Anxiety FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
How common is anxiety?
Everyone feels anxiety. It's a normal part of being human. Anxiety is your body's way of telling you that something might be wrong... that there might be a threat of some sort.
Without anxiety, we would put ourselves in all kinds of danger, because we wouldn't feel that 'trepidation' that anxiety naturally brings... crossing a busy road for example, would be very dangerous if we didn't feel anxious at all while waiting to cross.
When most people think of the term 'anxiety' however, it tends to be in relation to the kind of anxiety that gets in the way... the kind of anxiety that can prevent you from living your life, or at least having a detrimental effect on your life. It is then generally accepted as being an 'anxiety disorder'.
These type of anxiety tend to be categorized into five main categories:
It is estimated that at any given time, around 13% of the population will suffer from an anxiety disorder of one kind or another.
What therapies are available for the treatment of anxiety?
The types of therapy that someone with an anxiety might choose, can vary widely. To understand why they vary so much, we have to realize that anxiety is a state of mind, and that this state of mind comes about (unless there is a physical cause) as the result of the ways that we have reacted to certain situations in the past.
Anxiety comes about because of the way we have reacted to these situations, and the way that we have developed our behavior patterns because of these situations, (learned responses, or 'conditioning')
Sometimes, anxiety can be very short term, and only lasts for a short time after the situation has occurred. These 'reactive' anxieties can, and do, happen all the time.
It's when the anxiety becomes a problem on a more long term basis that therapy is often sought.
When thinking about therapy, we need to recognize that where we are now, is as a result of our experiences.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is widely recognized as a very effective treatment for anxiety. CBT aims to change the way you think in a given situation, and also the way you react to that situation.
When in a certain situation, the person has thoughts and feeling regarding the situation, and has certain reactions to it as well... these thoughts, feelings and actions can all influence each other, and can act in a 'circular' fashion, and things can soon escalate out of control.
CBT seeks to change the way these thoughts and feelings develop (the 'cognitive' part), and also change the reactions (the 'behavior' part).
Read further information on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Hypnotherapy
'Hypnoanalysis', or 'Analytical Hypnotherapy' can also help people with all kinds of anxiety.
Hypnoanalysis works on the principal that anxiety is often caused by 'bottled up emotions' that for one reason or another, have simply got 'stuck'.
These emotions become 'stuck; because they have not been resolved in the person's mind. Analytical hypnotherapy (or hypnoanalysis) can help the person to resolve these emotions
Read further information of Hypnoanalysis (Analytical Hypnotherapy)
What are the main symptoms of anxiety?
The symptoms of anxiety can be very different from one person to the next, not only because there are so many possible causes of the anxiety, but also because each of us has our own, unique ways of coping with stress and other anxiety producing situations.
However, it is quite common to see some of the following symptoms:
- An underlying, constant anxiety state that may vary in strength, but never fully goes away
- Physical tension
- 'Psychosomatic' problems, where the psychological anxiety causes a 'somatic' (physical) symptom
- Depression
- Insomnia, either the inability to fall asleep, or to stay asleep
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