With so many pressures in people’s daily lives now, stress and anxiety have been steadily on the rise. More people than ever are being prescribed antidepressants to keep them calm and their fears at bay. A little bit of stress in your life is normal, it’s what keeps you going and motivated, but too much and it can start to snowball into physical symptoms that affect your health, like headaches, stomach and digestive problems, and high blood pressure. Because your mind and body constantly interact, stress can affect how you think and behave, as well as how you feel, so if you’re under prolonged stress from money problems, overwork, or struggling to find a job, it can have an impact on your relationships at home and work as well. You start to feel distrust, anger, and fear, which can lead you to develop an anxiety disorder or depression.
I've been helping clients in Islington, Mayfair, Tunbridge Wells and online deal with their stress and anxiety for many years. Anxiety is a disorder that manifests itself in different worries and fears. You might find it difficult going out of the house and being around other people, or worry about always having to do something a certain way, or feel under pressure because you are always trying to be perfect. You might know that your fears are irrational, but it can be very hard to overcome the dread of the situation, and so you miss out on important events like a family wedding, a job opportunity, or a much needed holiday. Feeling anxious can make you feel agitated and it’s hard to control negative thoughts which start to spiral. It may even trigger a panic attack, where you’re struggling to breathe and feel dizzy and nauseous, or that your legs won’t work.
When you’re feeling like this, your body has a surge of adrenalin as your mind has tapped into the “fight or flight” response that is programmed into you to protect you against threats. It’s a normal reaction when you are facing danger, but if you’re suffering from anxiety, you experience it much more than other people, and this can be physically and mentally very distressing for you. It can cause physical problems too from too much cortisol in the system, and lead to weight gain from over-eating or lack of exercise. People deal with stress and anxiety in different ways, depending on their personality type. What some people would find extremely stressful, such as turning up to an important work meeting unprepared, others find stimulating, as it helps to sharpen their responses.
Anxiety and stress are often triggered by a particular life event like redundancy, divorce, or death of a loved one, but the cause is not always negative. Sometimes a change in circumstances like a new job or partner, or the birth of a child can affect how you think and feel. Most people believe that the strongest instinct is survival, but often what drives your reactions the most is fear of the unknown: people need the reassurance of familiar situations. I understand this, and can help you take your fear away, by teaching you NLP and hypnotherapy techniques to stop the negative spirals of an over anxious mind, and manage your stress so that it works for you, not against you.