Anxiety Issues
What is anxiety?
Feelings of anxiety come from apprehension or fear, the source of which is not always recognisable. Feeling threatened by something or someone, or being subjected to long term stress can also bring about anxiety.
We all feel anxious at some point in our lives, and how we handle it can be inherited from our parents and our environment, although some people will be more prone to feeling anxious than others.
Is anxiety normal?
Feeling anxious in certain times of our lives is a normal instinctual response that is there to protect us, it is the subconscious mind fight or flight survival mechanism in action, usually ready to fly when feeling really anxious. It’s a conflict of interest between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, it’s where the conscious mind wants to do something and the unconscious mind recalls a similar past event, remembers it as a bad experience and chooses not to go through it again. The more times the event is avoided, the stronger the negative belief system builds, becoming an endless loop that seems to perpetuate and get worse and worse. This process can be the start of a phobic response to the event or situation. With some of these deep fears and phobic responses, they can be traced back to the “Initial Sensitising Event” (ISE) where the subconscious mind first experienced the event and stored it as either dangerous or undesirable.
Because the unconscious mind works on feelings and has a direct link to our physical system, these out way our conscious thoughts of rationalisation in our heads and anxiety takes over accompanied by one or many of the physical symptoms; Trembling, Tense Muscles, Churning Stomach, Nausea, Diarrhoea, Headache, Back Ache, Heart Palpitations, Numbness/Pins and Needles and Sweating or Flushing. If anxiety goes untreated and continues to get worse, panic attacks can start to develop making you become even more anxious than before.
Treating anxiety!
Anxiety actually arises out of your thoughts; it’s the thought of potential danger, not the actual danger that produces the symptoms of anxiety.
When dealing with anxiety, the first thing is to find out how long you’ve been feeling anxious, how often and when it happens, and if there are any underlying issues in the form of psychosis, if so, you may need to be referred on, or get your Doctor’s consent if you have any neurological conditions.
Getting you to relax first is where change starts, and once completely relaxed, changes can be made to how the body responds to seemingly frightening situations. By replacing catastrophic thoughts with truthful statement that explain the symptoms underlying nature and that your physical sensations won’t harm you and will soon go away. By repeating a phrase that counters each symptom, the fear will begin to lessen. Reassuring you that you are always in control, and learning how to relax effectively will help you overcome your irrational fears.
If you’ve been diagnosed or suspect you may have a medical condition, you should consult your GP for advice before starting any alternative therapies or treatments.
Please contact me by email or phone to help overcome any of your challenges.
