Anxiety ...

However programmed we are to have a normal fight or flight response to danger, the world we now live in is not full of sabre-toothed tigers waiting to pounce on us when we leave our cave. Instead we live in a world where stressors are often lower in acuity but more persistent and pervasive. Sometimes we are not even sure why we are anxious, even though we may feel like we are anxious and stressed all the time. Some people even develop powerful impulses to act in ways that they know are unusual, in an attempt to prevent bad things from happening.

There are many common sense and sometimes useful ways of helping with anxiety, such as relaxation and distraction. However, when we try something to get rid of our anxiety and it is still there, then it can have a tendency to increase by feeding the belief that it will never go away. After all, you just took some time off, exercised, caught up on sleep etc., yet still feel anxious or worried. This can seem even more frightening when there are no obvious triggers.

Unhelpful behaviours that avoid or overcompensate for our fears often just perpetuate our anxiety. The thinking and belief patterns that we inherit and develop can be successfully challenged, breaking the cycles of anxiety whilst increasing our ability to cope with threat, whether real or imagined.