanied by a wide range of physical symptoms such as a pounding heart, difficulty breathing, shaking limbs, dizziness and sweating.  People may feel as though they are sick, having a heart attack or losing their minds.  Anxiety about triggering another panic attack can lead to agoraphobia, which referes to fear and avoidance of specific situations or places that are associated with panic - such as enclosed spaces (eg. lifts, trains, narrow stairwells), or large open spaces (countryside, large supermarkets, etc). This intense fear can prevent people from leading a normal life, and in extreme cases can mean people become prisoners in their own homes.

•    Phobias

Phobic fear is only triggered by specific objects or situations, and the individual will not be troubled the rest of the time. However, when triggered, a phobia leads to very intense feelings of fear or panic.

Simple specific phobias include fear of insects, animals, needles, blood, flying,

Agoraphobia - as mentioned above, refers to fear of leaving a safe place or being in an "unsafe" place. Usually refers to enclosed or exposed places, but these are invariably specific to the individual

•    Social Phobia, or Social Anxiety Disorder

manifests as feeling tense and uncomfortable in social situations, and is usually related to a fear of being judged negatively by others.  Social anxiety is very common - affecting from 5 to 13 % of the population - but it is now thought to be a key factor in triggering depression later in life. It is often associated with low self-esteem and fear of being embarrassed or humiliated publically.  Forced into a situation where they have to speak publically, or feel the spotlight is turned on them, individuals with social anxiety are likely to experience symptoms of panic, such as blushing, sweating, shaking, racing heart, feelings of sickness etc.

People with social anxiety often suffer in silence for years without seeking help, believing they should be able to overcome these feelings on their own, and this increases their risk of developing depression.  Specific symptoms of social anxiety can usually be helped rapidly using cognitive-behavioural and interpersonal techniques (10 to 16 sessions), but  the linked feelings of depression and low self-esteem can take longer to repair.

•   Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

•    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

•    Health anxiety and mind-body disorders

•         Insomnia
•         headaches and migraine
•         Certain skin conditions and allergies worsened by stress
•         Some cases of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
•         Other stress-related conditions such as infertility,irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Often when people think of hypnosis, they imagine a hypnotist waving a watch or shiny object in front of someone saying, "Relax, relax." This is a stereotype which doesn’t reflect the complexity of the problem, or the processes involved in alleviating anxiety and changing established patterns. But behind the stereotype is a certain truth – hypno-psychotherapy is indeed an effective treatment for most anxiety related problems.

Recent research has shown that hypnotic methods can be integrated in a seamless manner with cognitive-behavioural principles and techniques that have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of anxiety. The approach involves hypnotic and non-hypnotic self-control training procedures, cognitive hypnotherapy, guided imagery and exposure techniques. Training in self-hypnosis helps you to regain a sense of control over your fears, once the experience of hypnosis is established and fully understood.

If you have been suffering from the symptoms of anxiety described here or on any of the linked pages, and you live in Bristol or north east Somerset, do contact me to discuss how hypno-psychotherapy could help with your difficulties.