The Cost Of Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Anxiety Disorders. Chronic Anxiety can have a huge impact on an individual’s day to day life.
Anxiety challenges can seriously affect a person’s health and well-being, relationships, work, social activities… It is often so deeply dis-empowering, it dampens a person’s self-esteem and self-worth. Which often leads to further sabotaging emotional and mental behavioural patterns. Such as withdrawal, isolation which can trigger depression. So often the cost of anxiety disorders is much higher than initially perceived.
ANXIETY
Anxiety is a feeling of worry, unease, and nervousness which we all experience at times. But long-term chronic anxiety is unhealthy and unhelpful. If you suffer from long-term anxiety issues you may be suffering an Anxiety Disorder. Many people also experience Panic Attacks with their Anxiety. And although it may feel at the time that life will never be the same. With the right support and skills, most anxiety disorder sufferers can go back to living a normal, happy and healthy life. The key is getting the right help.
So What Is Anxiety?
“Anxiety is a psychological, physiological, and behavioral state induced in animals and humans by a threat to well-being or survival, either actual or potential. It is characterized by increased arousal, expectancy, autonomic and neuroendocrine activation, and specific behavior patterns. The function of these changes is to facilitate coping with an adverse or unexpected situation. Pathological anxiety interferes with the ability to cope successfully with life challenges. “The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviours, Steimer, T. (2002)
So What Is An Anxiety Disorder?
An anxiety disorder is when you worry excessively over everyday situations. These worrying thoughts interfere with daily functioning. You have trouble sleeping, you get irritable, your mind races. You can have digestive issues.
A Panic Attack
A panic attack is an unexpected surge of severe anxiety symptoms that can go on for a few seconds to several minutes. You may experience a variety of symptoms including chest pain, fast pulse, shortness of breath, trembling. Hyperventilation is a common symptom of a panic attack
A Panic Disorder
A Panic Disorder is when a person suffers from regular or frequent panic attacks. And is caught in the cycle of fear of having more panic attacks without a clear cause or trigger. A panic attack is an unexpected surge of severe anxiety symptoms. That can go on for a few seconds to several minutes. Not every panic attack sufferer will a panic disorder. But if the mind, body, and emotions continually think and react in the same way. It can too easily become a bad habit which reinforces the anxiety cycle. That’s why treating anxiety is often a multi-facet approach. Where we use a variety of therapeutic and anxiety and stress management skills. Which often include relaxation techniques that encourage the client’s mind, body, and emotions into a state of peace.
Letting Go of Chronic Anxiety!
I help clients lets go of chronic anxiety by using a combination approach.
I use a method that firstly empowers the client, helps switch off the initial trigger and the hyper-arousal state. As its the chronic anxiety and chronic stress cycle that will keep a person in a chronic anxiety and/or stress cycle.
This includes helping the client
1. Understand what anxiety is- taking the FEAR out of their experiences, feelings is so important.
2. Teach them how to RELAX, switch off from the “anxiety response” and “stress response” into the “relaxed response”
3. By helping them eliminate distorted and overthinking habits through various strategies including meditation, cbt and a few others …
4. For clients with post traumatic stress or trauma a little extra support with for example a flower essence analysis and prescription. We can assist the mental, emotional, and physical body to release old trauma from the cellular memory.
5. And other highly effective Anxiety & Stress Management strategies which encourage healthier lifestyle changes.
One of the biggest mistakes many therapists make when treating chronic anxiety is using controlled breathing meditations right away. Before bringing or teaching the client how to come down from a state of hyper-arousal. This can actually lead to further issues including obsessional issues around their breathing. It is one of the reasons I teach relaxation techniques first and foremost. And it’s something I teach my Relaxation Therapist Students.
My Anxiety Busting Mini ToolKit, includes fast and effective tools that can help reduce the cost of anxiety issues. This toolkit includes a variety of simple techniques Chronic Anxiety Sufferers can use throughout the day. It includes my most popular meditation tool my 5 Minute Meditation
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