Is anxiety holding you back at work or causing problems at home?
Do you feel anxious when socialising or speaking in public?
Would you like to try a natural holistic treatment for anxiety?
This article explains why hypnosis for anxiety is an effective natural treatment.

If you suffer from anxiety you’re not alone. Anxiety is a very common problem. More than 8 million people in the UK suffer from anxiety. Emotional problems such as anxiety and depression are so common that they affect around one in four people every year.

The truth is, anxiety is the symptom, not the cause. Most drugs tend to treat the symptom but not the cause. Hypnotherapy, which uses hypnosis, can help you identify the triggers of your anxiety.

I use a natural and flexible approach to pinpoint the root of your anxiety and help you respond to your triggers more positively.

What’s the difference between stress and anxiety?

Everyone needs some stress in their lives. When stress comes in and out of your life it has a positive effect. Your body is designed to handle low to moderate levels of stress.

In fact, stress can be good for you. Stress helps you raise your game. An adrenaline rush sharpens your aim and helps you deliver on time.

But it is when the intensity and frequency of the stress become too much for your body to handle that stress harms you. This is when stress becomes anxiety.

One of the primary roles of the unconscious mind is to keep you safe from danger by controlling your fight or flight response.

The stress of modern life puts more and more pressure on your ‘fight or flight’ response. Your body is not designed to deal with the 24/7 constant bombardment of emails, social media and instant messages.

The pressures at work and home have replaced the natural predators our ancestors once had to deal with.

Our ancestors might have been able to run away from a tiger but that is not an effective way for you to handle your angry boss or demanding partner. And it’s certainly not appropriate to ‘fight’ them either!

How chronic stress affects your brain

Chronic stress can have a negative effect on your brain and increases your risk of developing a number of physical and mental problems.

Chronic stress is a major cause of inflammation in the body.
Inflammation can lead to a range of health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease.
The brain is normally protected from hormones and molecules in the blood by a blood-brain barrier.
Chronic stress can cause this blood-brain barrier to leak which lets the inflammation molecules into the brain.
When the inflammation molecules get into the brain they can cause damage.

The brain’s hippocampus is an important brain region for learning and memory.
It is particularly vulnerable to inflammatory chemicals, which can have a damaging effect on this part of the brain.

The body releases a hormone called cortisol during times of stress.
High cortisol can have a serious impact on the function of the brain.
It can shrink the hippocampus and has been linked with mood disorders.
High levels of cortisol can also affect your sleep.

Chronic stress also lowers the levels of the brain hormone called serotonin.
Serotonin is important for mood regulation and well-being.

As you can see chronic stress can have a negative effect on the brain and body.

Hypnosis for anxiety allows you to change your response to stressful events so you feel calm and relaxed.
And when you feel calm and relaxed inflammatory chemicals and cortisol levels reduce and serotonin increases so you are more positive and happy.
Here is an interesting video on how stress affects the body:

What’s your stress mindset?

Your “stress mindset” decides how you respond to stressful events in your life.

If you believe that stressful events can sharpen your focus, strengthen your motivation, and offer learning and achievement opportunities, then you have a “positive” stress mindset.

If you have a positive stress mindset you think of coping strategies which boost your performance and you end your day feeling more energised.

However, if you view stress as unpleasant, threatening and negative, then you have a “negative” stress mindset, which some evidence suggests can be harmful and lead to anxiety.

In fact, as humans, we are hardwired to focus on the negative rather than the positive. If someone is critical of you, this can have a greater impact than when someone pays you a compliment.

This is called the negativity bias. The negativity bias can have a serious impact on your behaviour, thoughts, decisions and relationships. The reason is you think for longer about the negative for longer than the positive.

The good news is, hypnotherapy can help you fight your negativity bias and develop a more positive mindset. Hypnotherapy can help you stop negative self-talk which is the basis of most low self-esteem and confidence.

With the use of visualisation techniques and positive imagery, it is possible to reframe your negative stress mindset into a new more positive mindset so you believe in yourself and learn to ignore the upsetting critical comments.

Learn to listen to your body

Some people cope with anxiety by sweeping the causes under the carpet, hoping that the causes will just go away. Others turn to alcohol or drugs to numb their feelings.

This might help in the short term but it just suppresses your negative emotions, which eventually surface again.

But you cannot silence your emotions. Suppressed emotions will be expressed in a variety of unwanted ways.

Eventually, your unconscious mind will get your attention. You might have migraines or a panic attack. These stop you in your tracks and give your body a rest.

The trouble is you haven’t given your unconscious mind a rest or dealt with the negative feelings and emotions.

What are the symptoms of anxiety?

The definition is anxiety is when you are worried or nervous about an uncertain outcome. People who suffer from anxiety often say that the physical and emotional feelings are so overwhelming, they feel they are ‘going mad’.

Anxiety can manifest itself, both physically and emotionally, in a wide range of symptoms such as:

Physical symptoms

• racing heartbeat
• shaking
• shortage of breath
• feeling sick
• dizziness
• headaches
• insomnia
• fatigue
• IBS

Emotional symptoms

• excessive worry
• irrational negative thoughts
• dreading the worst
• constantly feeling on edge
• irritable
• feeling detached
• avoiding situations

Not everyone that suffers from anxiety will have all of these symptoms. Some people find that exercise, such as swimming, can help to reduce the symptoms of anxiety or even depression. Some may have only a few of them but the impact on their life can be just as devastating.

What are the different types of anxiety disorders?

There are six different types of anxiety disorders, where anxiety is the core symptom:

• phobias – fear of heights, spiders, flying etc.
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – extreme fear in response to abuse, assault, military conflict etc.
• social anxiety disorder (S.A.D) – excessively self-conscious and fearful of being judged by others.
• general anxiety disorder – overwhelming fear without a definable source.
• panic disorder – recurring panic attacks with extreme chest pains and palpation, sometimes mistaken for a heart attack.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder – need to carry out obsessive routines and rituals.

These six anxiety disorders can overlap, for example, someone with social anxiety can also have an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

How hypnosis for anxiety can help you

Hypnosis for anxiety is a natural and holistic treatment that can help you view and respond to the triggers of your anxiety positively and help you live your life to the full. You will be able to find your happy place and discover what calm means to you.

Research has shown that about 95% of our behaviour is determined by our unconscious mind. Most of our decisions are made by our unconscious mind and are served up to our conscious mind for it to take the credit for the decision-making process.

You think you are making a conscious decision but you are not aware that your unconscious mind has already played a major part in your decision-making process.

Your anxiety is caused when your unconscious mind works too hard to keep you safe by responding inappropriately to everyday normal situations in a negative way.

Retrain your unconscious mind

Hypnosis for anxiety helps retrain your unconscious mind to respond appropriately to normal events and not perceive them as a threat.

There are no drugs or chemicals whatsoever. Hypnosis for anxiety helps you find the cause of your anxiety so you can find a better way to handle your fears.

So if you would like to help with your anxiety, please get in touch to book your free consultation and find out if hypnosis for anxiety can help you.

Note

Individual results can vary. There are no guarantees that hypnosis for anxiety will be effective in every case. For therapy to be successful you need to be open to change and fully committed.