Anxiety

Certain situations trouble you so much that you will go to great lengths to avoid them; perhaps it is a social anxiety, a severe phobia of something very particular or a general nervous dread of the future. A good portion of the brain is dedicated to the task of predicting how we will feel in any given situation - when this prediction starts to limit your ability to appreciate what is happening here and now, you are probably suffering from anxiety.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Below is a list of some of the symptoms associated with anxiety. Anxiety can sometimes be diagnosed alongside depression (depression and anxiety). Having many of these symptoms for a period of six months or more is often referred to as generalised anxiety disorder:

• Dizzy spells and/or panic attacks

• Irregular bladder/bowel patterns

• Irrational fears

• Excessive worrying

• Trembling

• Sleeplessness/little or no dreaming

• Irritability

• Palpitations

• Sweating

Treatment for Anxiety

Treatment for anxiety through psychotherapy consists of two parts:

Firstly, we can carry out short term work to help you overcome anxiety that is immediately affecting your health and wellbeing. Much of this involves a full exploration of your fears in a safe environment; we can begin to take a rational view of thoughts that are being governed by powerful and irrational feelings.

Secondly, once your life is more under your control and the worst of the anxiety has been contained, we can work to discover more about the reasons for your anxiety. In most cases we will find that things are not what they seem - most of our anxieties are the result of us redirecting a deeper and more child-like fear onto something more superficial and, in many ways, less scary. Psychotherapy and counselling provide the setting in which you can discover and make good use of these hidden truths.

If you would like to book in for treatment for anxiety then click here to arrange your first psychotherapy session in either Brighton, Hove or Horsham.

Anxiety Articles

Below is a list of articles concerning anxiety. These are all links to external sites and should provide a wider understanding of anxiety:

How to Deal with Stress and Anxiety in Four Simple Steps: Elizabeth Scott provides help for coping with the symptoms of anxiety.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder - Symptoms, Treatment and Self-Help: Melinda Smith and Ellen Jaffe-Gill outline the differences between anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder as well as discussing the best ways to respond to both.

How to Cope with Anxiety: Ryan Rivera discusses some does and don'ts of coping with anxiety.