Anxiety

It’s normal to occasionally feel anxious or worried.

Anxiety becomes a problem if you find it hard to control your worries and fears, and when these feelings become excessive and persistent. Anxiety can dominate your inner thoughts and prevent you from feeling yourself and being able to enjoy daily life.

Sometimes anxiety is accompanied by panic attacks that are triggered by simple things, such as driving a car on a busy motorway.

There are many types of anxiety disorders, including:

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) – regular or uncontrollable worries about a wide range of issues and situations in your daily life.
Panic disorder – frequent or regular attacks of panic or fear, often for no obvious reason. With panic disorder, you may feel constantly in fear of having another panic attack.
Phobias, such as agoraphobia – severe anxiety triggered by a particular situation or object.
Social anxiety disorder – intense feelings of fear and anxiety in social situations, with an urge to avoid these situations.

Symptoms of anxiety

Physical and psychological signs of anxiety include:

Restlessness and nervousness
Irritability
Dizziness
A sense of dread
Hyperventilation (rapid breathing)
Tiredness
Insomnia
A desire to avoid certain situations
Difficulty concentrating
Fast, strong or irregular heartbeat
Sweating
Shaking
Nausea
Needing the toilet more or less frequently

What causes anxiety?

It’s not fully understood what causes anxiety disorders, but there are several reasons why you might be affected:

A traumatic event early in your life, which has never been healed
Anxiety runs in your family
Your personality type means you’re more prone to be anxious
A medication side effect
Build-up of stress
Drugs or alcohol (misuse or withdrawal)

Anxiety help

Left untreated, anxiety can get worse, and it can lead to – or exacerbate – other conditions such as depression. But with the right help, it’s possible to live a life that isn’t dominated by worry or fear.

I use neuro-linguistic psychotherapy with a combination of other therapies, such as hypnotherapy, to help my clients adopt new behaviours and overcome their anxiety.

“Thank you for a brilliant service. I don’t know how I would be without your help. Thank you for giving me that inner strength and willpower. You have given me the confidence and built on my self-esteem to overcome my deepest fears at the time. Your passion to help me has proved that this skill is important to strengthen oneself. Thank you.”

J Cohan, physiotherapist, London

How could psychotherapy help you?

How could hypnotherapy help you?