Anxiety treatment

Are you nervous?  Do you tremble or have muscular tensions?  Are you light headed, dizzy, or experiencing palpitations?  Is that a knot in your stomach?  Are you afraid that something bad is going to happen?

If you answered yes to most of the questions above then a psychiatrist may well diagnose you with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

Coping with anxiety

Medication for anxiety

Some people believe that it can be useful to take medication while you are resolving the causes of anxiety with psychotherapy.  However, side effects can be a big problem.  SSRIs, for example, can cause nausea, low sex drive, blurred vision, diarrhoea or constipation, dizziness, dry mouth, loss of appetite, sweating, agitatation, and insomnia.  Add to that the possible risks of dependency and withdrawal symptoms and it’s almost enough to make you even more anxious!

Avoiding anxiety triggers

The simplest way of coping with anxiety is to avoid situations that trigger it.  If you have social anxiety then avoid people. If you have sexual anxiety then avoid sex.  If you are anxious about failing then don’t take any risks.  If you have generalised anxiety disorder then avoid, err, life.

The problem with avoidance, of course, is that it comes with a cost.  You get to avoid the potential pleasure of activities and situations along with the uncomfortable anxiety.  This is fine if you are anxious about something you don’t want to do or have to do (in which case the anxiety probably isn’t much of a problem); not so good if you actually want to do the very thing you are anxious about.

Planning to avoid anxiety itself

If you absolutely have to do something that you are anxious about then you can use your anxiety to fuel activities that will minimise the risk of it going wrong.  If you have to give a presentation simply spend days and days writing and rehearsing and planning for every potential question anyone could ask.  If you are anxious about upsetting people then simply analyze every single word or action before you say or do them and edit yourself accordingly.  If you are anxious about flying you can make a study of all the potential failure modes and safety features of the aircraft so that you can diagnose potential problems from any rumble, shake or change of engine note.

Some of the best performers use their anxiety to achieve a high standard of work.  But what is the cost of the time spent planning and worrying?  When does prudent planning become compulsion?  Wouldn’t it be nice if, in certain circumstances, you could relax, and trust yourself to wing it?

Causes of anxiety

One of the first definitions of anxiety I hear described it as a ‘fear trapped in the future’.  The idea is that if you are holding the image of the future going wrong and leading to some kind of traumatic event then your body will respond with a fight of flight stress response now.  There is no action to be taken right now and so we experience this as a stuck sense of anxiety.

The perspective I have on anxiety is somewhat controversial.  When people pay attention, anxiety is often experienced as a thing in the body somewhat like a knot, ball of stress, or a clingy tentacled creature.  When I ask them if this energy belongs to them they usually say ‘no’.  The logical conclusion?  Anxiety is a parasitic energy in our body that we are allowing to stay.  We let it stay because it brings us a big benefit: it warns us of potential danger.  By acting on its warnings we get to avoid the potential consequences of this danger such as, physical pain, emotional suffering, and death.  We have felt these things before and we are afraid of feeling them again so we agree with the anxiety that they must be avoided at all costs.  The anxiety gets to stay and gets to be in control of us.  It is kind of like a cork that we use to plug a dark place within ourselves.  While it may be somewhat uncomfortable it is, at least, dependable and something of a companion.

Resolving anxiety

The key to resolving anxiety is to stop avoiding and appeasing it and to face up to and accept the emotional consequences of the worst happening.

What you can do right now

If you are anxious take a moment to notice any tension in your body.  If you notice some tension simply observe it and begin taking some deep, full breaths.

Work with the breath so that you fill your belly first and feel it expanding; then fill your chest and feel that expanding; and finally fill up to the top of your head.  The out breath is also done with consciousness.  I recommend utilising a slight constriction in the throat and breathing out with a continuous ‘ha’ sound.  For relaxation make the exhalation longer than the inhalation … a ratio of 5 counts for the inhale and 10 counts for the exhale would be great.

As you breathe, notice if and how the tension moves and changes.  You may find that a few deep breaths is all you need to get back on an even keel.

How I can help resolve your anxiety

One of my mantras is that you can have what you want if you are prepared to accept the consequences.  The main approach I use to treat anxiety is very direct, deep, and powerful: I will teach you to separate from the grip of the anxiety itself.

In your imagination you will move the anxiety out of your body and progressively disconnect each place where it attaches.  It will not want to go and so you will need to be firm and determined.  You will follow each ‘tentacle’ to the place where it attaches to your body and will consider the emotional consequences of letting the anxiety go.  This could be the experience of anger, grief, loneliness, etc.  As you choose to experience, rather than avoid, this emotion then the anxiety doesn’t have anything to hold onto and begins to loose its grip on you.

As the anxiety falls away you may experience the intense grief of loosing an old friend.  If the anxiety was plugging a hole then you will begin to feel that lonely emptiness.  Rather than find something else from the outside to fill that hole I will guide you into it, into the unknown.  This is where you will discover the lonely self who has been trapped in that hole.  As you re-connect and resolve any issues that were passed on to you by your family then you will fill up with an inner love.  You will gain in confidence and you will develop a trust that you can handle life … even when it does not go to plan.

Take action now

Interested in learning more about NLP psychotherapy and hypnotherapy treatment for anxiety?  I work face-to-face in Bethnal Green, East London and online via Skype and Google talk.  Call me now for a free chat and to arrange an appointment.