Overcoming Anxiety
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is an unpleasant, but quite common, state of inappropriate worry and/or fear. It may be related to particular worries over real or imaginary dangers or quite inexplicable to a sufferer, who may be unable consciously to think of any particular reason or set of reasons for their problem (as in free floating anxiety). Anxiety may exist at various levels of severity and it may remain quite constant, come and go or appear suddenly (and acutely as in an anxiety attack). A person suffering from anxiety may feel worn out as a result of their tendency to heightened vigilance. Quite simply, anxiety may be noticed by its quality that, whilst appropriate fear may be normal in particular situations, anxiety is disproportionate to the 'threats' that have triggered it (or merely an inappropriate response to them). Some symptoms that may be associated to anxiety include;
- Heightened fear
- Physical tension
- Sleep problems
- Phobia disorders
- Panic or anxiety attacks
- Inability to relax
- Concentration problems
- Avoidance behaviour
- Phobia disorders
- Obsessive compulsive disorders
What is the Psychology of Anxiety?
The various schools of thought in person psychology all understand anxiety from slightly different perspectives. Many counselling and psychotherapy theorists are agreed that anxiety generally occurs as the result of a negative combination of situational and personal elements. Depending on the individual these tend to include a mixture of external stress (caused by unhealthy modern lifestyles and the diminution of social identity and support etc) and more crucially internal stresses (caused by faulty information processing, negative thought patterns, existential angst and most notably the conscious and/or subconscious re-stimulation of memories of previous or long term perceived 'threats' by current events). However, everyone is a unique individual and their anxiety may have been sparked off by a broad range of single or multiple factors (not all of which are listed above).
How do I Overcome Anxiety?
Anxiety may be 'just worry' but it is a very real illness for those who suffer from it and the first port of call for those who believe they have anxiety should be their GP, who may prescribe them anti-anxiety medicine or refer them on to a counsellor or if necessary to mental health services (sadly some GPs seem to confuse anxiety with depression and therefore they may prescribe anti-depressants which may be quite inappropriate for someone who suffers from anxiety. If you experience this it may a good idea to get a second GP opinion on your medication where possible). After consulting your GP, who may or may not think that medication is the right thing for you, it is often a good idea to consult a well trained and experienced counsellor, psychotherapist or hypnoptherapist to help you overcome your problem. Cognitive, humanistic and other counselling/psychotherapy approaches have been shown to be effective in helping clients generally manage and overcome anxiety. Hypnotherapy may be particularly effective for certain types of anxiety (such as phobia disorders) and in teaching relaxation, whilst behavioral approaches are particularly effective in helping with obsessive compulsive disorders. Most eclectic counsellors and psychotherapists can offer a wide range of support and interventions to help a client get rid of anxiety.
This article was written by Patrick JM Nelson for the Fellowship of Eclectic Therapists and it is the property of that organization, but please feel free to copy and use this information for any beneficial purposes.