In 2009 The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health
reported that around 4.4% of the adult population in England were suffering
from generalised anxiety disorder.
4.4% may not sound very much, but this equates to around 2.3
million individual people! If we add in
all of the other various anxiety disorders (such as Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder, phobias, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder etc.,) the number of people
whose lives are blighted by some form of anxiety is probably close to 3
million. That’s a huge amount of human suffering.
Anxiety is intimately related to fear. Aaron Beck, one of the founders of Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy, says that fear is the anticipation of being damaged in
some way, while anxiety is our felt emotional reaction to that fear (Beck, A,
T. 1991, Cognitive Therapy and the
Emotional Disorders). Winter, in his
classic 1966 book - Origins of Illness
and Anxiety - defined anxiety as a state of chronic emergency against a
threat (real or imagined), where the individual is so confused and afraid as to
what action to take that too little or no action is taken.
Whenever we perceive a threat we have feeling and thinking
responses (of which we may or may not be conscious), which lead to some form of
behavioural response:
The Fight or Flight response is a deep part of our biology
and is vital for keeping us safe.
However, many of the threats we experience in the modern world do not
require fight or flight (road rage, for example, is in part a fight response
and is rarely, if ever, the most appropriate response). Winter also pointed out that sometimes our
response is to ‘freeze’ i.e. take no appropriate action (which as we all know
so often just makes matters worse). The
‘ideal’ response to life is ‘flow’ – where we meet life’s challenges in
resourceful, appropriate and effective ways.
The fight, flight and freeze responses are governed by the
‘emotional’ brain. These are deeper
lying brain structures (such as the amygdala) over which we have little or no
direct conscious control. But, there are
a great many things we can do to manage stress and anxiety more
effectively. One very simple, yet
profoundly effective, way is the 7-11 breathing technique. Try it now:
Breathe in
(ideally through the nose) comfortably for the count of 7. Momentarily hold the breath and then breathe
out slowly and comfortably (ideally through the mouth) for the count of 11. Continue breathing this way until you feel
relief (but do no more than a couple of minutes at a time). This is an unusual breathing pattern, so may
take a little bit of practice. The
results are worth it though as it is the most effective breathing technique I
have come across for bringing quick relief to many forms of distress.
Another favourite of mine is the ‘dial-down’ technique:
Picture a
meter in front of you that runs from 0 – 10 (where 0 = beautifully calm and
relaxed and 10 = the most stressed/anxious you can imagine being). Notice that the calm and relaxed zone of the
scale (between 0 and 3) is green, the next zone (4 – 6) is amber and the
remainder (7 – 10) is red. Sense how you
are feeling and see the needle on the dial registering that value (e.g. 7 in
the red zone or 5 in the amber zone). Now
see a dial connected to the meter and reach out and place a hand on the
dial. Slowly, and with expectation,
begin to turn the dial toward your left-hand side. As you turn the dial down see the meter
needle moving down. Keep dialling down
until you are well into the green zone.
As you do this feel yourself becoming calmer, and your thinking
clearer. Repeat as necessary. The trick to having this technique really
work for you is to begin dialling down as soon as your feelings of stress or panic
get into the amber zone. With practice
you won’t have to wait until things are already in the red zone.
These are just two examples on the many effective self-help
techniques that can assist us in manage anxiety, panic and stress reactions.
Sometimes though, we need to go a step further and address
the cause or causes of our anxious, stressed responses. This is where a skilled therapist comes
in. Treating anxiety is one of my
specialisms. Using a combination of
cognitive behavioural techniques, supportive and analytical hypnotherapy and
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (see my blog “Help is available” 28th
March 2012) genuine resolution can be achieved.
If you would like any further information about treating anxiety or the
way in which I work, please do contact me via my website and/or post a comment
here.
© David
Corr July 2012
David is a
UKCP registered hypno-psychotherapist who has also trained to Master
Practitioner level in NLP. He offers integrated psychotherapy and hypnotherapy
at Waterloo Therapy Rooms Waterloo Body Station, The Aston Clinic in New Malden and also in Epsom,Surrey. For more information please contact David via his website:
www.corehypnosis.co.uk
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