What is anxiety and what causes it?
“When a problem is acute, treat the stem; when a problem is chronic, treat the root”
– Oriental saying.
A lot of anxiety has a root cause deep within our subconscious mind.
We live in a fast-paced world where we rush around from morning until evening, so feelings of stress and anxiety are very common. In fact, anxiety disorders are extremely common and a survey in the UK revealed that 1 in 6 people had experienced some form of ‘neurotic health problem’ in the previous week (1). At present 40% of disability worldwide is due to depression and anxiety (2). The basic emotion behind anxiety is fear. It may be also useful to view fear as being an acronym for ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’. We should also consider the period of time upon which this fear is focused. Is it the past, the present or the future? We all have a tendency to ponder ‘what ifs’ and ‘should haves’ and getting carried away with doing this can contribute towards anxiety. We have all experienced that mental chatter at some point.
When does anxiety become something that needs treatment?
Anxiety is a natural response to stress or danger, activating the so-called ‘fight or flight’ response where your body is flooded with adrenaline to help you cope better with the situation. This can, however, prove problematic if a person becomes anxious in a way that is out of proportion to the actual danger of the situation or when indeed there is no danger present. Some people may end up having a panic attack, which is a rather sudden or intense response in nature. In addition, for some people a panic attack may also be accompanied by agoraphobia (fear of open spaces).
Feeling anxious brings about both physiological and psychological symptoms:
Physiological symptoms include:
- nausea; feeling sick
- shortness of breath
- heart pounding/racing
- dry mouth
- sweating
- dry mouth
- butterflies in stomach
Psychological symptoms include:
- agitation
- irritability
- catastrophising (something terrible is going to happen such as black out, seizure etc.)
- fear of losing control
- feelings of detachment
Online therapy sessions for anxiety
If circumstances or distance mean that you’re not able to meet in person, I am also able to offer online therapy sessions for anxiety.
How can you book a therapy session to treat anxiety?
To arrange a booking with me in Larbert or even just to find out more, please contact me.
Where am I based?
I’m based in Larbert. If you’re not sure how close that is to you, I’m:
- 3.5 Miles from Falkirk (direct trains)
- 9.1 Miles from Stirling (direct trains)
- 9.9 Miles from Cumbernauld
- 12.3 Miles from Linlithgow
- 12.5 Miles from Alloa (direct trains)
- 18 Miles from Dunfermline
- 22.7 Miles from Glasgow (direct trains)
- 30.7 Miles from Edinburgh (direct trains)
References:
- Office for National Statistics. ‘Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity in Great Britain. Report 1 – The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households.’ The Stationery Office. 1995
- WHO (2002), The Global Burden of Disease.