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Anxiety and Stress Related issues
Anxiety and Stress are quite normal and appropriate responses to many situations we experience in our lives. Think of sitting an exam, attending an interview or even riding on a Roller Coaster. However, when we experience heightened or prolonged periods of Anxiety or Stress this can spiral out of control. Anxiety can lead to issues such as Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Attacks and Social Anxiety.
What is anxiety?
We all experience anxiety from time to time and to some degree.
Anxiety is an evolutionary response to danger or stressful situations. It is our bodies way of preparing us to deal with the threat or task ahead. In its mildest form this can be thought of as the feeling of excitement we get before a sports event or sitting an exam.
However, when we perceive the threat to be greater, the response can be more severe. This can result in feelings of panic and fear as our primitive fight/flight response is activated. The fight/flight response helped our ancient ancestors to deal with many life-threatening situations, e.g. wild animals and rival tribespeople they faced in their daily lives.
Thankfully today we rarely face the same threats our ancient ancestors encountered. However, our brain is still hard-wired to respond in the same way to modern day causes of anxiety. The primitive area of our brain that is responsible for our fight or flight reaction does not know the difference between a bank statement or a credit card bill and a wild animal. So, whatever the cause of our anxiety, we respond in the same way our ancestors responded to a wild animal. Many situations that cause us anxiety in modern life can trigger issues such as Depression, PTSD, Phobias, Social Anxiety and more.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help to reduce the feelings of Anxiety by teaching you how to effectively quieten the fight/flight response. Also, by focusing positively on your present and future, you can think in a more constructive and positive way. This will help you to deal with any of life’s problems or issues far more effectively and confidently.
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” - T.S Elliot.
Addiction
Addiction is not uncommon. According to the charity Action on Addiction, 1 in 3 people are addicted to something. Addiction is defined as not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.
“It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.”
- Confucius.
What is addiction?
When we think of addictions, it is the use of substances such as alcohol and drugs that usually spring to mind and are officially classed as addictions. Although there is disagreement as to what can be officially classified as an addiction, there is no doubt that many activities can cause addictive behaviour. This addictive behaviour can take many forms.
For example, addictive behaviour is commonly linked to Gambling, Shopping, Food, Sex, Social media, Work, Exercise and Video Games. Addictive behaviour can be extremely disruptive and destructive to the life of the person as well as their family and friends.
In many cases, Anxiety can be the underlying cause of addictive behaviour. People may use a particular behaviour as a coping mechanism which can temporarily reduce feelings of anxiety. They may also experience a “high” from the behaviour which will increase the desire to engage in the activity.
Often people experience withdrawal symptoms and associated negative emotions when they are unable to engage in the activity. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can effectively help with Addictive Behaviour. As Addictive Behaviour can be a result of a build-up of Stress and Anxiety, we can help to reduce the need for whichever coping mechanism has developed by addressing the underlying causes of Stress and Anxiety.
Confidence and Self Esteem
Low Self Esteem and Confidence can limit our ability to achieve our full potential in life. We will always find ourselves in certain situations that make us feel a little more anxious than normal. However, this should not be our default state and when we feel this anxiety continuously, Low Self Esteem and Confidence can be the result. This anxiety can be brought about by many various factors and triggers which we may not even be aware of.
Sleep and Disrupted Sleep Patterns
The latest Neuroscientific research confirms the view that restful sleep is the most important pillar of our health. If we don’t have an adequate amount of restful sleep, we will almost certainly compromise our health regardless of good diet and nutrition.
Unfortunately, a disrupted sleep pattern is one of the first symptoms we experience when we are suffering from anxiety or stress. The resulting mental and physical fatigue further hinders our ability to cope with the stressful or challenging situations we are experiencing. Medication may help to induce sleep in the short term but does not allow for the natural healthy sleep process which is so vital for our overall mental and physical well-being.
“My eyelids are heavy, but my thoughts are heavier.” - Anon.
We all have sleepless nights from time to time. When we have a sleepless night, we will usually feel tired and groggy the next day. Quite often this can be resolved in practical ways such as reducing caffeine later in the day and adopting a positive regular night-time routine. However, a continuous or prolonged inability to sleep or an interrupted sleep pattern can be a sign of Anxiety and Stress.
When we are asleep, during REM, our brain will usually process and deal with any stress or anxiety we have. However, this is process takes up a lot of energy and when this anxiety is prolonged or too great our brain will be unable to cope and will wake us up. We then find it difficult to get back to sleep and lie awake quite often feeling anxious and stressed.
Many people regularly sleep for less than the recommended seven hours per night, quite often people will sleep four or five hours per night.
This amount of sleep on a regular basis will leave them officially classed as sleep deprived. Research shows that in all areas such as driving, concentration, attention, dexterity and mobility, our ability and performance are affected badly. We simply cannot perform at our best when we are sleep deprived.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy will help to reduce your levels of Anxiety, this will relax the area of your brain that is interrupting your sleep pattern. Your REM patterns will be regulated and return to normal, allowing you to experience restful, refreshing sleep once again.
Phobias and Fears
We experience fear on an almost daily basis to some degree and in some form. Fear is a learned response to certain situations that can keep us safe from potential harm, for example the fear of heights. A mild fear of heights would be considered quite logical given the potential danger of falling.
However, a Phobia develops when the fear becomes irrational and interferes with our daily lives. Common Phobias include Spiders, needles, public speaking, dentists and flying.
Depression
In its mildest form Depression can be described as low mood. We can all experience low mood from time to time in response anxiety or stressful circumstances. However, when this lasts for a prolonged period of time it can begin to affect you daily life. In its more extreme form Depression can be debilitating. This can result in an inability to function normally e.g. going to work or the lack of desire to socialise and interact with others. This can feel as though we are experiencing a total body shutdown and locking ourselves away from the outside world can seem to be the only answer.
“There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, don’t seem to help.” - Fred Rogers.
What is Depression?
Approximately 320 million people worldwide suffer from Depression and 1 in 10 people will be affected at some point in their lives. We all experience low mood from time to time, but severe depression can be debilitating and leave the sufferer unable to function normally. The causes of Depression lie in stressful or challenging circumstances that a person may be experiencing in their life at a particular time.
The symptoms of Depression are varied and include hopelessness, disinterest, fatigue and lack of self-esteem. This can make any form of social interaction undesirable and lead to social withdrawal and isolation as the only perceived solution.
Depression can be thought of as an evolutionary defence mechanism. Your brain is attempting to keep you safe by forcing you to avoid harmful situations and the perceived potential danger.
In severe cases of Depression where people withdraw completely, they may also sleep for long periods which can be likened to a form of hibernation. The person will not interact until the perceived danger or threat has passed.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help you to move out of Depression by effectively addressing the Stress and Anxiety that are underlying causes of the problem.
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be classified as ranging from mild to severe. When it becomes severe it is considered to be one of the top ten most disabling illnesses.
OCD can appear in many different forms, including repeatedly checking e.g. locks and light switches etc. also hand washing, hypochondria and hoarding. Symmetry obsessions occur where people are compelled to repeat any task a set number of times such as opening and closing a door or elaborate counting or tapping sequences. These can be exhausting and extremely detrimental to the daily life of the individual and cause great distress to them and those close to them.
Among the many symptoms of Anxiety and Stress are obsessive thoughts. When we have underlying Stress or Anxiety due to an event or situation e.g. a relationship or work-related problem, this is perceived as a danger signal.
We are therefore prompted to be on the lookout for danger and threats. Consequently, our raised feelings of Anxiety can lead us to perceive that our entire environment is filled with threats and dangers.
Our brains evolved over a long time to deal with real physical dangers such as wild animals. In our modern lives stress and anxiety usually take many different forms and there is often no physical threat. However, our brain will prompt us to take some form of action to counter the threat. As we cannot fight or run away from a threat we cannot see, we can develop behaviours intended to keep us safe, such as constant checking and rechecking of doors, locks, light switches etc. We can also develop many and varied rituals such as repeated hand washing, arranging things in order, counting or hoarding. A sufferer can also experience distressing, obsessive thoughts regarding suffering bad luck, or their lives being adversely affected if they do not carry out the ritual or behaviour.
This can be extremely distressing and disruptive to the lives of a sufferer and their families.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help reduce OCD and Obsessive thinking by reducing any Anxiety and Stress you may be experiencing in your daily life. This will relax the area of our brain that encourages potentially destructive and distressing coping behaviours such as OCD.
