Anxiety Therapy Help

Many people consult me for help with all sorts of anxiety problems or disorders at my practice just outside of Battle, East Sussex. I have successfully helped many people with anxiety and/or panic problems using appropriate therapy.

The most common type of anxiety I help people with is known as social anxiety. Almost as common is general anxiety or ‘generalised anxiety disorder’, GAD for short. This is a near constant anxiety without there being a specific ‘object’ of fear (as with a phobia, say). As a result, we just feel ‘edgy’ a lot of the time without knowing why. Similarly, we may have a sense of ‘something bad about to happen’. We may worry about a lot of things.

Some people call themselves ‘an anxious person’. Or they say ‘I am a worrier, I can’t help it’ or ‘It’s just the way I am’. These beliefs are not true though. This is NOT something we have to live with or cannot change. It is more accurate to say that we feel anxious, or we worry, when there’s no real need to. Technically, this means that we have been triggered my somone’s behaviours or by certain situations.

What is Anxiety?

Firstly, it is part of our survival (fight/flight/freeze) response. It is our primitive, survival-based brain warning us of possible threat or danger (to life and limb). How do we experience this warning? Often it is physically as butterflies in the tummy, or a tight chest, say. It is also a psychological experience, usually of having racing, worrisome thoughts. That said, sometimes people are not very aware of the physical experience, and only tend to notice their racing thoughts.  All sorts of people and events in our everyday life can trigger / activate this response. We are usually not aware of how or why we have been triggered though. All we are aware of is the result – feeling anxious, worried, or panicky. And this tends to happen even though there is almost always no real threat or danger present.

Common symptoms

Here are lists of common anxiety related symptoms.

Psychological / Emotional Symptoms

• Worrying about what other people are thinking about us / fear of being judged
• A feeling or sense of ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘I’m less than’ – so-called ‘Imposter Syndrome’
• ‘ADHD’ (this is not a medical or genetic condition but a cluster of symptoms arising from having a chronically dysregulated nervous system)
• Having a general worry of social situations
• Feeling nervous around, or disliking, authority figures
• Having catastrophic thoughts about many things, that may or may not happen
• Racing thoughts
• FOMO – i.e. fear of missing out
• Feelings of ‘stress’ – feeling ‘stressed out’. Can also be physically experienced. ‘Stress’ is our 21st Century word for the experience of ‘being triggered’

Physical Symptoms

• Sleep problems / insomnia.
• Chronic indigestion and/or IBS.
• Frequent tension headaches and/or muscle tension.
• Having sweaty palms and/or a dry mouth around others.
• Racing heartbeat and ‘butterflies in our tummy’.
• Tight chest and/or difficulty speaking.

Common Behavioural symptoms

• Needing drink, or drugs, to help relaxation / unwinding.
• Smoking
• Comfort eating / binge eating
• Problems making good eye contact with others.
• Perfectionism and/or procrastination = fear of making mistakes.
• Being a ‘people-pleaser’ (to avoid conflict and/or feared rejection).
• Paying excessive attention to our personal appearance – face, hair, clothes, shoes.
• Performance anxiety (driving test, exams, sex, sport etc).
• A dislike, fear, or avoidance of ‘confrontation’.

What Causes Anxiety?

Anxiety is a part of our survival response. It is our physical and psychological experience of our brain’s ‘early warning system’ of impending threat or danger (to life and limb). All sorts of ordinary, everyday events can trigger / activate a survival response without us really being aware of the specific ‘triggers’. Neuroscientific research over recent decades has found that the felt experience of anxiety is caused by having a dysregulated nervous system. This is usually caused by (chronic, repeated) past experiences which have been negative, distressing, emotionally overwhelming, or traumatising in some way. Such experiences naturally upset our nervous system when they are happening. However, our system stays dysregulated if we cannot properly process and integrate what has happened. We will also have emotional residue held in our system which is also upsetting our system. We need appropriate emotional support to help us process such things. Unfortunately, we don’t often receive such help. When this occurs in childhood, it is known as Childhood Emotional Neglect.

The Limbic System

Furthermore, we store the emotional memories of such event(s)in a part of the brain called the limbic system. Parts of our limbic system activate our survival response. They do this within 7 to 12 milliseconds of being triggered in the present. As a result, being in our survival response causes the feelings of anxiety. We may have forgotten the negative events by the time we develop anxiety problems. Even if we haven’t, we usually don’t connect the past events to our current anxiety states. Thus, a dysregulated nervous system causes inner discomfort. We get that sense of ‘something bad about to happen’. However, we will not be aware of any inner discomfort, because the way we feel inside is our ‘normal’. Anxiety is sometimes called ‘irrational fear’. When specific things trigger us, this is termed ‘having a phobia‘. In addition, sometimes anxiety may escalate to feelings of panic.

What Causes Panic?

The intense feelings of panic are caused when we are fully ‘triggered’ into our survival response. Usually this happens in an otherwise ordinary, everyday situation. Triggers are usually ‘sensory experiences’ (i.e. a sight, sound, smell, taste, action, or bodily sensation). These somehow remind the limbic system of our unresolved emotional memories. Triggers can be diverse, so it can be difficult to pinpoint them. However, we can work on this. Of course, the vast majority of everyday situations are not actually life-threatening. Nevertheless once triggered, our limbic system will still ‘sound the alarm’ AS IF we are in real danger.

We are vulnerable to all sorts of triggers until we properly process the emotional conflict or trauma. Over time, anxiety or panic may increase to the point where it can have a significant impact on our life. Thus, it is quite common to gradually limit or control our lifestyle in an attempt to avoid, as far as possible, any situations which might ‘trigger’ our anxiety or panic.

Therapy help

Some therapies, for instance Suggestion Therapy, counselling, CBT, NLP and EFT (tapping), can offer some relief by aiming for a control of anxiety symptoms. Therapists usually achieve this by the input of positive suggestions, or teaching coping mechanisms or other tools/techniques. However, this often isn’t enough. Many people prefer to aim for a resolution to the underlying causes – the unresolved emotions, and experiences.

How can I help?

I have in the past offered different approaches to help anxiety. However, in recent years I have found Lifespan Integration Therapy to offer more predictable and effective results.

Finally, you might want to read what Sarah has to say…

Call or text me now on 07722783490 to book your free 30 minute initial consultation.

1066 Therapy helping the people of East Sussex, Battle, Hastings, Bexhill, Rye, Heathfield, Hailsham, Eastbourne, Brighton, Crowborough, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Ashford, Kent.