Anxiety TAKE
CONTROL!
It is vital for you to know that everybody will suffer from anxiety in their lifetime, some more than others BUT everybody does. For example, you may feel worried or anxious about a job interview, getting the results from a exam, medical test, financial issues or even getting married. Feelings of worry and anxiety are completely normal and these moments are known as the fight/flight response. The feelings of anxiety means the body no harm at all, it is there to protect us. The fight/flight response dates back to the cavemen, and it does exactly what it says, when we feel anxious we either flee the situation (flight) or tackle it head on(fight). It is simply there to help us and protect us.
Anxiety can be caused by many different things, but they normally fall into three categories;
The Biological theory - presupposes a chemical imbalance in the brain
and also includes a genetic contribution for panic disorder. If one member of
the family has panic disorder, there is a very good chance that other members
of the family would have had panic disorder. In the recent past, the majority
of people with panic disorder were not diagnosed, nor received appropriate
treatment. In older family members the disorder can be hiding behind 'a nervous
breakdown', alcoholism, or what could be perceived as 'eccentricity' as a
result of various avoidance behaviours.
A major life stress or a build-up of day to day stress, or physical illness, or
marijuana, LSD or other illicit drugs can be a trigger the genetic
predisposition for panic disorder.
The Behavioural theory - sees the cause as learned behaviour,
including 'learned' negative thought patterns. There is no doubt we 'learn' to
become afraid of panic attacks, and we can learn very very quickly! From this
fear, the multitude of fears grow. Each feeding on each other and impacting
severely on daily life.
The Psychodynamic theory - looks at childhood issues
as being the cause. While not everyone with an anxiety disorder has a history
of childhood trauma, many people do. Any childhood trauma issues do need to be
taken into account when working through to recovery.
Childhood issues also play a role with people who don't have a history of
childhood abuse. As children many people learnt from a very early age that they
needed to become, 'a good nice person'. To become the 'good nice person' they
needed to stop the development of who they could be, and became who they
thought they should be.
The end result of this is low self esteem, fear of being abandoned/rejected,
that people won't love or like us, and feelings of intense loneliness and
helplessness. Being who we think we should be, creates enormous personal stress
as we try to be perfect in every area of our life, including our inability to
say 'no' even when we want and need to. Over time 'something' has to give and
the development of an anxiety disorder begins.
Many people develop panic disorder following a major life stress or a build of
stress. Major life stress can include a death of a loved one, moving home, loss
of employment, relationship problems, financial problems, and a physical
illness while some women can develop an anxiety disorder after the birth of a
child.
How Hypnotherapy can help
If you are suffering with mild anxiety that is related to a specific
upcoming event, for example, if you are due to sit an examination or
are due to have an operation, then hypnosis, combined with suggestion
therapy will enable you to reduce your worry or anxiety and to feel
more in control.
It will provide you with a greater sense of self; it will boost
self-confidence and self-esteem; it will help you build on your
self-belief and you will have a strong visual image of yourself being
calm and self-assured in your upcoming event.
An added bonus is that hypnosis is wonderfully relaxing and reduces stress levels.
Perhaps your issues are more long term or pervasive and you have
found that anxiety is having a limiting effect upon your life? Perhaps
you are having panic attacks? Perhaps you are worried all the time and
don’t understand why? Or perhaps you would like to remove and resolve
all future issues in relation to your anxiety? In these circumstances
it is likely that you would benefit most from a course of analytical
hypnotherapy.
This type of
therapy would provide you with all the benefits of hypnosis with
suggestion therapy, whilst also helping you to fully resolve your
anxieties, leaving you free to enjoy a more fulfilled and relaxed
approach to life in the future.
