Anxiety Therapy in London

Anxiety is a healthy feeling, and it is a normal response to stressors in our lives. Everybody feels anxious from some time to time.

Excessive worrying or high anxiety occurs when individuals are constantly worried for no apparent reason or when the level of anxiety is inappropriate for the situation. People with high anxiety might expect bad things to happen and might think of the worst-case scenario.

Highly anxious people often worry about social situations, health, family, or money. For example, individuals are constantly worried that they might catch a disease, or fear that they might lose their jobs or might feel not financially secure.

Anxiety can occur for many different reasons, but it usually results from the combination of more than one stressor. Periods of high anxiety can happen once or might become chronic. Not everybody develops an anxiety disorder after a period of high anxiety. Environmental factors, genetic predispositions, complications due to other diseases, and irregularities in brain chemistry are among the main triggers of anxiety. Problems at school, workplace, family and social environment, relationship problems and traumatic events are the main causes of high anxiety. Having various anxiety disorders in the family might also make people more prone to high anxiety. In addition, anxiety might also occur due to other medical conditions. Conditions such as complex surgeries and long recovery periods might also cause various types of anxiety.

It is seen in 5-6 out of every 100 people and it can occur at any stage of life.

Not everybody who is constantly worried or struggling to cope with anxiety has an anxiety disorder. If the high anxiety persists more than a significant amount of time and interferes with the daily activities, it may be a sign of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

• High anxiety for no reason
• Poor concentration
• Exhaustion
• Sleeping problems
• Trembling
• Restlessness
• Irritability and nervousness
• Muscle aches, headaches

Generalized anxiety disorder and high anxiety can be treated with talking therapies and medication. Cognitive behavioral therapy is among the most effective treatments for anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to help people to cope with the feeling of anxiety and replace these feelings and thoughts with the ones appropriate to the situation,

Some people might need medication to help them with the anxiety. If you feel like you might need medication, it is best to consult the GP. Antidepressants are often used; it is aimed to reduce the feeling of anxiety and fear and to reach a calmer mood. Medications used in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder do not have any side effects such as addiction.

The main purpose of the anxiety treatment is to reduce the level of anxiety experienced and to ensure that people can continue their daily life without interruptions caused by anxiety. Our bodies have an alarm system which warns us against threats so that we can protect ourselves. In case of the anxiety disorders, the alarm system gives an error. The goal is to help clients to see how their anxiety mechanism is alerted by a false alarm. Many people with high anxiety might begin avoiding anxiety inducing situations to reduce anxiety levels. For example, a person with high anxiety might give up exercising to protect oneself against a minor heart palpitation or avoid meeting new people not to feel embarrassed.

One of the most important elements of treatment is psychoeducation, which teaches people the function of anxiety and how to keep it under control. Knowing the causes and consequences of the problem and possible treatment options might help you feel safe.

To cope with the daily stressors, it might be helpful to build stress management skills, learning relaxation techniques, exercising, and receiving social support. Self-care practices such as walking, exercising, team sports, meditation, breathing exercises, long baths, and yoga can help control anxiety symptoms and alleviate anxiety. Having a social support network where people can share their worries and concerns and receive emotional support or participating in support groups will also be helpful to reduce anxiety.

Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia refers to the intense feelings of anxiety, fear and shame that arise due to the fear of being evaluated and judged negatively by others in social situations.

It is totally understandable for someone to feel anxious in a novel or more difficult social situations more than the others going on a first date or attending a job interview, but in social anxiety disorder, fear and anxiety would cause the individual to avoid events to a degree that can disrupt their life. Social phobia might affect an individual’s daily routine, work, school, friendships, dating or other activities.

Social anxiety manifest itself in different forms and shapes. It might be in the form of performance anxiety such making a presentation, or it can simply result from attending a social event, meeting new people or even eating in public or shopping or going to school or work.

Social anxiety disorder symptoms might begin in childhood or in adulthood.

• Fear of being judged negatively in social situations
• Worrying about embarrassing yourself
• Fear of going into new situations or talking to new people
• Fear of your anxiety being noticeable by other people
• Avoidance of social situations which would trigger anxiety or attending to such events with high levels of anxiety
• Feeling anxious in anticipation of the social event
• Overthinking and analysing your performance and focusing on flaws after a social situation

There are some research outcomes showing that social anxiety disorder is a learned behavior. Some individuals may develop social phobia later in life after an uncomfortable or embarrassing social situation in childhood. There is also a correlation between parents who display anxious behaviors in social situations or who control their children more intensely or who are overprotective tend to develop social anxiety disorder more. It has been observed that children who experience negative experiences such as being rejected or bullied are more prone to social anxiety disorder. Other negative events such as family conflict, trauma or abuse can also be associated with social anxiety disorder.

The most common form of psychotherapy for Social Anxiety Disorders is Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy. In the first phase of the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for social anxiety, the focus is on recognizing the feelings of anxiety and bodily reactions, understanding what kind of thoughts, and thinking errors cause anxiety, and developing healthier thinking strategies and coping tools. In behavioural therapy, on the other hand, there are methods that can be structured differently for each client role plays, relaxation training, social skills training and exposure to social situations.