Anxiety Treatment
(Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnotherapy helping with Depression)
Understanding Anxiety
We all know what anxiety feels like. Your heart pounds before a big presentation or a tough exam. You get butterflies in your stomach during a blind date. You worry and fret over family problems or feel jittery at the prospect of asking the boss for a raise. These are all natural reactions. However, if worries, fears, or anxiety attacks seem overwhelming and are preventing you from living your life the way you'd like to, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Fortunately, with effective help at the Wellbeing Clinic, you can be helped to reduce your anxiety symptoms, control anxiety attacks, and take back control of your life. This page describes different anxieties and will help you to understand if you are suffering with anxiety. Further down you will find the information how you can be helped and at the bottom of the page you will find details on how to contact the clinic and to discuss the free initial consultation which we offer so I can get a full understanding how anxiety affects you and to be able to explain in detail how the treatments offered at the wellbeing clinic can help you.
It’s normal to worry and feel tense or scared when under pressure or facing a stressful situation. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when you feel threatened.
In moderation, anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, anxiety can help you stay alert and focused, spur you to action, and motivate you to solve problems. But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with your relationships and activities, it stops being functional—that’s when you’ve crossed the line from normal, productive anxiety into the territory of anxiety disorders.
Do your symptoms indicate anxiety?
If you identify with several of the following signs and symptoms, and they just won’t go away, you may be suffering from anxiety.
- Are you constantly tense, worried, or on edge?
- Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities?
- Are you plagued by fears that you know are irrational, but can’t shake?
- Do you believe that something bad will happen if certain things aren’t done a certain way?
- Do you avoid everyday situations or activities because they cause you anxiety?
- Do you experience sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic?
- Do you feel like danger and catastrophe are around every corner?
Emotional symptoms of anxiety
In addition to the primary symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include:
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Physical symptoms of anxiety
Anxiety is more than just a feeling. As a product of the body’s fight-or-flight response, anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the numerous physical symptoms, anxiety sufferers often mistake their disorder for a medical illness. They may visit many doctors and make numerous trips to the hospital before their anxiety disorder is discovered.
Common physical symptoms of anxiety include:
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The link between anxiety symptoms and depression
Many people with anxiety disorders also suffer from depression at some point. Anxiety and depression are believed to stem from the same biological vulnerability, which may explain why they so often go hand-in-hand. Since depression makes anxiety worse (and vice versa), it’s important to seek treatment for both conditions.
Anxiety attacks and their symptoms
Treatment for anxiety attacks
In most cases, anxiety attacks respond quickly to treatment. Even if you’re starting to avoid certain situations or places because you’re afraid of having a panic attack, treatment can often rapidly and effectively help you regain control.
Anxiety attacks, also known as panic attacks, are episodes of intense panic or fear. Anxiety attacks usually occur suddenly and without warning. Sometimes there’s an obvious trigger— getting stuck in an elevator, for example, or thinking about the big speech you have to give—but in other cases, the attacks come out of the blue.
Anxiety attacks usually peak within ten minutes, and they rarely last more than thirty minutes. But during that short time, the terror can be so severe that you feel as if you’re about to die or totally lose control. The physical symptoms of anxiety attacks are themselves so frightening that many people believe they’re having a heart attack. After an anxiety attack is over, you may be worried about having another one, particularly in a public place where help isn’t available or you can’t easily escape.
Symptoms of anxiety attacks can include:
Types of anxiety disorders
There are six major types of anxiety disorders, each with their own distinct symptom profile: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder (anxiety attacks), phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder.
Generalized anxiety disorder
If constant worries and fears distract you from your day-to-day activities or you’re troubled by a persistent feeling that something bad is going to happen, you may be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). People with GAD are chronic worrywarts who feel anxious nearly all of the time, though they may not even know why. Anxiety related to GAD often shows up as physical symptoms like insomnia, stomach upset, restlessness, and fatigue.
Anxiety attacks (Panic disorder)
Panic disorder is characterized by repeated, unexpected panic attacks, as well as fear of experiencing another episode. Panic disorder may also be accompanied by agoraphobia, which is a fear of being in places where escape or help would be difficult in the event of a panic attack. If you have agoraphobia, you are likely to avoid public places such as shopping malls or confined spaces such as an airplane.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by unwanted thoughts or behaviors that seem impossible to stop or control. If you have OCD, you may be troubled by obsessions, such as a recurring worry that you forgot to turn off the oven or that you might hurt someone. You may also suffer from uncontrollable compulsions, such as washing your hands over and over.
Phobia
A phobia is an unrealistic or exaggerated fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that in reality presents little to no danger. Common phobias include fear of animals such as snakes and spiders, fear of flying, and fear of heights. In the case of a severe phobia, you might go to extreme lengths to avoid the thing you fear. Unfortunately, avoidance only strengthens the phobia.
Social anxiety disorder
If you have a debilitating fear of being seen negatively by others and humiliated in public, you may have social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia. Social anxiety disorder can be thought of as extreme shyness. In severe cases, social situations are avoided altogether. Performance anxiety (better known as stage fright) is the most common type of social phobia.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extreme anxiety disorder that can occur in the aftermath of a traumatic or life-threatening event. PTSD can be thought of as a panic attack that rarely, if ever, lets up. Symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks or nightmares about what happened, hypervigilance, startling easily, withdrawing from others, and avoiding situations that remind you of the event.
When to seek professional help for anxiety
While self-help coping strategies for anxiety can be very effective, if your worries, fears, or anxiety attacks have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to seek professional help.
If your doctor rules out a medical cause, your next step is to consult with me at the wellbeing clinic. I have many years of experience treating anxiety attacks and anxiety disorders. I will work with you to determine the cause and type of your anxiety disorder and devise a course of treatment.
Treatment options for anxiety disorders at the Wellbeing Clinic
Anxiety disorders respond very well to treatment—and often in a relatively short amount of time. The specific treatment approach depends on the type of anxiety disorder and its severity. But in general, most anxiety disorders at the wellbeing clinic are treated with cognitive behavioural therapy, hypnotherapy and sometimes with counselling. These treatments can be used individually or combined. Every client is unique on how anxiety effects them and so is the treatment provided. You may already have your own preffered choice of treatment and this can be discussed in detail at the free initial consultation.
Behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders
Cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy are types of behavioral therapy, meaning they focus on behavior rather than on underlying psychological conflicts or issues from the past.
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Cognitive-behavior therapy focuses on thoughts—or cognitions—in addition to behaviors. In anxiety disorder treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy helps you identify and challenge the negative thinking patterns and irrational beliefs that fuel your anxiety.
Hypnotherapy for anxiety
Sometimes the reasons why you get anxious may not be known to you at a conscious level. The anxiety response may be as a result to negative stimuli which you are not aware of. Anxiety may surface because of a misinterpreted protection for yourself, emotional protection. Hypnotherapy is a highly effective way to make positive, lasting changes to your lifestyle by helping you to release the emotional behind whatever you may be experiencing. Hypnotherapy at the wellbeing clinic has the very practical approach of finding solutions to problems, namely, soloution focused hypnotherapy rather than dwelling on the past. It involves using the conscious mind to set clear goals that will enable you to change old habits into more effective strategies.
With all conditions I treat in my practice I am always looking how to release the emotional behind whatever my client may be experiencing , as in this case, anxiety. Once you understand what the emotional attachment is, you will be well on your way to recovery. You did not intentionally set out to become like this, it generally is a circumstance of events which lead up to it. We will uncover that chain of events and help you to gain closure on them which will give you the motivation to succeed with the agreed goals. Using hypnotherapy in this way helps to shave off many weeks of traditional talking therapy because it works at the root of the problem...your subconscious mind. For more information on how Hypnotherapy can help you with anxiety, click this link.
Treatment Overview
You may have tried many times to just 'fix' the problem all in one go and in doing so you will be aware aware how difficult it is or you may have lived with your problem for so long that you find it difficult to even imagine that life can be different for you. You may have even given up hope that you will ever be free from the symptoms of anxiety. Effective help is available at the Wellbeing Clinic where I help you to achieve your goal in small achievable steps so that as each goal is attained it gives you the strength and courage to move to the next step with a confident optimistic approach with all the support and encouragement you need to help you along.
You may already know which therapeutic treatment you wish to use and the specialised treatment for your anxiety available includes cognitive behavioural therapy, neuro-linguistic programming, counselling and hypnotherapy. I will help you to leave behind those old anxious feelings and focus on the future and getting better, to help you feel more in control and at ease so that you can make the start of living your daily life in a more fulfilling way. All treatments are based in the here and now and do not dwell needlessly on the past.
Please continue to view the different pages on this site using the navigation buttons below where you will see the different treatments I provide. If you would like to discuss treatment please fill in the form below and I will be very happy to contact you.
Telephone:
07584 492254
Stevenage Wellbeing Clinic
With Careful Treatment For Your Anxiety Issues I Will Help You To Recognise
What Triggers Your Anxiety And Help You To Learn To Manage It
Telephone:
07584 492254
FREE Initial Consultation
Telephone: 07584 492254
Paul is an approved member of the NHS Directory of Complementary and Alternative Practitioners, a registered member of the General Hypnotherapy Register, member of the Complimentary and Natural Healthcare Council, (CNHC), licensed Hypno-Band Practioner and an accredited counsellor with the National Counselling Society. With government support, The Department of Health has recommended that, where people are looking for complementary healthcare therapists they use someone who is CNHC registered.
NHS