Tuesday 17 April 2018

Don’t let Anxiety Define You!


Anxiety is a normal, although perhaps, an unpleasant human emotion, which can affect us all in different ways and at different times. Whereas stress is something that will come and go as the external factor causing it (such as work, relationship or money problems, etc.) comes and goes, anxiety is something that can persist whether or not the cause is clear to the sufferer. Here at CBT and Counselling Kent our CBT therapists or counsellor will give you help for Anxiety Ashford by guiding you to understand how it’s your unhelpful thought patterns and behaviour that is driving your anxiety.

Anxiety is the body's way of responding to being in danger. Adrenaline is rushed into our bloodstream to enable us to run away or fight. This happens whether the danger is real, or whether we believe the danger is there when actually there is none. It is the body's alarm and survival mechanism. Primitive man wouldn't have survived for long without this life-saving response. It works so well, that it often kicks in when it's not needed - when the danger is in our heads rather than in reality. We think we're in danger, so that's enough to trigger the system to go, go, go! People who get anxious tend to get into scanning mode - where they're constantly on the lookout for danger, hyper-alert to any of the signals, and make it more likely that the alarm system will be activated.

Common physiological responses might include a rapid heartbeat, tightening of the chest, difficulty breathing, dizziness and nausea. 

Be aware of catastrophising!  Watch out for dramatic, negative, unrealistic and unhealthy “what if” thoughts. Anxiety feeds on catastrophic thinking and over-attention “What if they think I’m boring, that would be terrible!” and worst-case scenarios: “Oh my god, what if my headache is actually a brain tumour?” CBT and Counselling Kent offers help for anxiety helping you make sense of those irrational thoughts.

We will help you replace any irrational, rigid thoughts with more rational adaptive thought processes - change the way you respond. “Here we go again, my anxiety wants to get the better of me. I’m sweating and my breathing is shallow, but I’m okay. I’m going to pull over to the side of the road and calm down. Being a few minutes late to work is not the end of the world.” Making it to this step means you’re thinking with your rational brain.

 Because anxiety is rooted in the automatic fight-flight response, the brain can’t distinguish between a real threat and a perceived threat. It’s common to go into auto-pilot and either react impulsively (fight), or escape due to emotional flooding (flight). Sometimes the perceived threat is so intense; you may become immobile (freeze).  

Repeat steps 1-5 as often as necessary. Sometimes this process with take a few minutes, other times you're in it for the long haul. 

The help for anxiety we offer at CBT and Counselling Kent works with you to identify your patterns of unhealthy behaviour so you can make informed decisions about what to do instead

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