Control Your Anxiety – How To Guide
Anxiety is increasingly prevalent these days.
Getting control of your anxiety is vital, as it can can cause stress, heart palpations, racing thoughts, insomnia, lack of focus and concentration, feeling of powerlessness, OCD and much more.
If you constantly argue and fight about your …. (relationship, job, spouse, life in general – fill in your own issue here)…. and continue to brood and worry over how much you hate the situation or how unhelpful that job, situation or person is, etc. you are adding fuel to your stress levels.
This continues to escalate until you lose it and have a melt down, panic attack, migraine, or some other out-of-control behaviour! There is a bitter argument or confrontation, where neither side wins. It becomes a vicious circle, going around and around. Sound familiar?
Anxiety can have a major effect on your life…
Anxiety can have a major physical and mental effect on you – your feelings, emotions, sensations, behaviours, conduct and abilities, all of which can affect your health and wellness. No part of the immune system is exempt. Stress and anxiety can build-up, make existing conditions worse, and you can end up with major health issues – stroke, heart attack, or even death if left untreated. It can also affect all areas of your life – your relationships, your work, sport, etc. It is vital to control your anxiety, so it doesn’t control you.
Because we all deal differently with anxiety, your symptoms may differ. They may be obscure, and some instances may be identical to some medical conditions. E.g. heart palpitations, etc. It is important to get these checked out by your doctor. Do you suffer from any of these signs or symptoms
Why do I get this way?
Sometimes it seems that situations intensify and quickly get out of control. Negative feelings erupt and you end up in an argument with your spouse, co-worker, or someone else. Or you find that you get more and more nervous and stressed when you think about doing something (e.g. flying). You over think when you feel slighted, put down, undervalued, lonely, etc. Continually think about what happened, justifying your actions to yourself, and worrying about what will happen the next time. If nothing is done it can only get worse. Understanding how and why this happens, identifying the source of the stress can be very important. It could be a minor or major event that initially triggers the anxiety. A simple or big thing that that impacted on you emotionally at that time.
How do we cope in stressful situations
Some people cope better than others in stressful situations. Maybe you’re constantly worried about deadlines and the demands of your job, your financial situation, or your children? Or worrying about someone’s opinion of you, or feeling constantly undervalued and/or put down. Maybe you were in a car accident or had a near miss, or a relationship break up or the death of a loved one. Or, maybe it’s more to do with procrastinating because you don’t like doing something, that is causing the anxiety and stress? And a number of events over a period of time can increase anxiety and increase stress levels.
I recall receiving a call from a very upset elderly woman, when I worked as a Telephone Counsellor at Lifeline, who had mislaid her purse. She admitted she didn’t have a lot of money in it and wasn’t concerned about the purse, but she couldn’t understand why she was feeling “so distraught”. She thought she was “going mad”. It took some gentle and careful probing to discover that she’d had a series of losses over the previous 18 months, including the death of her husband of 56 years, a beloved pet died, non of which she had not dealt with at the time. She had been brought up to “keep a stiff upper lip and carry on” no matter what. When she realised why she was so upset, she felt very relieved and better able to cope with things.” Sue Wood
There can be many causes, some unknown consciously, that can cause anxiety.
What could be important is that you need to identify the cause and also resolving your feelings about what happened. To start that process it’s a good idea to look closely at your own current habits, behaviours and attitudes, and also how you justify your actions to yourself. Do you perhaps blame your stress on others or outside events? “He makes me so mad when he doesn’t help out.” Or you brush off the stress with a glib comment – “Things tend to always be crazy around here”. Or maybe you consider it to be natural part of you, look on an issue or problem as entirely normal and unexceptional – “I have quite a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”. Or do you tend to brush it off as temporary “I must complete ALL of this work today, even though you don’t recall the last time you took a break or went home on time?
We can’t change all situations
Of course, there may be situations or environments we can’t change – that job you can’t leave because you don’t have another one to go to. And the only way you can deal with that is to change how you think, feel and respond to that situation. Managing anxiety and stress requires adjusting your thoughts. This in turn changes your behaviour – how you respond to triggers and situations that may have previously set you into a toxic whirlpool of negative emotions and reactions.
Do you feel powerless to change?
If you’ve answered yes, maybe you feel you just react that way as you “can’t help yourself”? You get caught up in a situation that seems you can’t control. You may feel ineffectual, helpless or powerless of changing how you react. Stress can have this effect and the more stressed you are the worse it becomes. And it doesn’t matter how or why you feel that way, you’ve still got to manage yourself – your feelings, emptions and behaviour at work or home, with your relationships or study at university, school or other study. You still have to have to cope with everyday situations, along with life’s challenges. You’ve still got to carry on! Controlling your anxiety is vital!
You can learn how to control your anxiety…
You can change how you respond to situations… By changing your thoughts, you can change your feelings which changes your actions (responses). You can change your life.
Here are some tips to help you to control your anxiety to start making changes
- Small changes work best – one step at a time.
- Take good care yourself – make sure you get sufficient rest and leisure time, are all very important. It’s that work – life balance.
- Move your body – become more active, start or increase your exercise
- Prioritize – Before you go to sleep make a list what you need to do the next day and prioritize each one.
- Gratitude Journal – Every morning, preferable soon after waking, hand write out 5 things you are thankful for in your life. NOTE: I’ve just recently purchased some of these beautiful journals for myself and my grandchildren. I will also buy more for Christmas presents. .
- Calm your mind – learn meditation or yoga. presents and am buying for
- Improve sleep – eat a small dinner, turn off devices 1 hour before sleep. A milky drink can aid sleep, as can a few drops of lavender oil near your pillow
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Talk to a hypnotherapist – this can be life changing in reducing your anxiety – even stopping it in is tracks.
Hypnosis has emerged as a promising approach for managing anxiety, as evidenced by a recent meta-analysis that sheds light on its effectiveness. This comprehensive review of 17 trials, highlights the significant impact of hypnosis on alleviating anxiety symptoms. The findings reveal that participants undergoing hypnosis experienced a remarkable reduction in anxiety, surpassing approximately 79% of control participants at the end of active treatment. Moreover, the benefits of hypnosis extended over time, with participants continuing to demonstrate improvement, surpassing about 84% of control participants at the longest follow-up.
These results underscore the potential of hypnosis as a valuable tool to control your anxiety. By tapping into the power of the subconscious mind, hypnosis enables individuals to explore and reframe their thoughts and emotions, leading to a profound sense of relaxation and calm. Through guided hypnotic sessions, individuals can learn to manage stress triggers, cultivate resilience, and develop coping strategies, fostering long-term relief from anxiety. With its demonstrated effectiveness and enduring benefits, hypnosis offers a holistic approach to managing anxiety, empowering individuals to reclaim control over their mental well-being and lead more fulfilling lives.*
At Alpha Hypnosis, we take the stress out of making changes by offering you a free, 30 mins (no obligation) consultation.
Roger Saxelby has helped hundreds of people control their anxiety, even quit feeling anxious at all.
He can help you!
Contact him today for your free 30 Mins consultation (on zoom or in person) or call him on 09 – 8377 877
*Efficacy of hypnosis for anxiety