Anxiety and Fears

Firstly, anxiety and fear are among the most basic of emotions, experienced by everyone. As with other emotions, anxiety and fear occurs across cultures and even across species. Our fight, fright or freeze response is an unconscious one and is there to protect us from a perceived danger. When the danger is reality based, like a grizzly bear eyeing us up for their next meal, then fight or flight is most appropriate and flight being the better option where the grizzly bear is concerned! 

However, anxiety, fear and worry can occur in the absence of any real danger, which is one of the defining features of anxiety disorders. People with anxiety symptoms often over estimate the level of threat in the situations that they fear. They can avoid feared situations and engage in a variety of unnecessary behaviours to protect themselves from perceived danger, to the point that it becomes life limiting. Another feature of anxiety in the many clients I have worked with is the “what if” thought process. Anxiety clients have a tendency to live in the future; bringing their future fears about the anticipated situation or phobia back into the here and now. The situation is then something to be avoided at all costs. 

The fear response can also escalate and intensify thus increasing the need to avoid situations that make you anxious; this only helps you feel better in the short term. The trouble is the anxiety keeps returning and has a habit of spreading to other situations, which is another form of intensifying. This can lead to the avoidance of things like shops, crowded places and driving etc., so although avoidance makes you feel better:

      Relief is only temporary - you may worry 

         about what will happen next time.

       Every time you avoid something it

         is harder to face it next time.   

            Gradually you want to avoid more

         and more things. 

                            What causes anxiety disorders? 

Before answering that, let’s remind ourselves that feelings of anxiety and panic are natural feelings which almost everyone experiences at some point in their life. So the question is not so much: What causes anxiety? But rather: What exaggerates and perpetuates the natural anxiety inherent in everyone? 

As mentioned previously on this website there is a lot of research going on with regard to how the mind and body influences each other. How anxiety, worry negative thoughts and emotions can affect our immune system and eventually result in a psychological response/disease.  

At present the following are all believed to play a role in the occurrence of anxiety disorders:  

• heredity 
• brain chemistry   
• personality  
• life experiences   

                             Heredity and anxiety disorders

There is clear evidence that anxiety disorders run in families. This can be genetic or just passed down by the child learning from the parent or another authority figure. This was very evident when I worked with a child suffering from arachnophobia. His mother also had an aversion to spiders but because her anxiety surrounding them hadn’t got to the extreme point where her sons had, she hadn't made any connection. I was able to help him overcome his phobia, however. Children do not seem to hang on to things in the same way as adults do and can heal very quickly.

Studies show that if one identical twin has an anxiety disorder, the second twin is more likely to have an anxiety disorder than non-identical (fraternal) twins. These findings suggest that a genetic factor, possibly activated in combination with life experiences, predisposes some people to these disorders. 

                      Brain chemistry and anxiety disorders

Because symptoms of anxiety disorders are often relieved by medications that alter levels of chemicals in the brain, scientists believe that brain chemistry appears to play a role in the onset of anxiety disorders. I would like to point out here that it is important to remember that medications whilst having a place in relieving symptoms, that is all they do. They do not help with the causes or get the root of the issue. Sometimes anxiety may be caused by using street drugs like amphetamines, LSD or Ecstasy. Even the caffeine in coffee can be enough to make some of us feel uncomfortably anxious!   Once again, through experience, I would highlight that anxiety/phobias can occur through prescribed medications too, as a side effect which perhaps is less commonly known.

                           Personality and anxiety disorders

Researchers believe that personality may play a role in the development of an anxiety disorder, noting that people who have low self-esteem and poor coping skills may be more prone. Conversely, an anxiety disorder that begins in childhood may itself contribute to the development of low self-esteem. That is a bit like the chicken and the egg; which comes first? My experience to date has been more the latter. 

I also know that anxiety can be managed successfully at the very least and in most cases overcome, therefore it is not always so important what came first; it is not the focus of the therapy unless helpful in the process of change. 

                        Life experiences and anxiety disorders

Researchers also state that the relationship between anxiety disorders and long-term exposure to abuse, violence, or poverty is an important area for further study, as life experiences, such as death of a loved one, may affect an individual's susceptibility to these disorders. During my particular work with complex PTSD; where the client had experienced long term abuse and had become hyper-vigilant even though the danger/threat was no longer being experienced, concurs with this belief.  

As previously mentioned, my experience has been that fear and anxiety can be overcome and life can be free of these often times crippling feelings and emotions. When exploring the power of Hypnosis and EFT with clients and explaining that because we will finally be talking to the part of the mind where all these emotions are stored, in the unconscious mind and not the conscious thinking mind, there is a sense of relief in that alone. This may have been something that the client has been struggling with using their rational conscious mind, sometimes for decades, to no avail. It is the realisation that by calling themselves names like “stupid” “childish” “pathetic” and such like, really do not work, definitely has no lasting effect and will certainly contribute to lowering self esteem. These feelings are not rational in any way, however, there is a language that understands and can change these feelings; the language of Hypnosis and Emotional Freedom Technique.  

                                Breathing and Anxiety

During my extensive work with anxiety clients, I have found that another pattern is the habit to under breathe (some may call it over breathing). I assist clients in recognising their breathing patterns and the connection between their pattern of breathing and their fight, flight and freeze response; we work together to re-pattern breathing to activate calm and confident control.  At last there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

                 I would like to share this quote from Nelson Mandela.