Glasgow Anxiety Therapy

The cycle of worrying is clearly demonstrated with insomnia. If sleep has been difficult, then we can lie in bed and worry that we won't sleep, so we don`t. And the cycle can continue for weeks, even years. Chronic sleep problems can lead to anxiety and depression, so it is well worth getting treatment.

A recent report in The Lancet records that cognitive behavioural therapy works better than drugs for a long-term result. I use CBT with hypnosis, as this speeds the process along. Sadly, although CBT has been shown to be effective, drugs are cheaper. As the Lancet notes, as well as face-to-face therapy, online therapy is very effective. My DIY page gives a number of  links to free-of-charge excellent websites. I work by phone and email as well as face-to-face. For some people this works best. Guided CBT with hypnosis a pleasant experience. You will be feeling significantly better after just a few sessions. And you will know if it suits you after just one.

We worry about all sorts of things. In this area, we tend to be very creative. We worry about blushing or the shape of our noses. We fear that we will make a fool of ourselves in front of our friends or colleagues if we are asked to speak. We get anxious about going to the loo, or not finding a loo. And all of these worries, and more besides, interfere with our lives, and make us unhappy. Even worse, we get into the habit of worrying, so that all these unpleasant thoughts are the first that pop into our minds and overwhelm the good experiences. Worrying like this can damage our self-esteem and self-confidence, making us unwilling to take on new challenges and this takes a lot of the fun out of our lives.

In all of these cases and many more, cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy works fast and effectively and therefore offers terrific value for money. Why not give it a try. You have nothing to lose but your worries!

 Anxiety appears in many forms. Whenever it comes on, whatever it is called, it is fear. It may seem extraordinary that a person may not be able walk to the end of his road, but that is the power of fear. It may be out of proportion, but it is paralysing.   But it doesn’t have to be forever. Anxiety in all forms can be treated. This text comes from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Anxiety has a purpose. It makes us more alert, more aware, more ready for action. The fight or flight hormones rush through our body, getting us ready for action. That’s very useful in the jungle. And a little bit can help if we have to give a talk to colleagues. Too much and you want to run away. That’s panic.

The good news is that you can learn how to regain control. Methods have been developed over the last 50 years or so, and proved to work. So take courage. Decide to take action. Because you can get better.

In hypnosis, you can look at the things that make you anxious and learn to respond in a different way. Because of course, anxiety triggers more anxiety. And fear of anxiety is paralysing too.

With the sort of hypnotherapy that I practice, you can expect to feel significantly better after just a few sessions, armed with some practical techniques that will last you all your life. You will rebuild your self-confidence as your anxiety recedes. Why wait?

If we think about nice things that might happen in the future, we will feel happy and relaxed. If we think about all the terrible things that might happen, then we are likely to feel low.

This is probably the most important thing to know when you are wanting to manage your anxiety.

You can try it out for yourself. Remember a time when you felt really good about yourself. Smile to yourself. How do you feel? Then think of a ghastly mistake you made in the past, and notice all the feelings. With me, it is a hot face and dry mouth, maybe with a sense of shame.

So, knowing that it is your thoughts, or your belief systems and attitudes that are making you feel this way, you can accept that if you change these, then you will change your feelings. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was developed to deal with just this sort of problem. If you want to have a go on your own, try David Burns' book The Feelgood Handbook. Or give me a call and try some cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy.

The most effective way to deal with anxiety and worry is through cognitive behavioural therapy. This is what I use, alongside hypnosis, which has been shown to speed up the process.

But nowadays technology has been harnessed to help you. There are great online therapy courses and there are now apps for your smart phone. So, there are lots of ways now to feel better. No reason to hang on to your worries and anxiety and the misery it causes you.

The technology-based therapies can be used on their own, but if you want a helping hand, then contact me. I have gone modern too, and offer therapy on the phone supported by hypnosis cds which have been prepared just for you, to deal with your specific problems. For some people this is great, as it is anonymous. You don't need to say who you are. And I continue to offer face-to-face therapy sessions in Glasgow and Annan.

Resilience is our psychological immune system. It protects us from the fear of failure and helps us to develop an optimistic outlook. It makes us strong and gives us the courage to continue even when things seem bleak.

We can train ourselves to be resilient and it is quite straightforward.

People who worry tend to focus on the bad things that might happen. So that is a clue! Spending some time making a note of things that go well is the basic idea.

If you are a worrier or have become a bit of a pessimist, or if you find that your difficulties are sometimes overwhelming, then a bit of resilience training might be just the ticket.

Every day, make a note of a few things, 3 maybe,  that you enjoyed or that went well, or indeed did not turn out to be the disaster you predicted. Writing them down can help.

Then think about why it happened. Was it a happy coincidence? Was it because you took some action - made a phone call, for example, or took the plunge into something you have been avoiding maybe.

Then consider how you feel about this good thing. Why do you value it? What does it tell you?

And next, how can you get more of it?

When things are enjoyable, then why not have some more? If something worked, then do it again.

These ideas have been developed by the Penn Resiliency Programme, which has been taken up by the US Army as a way to help their soldiers get prepared for the anxiety and difficulties that they will undoubtedly come across. So, even though this is simple, it has been shown to work even in the most stressful circumstances.

Rather than dwell on all the problems in our lives, which just make us feel bad, this technique helps us to get things in perspective, by getting as much benefit as we can from the good things that we experience. Give it a try.

Most people get anxious at the idea of performing in front of other people. Professional musicians and actors suffer too, but they find that with experience, the fright diminishes. So, habituation, getting used to it, helps to reduce the anxiety. That means to get over your stage fright, get on the stage more! Practice in any anxiety-inducing situation helps, so that you get used to feeling stressed and under pressure, whilst coping with your anxiety and surviving.

Because we see so many polished performances at events, on the telly etc, we get the idea that we have to achieve that standard of fluency and skill, dropping in a few witty jokes even, right from the outset. If we are inexperienced, we can only expect to give a fairly mundane performance. Practice makes perfect. This is a skill and it takes time to learn. Just realising this can help by allowing you to be average rather than feeling you have to amaze your audience. Perfectionist expectations just put on more pressure, so just accepting that you will be average, even a little dull, is helpful.

Certain kinds of thinking can make matters worse. Catastrophising is one of them. So we can focus on more helpful kinds of thoughts. Rather than, O no, I am going to make a complete fool of myself in front of all these people and my boss will fire me (catastrophic and not helpful) then maybe I shall try to speak slowly, I have prepared my notes. I can make a mistake and still succeed. (Realistic appraisal and kind self-talk).

Cognitive behavioural therapy has been shown to work for performance anxiety.

I have been recommending yoga to my clients for some time now. There is lots of research which shows that it helps reduce anxiety. I am keen on it because of the breathing techniques. Shallow rapid breathing is implicated in anxiety and panic attacks and yoga can teach you deep diaphragmatic breathing, the sort actors and singers use. But as well as that, new research shows that stretching exercises, such as with yoga, increases the level of antioxidants in our blood, protecting us from cell damage. Antioxidants are also found in those superfoods - essentially any bright coloured fruit or veg. So for all these good reasons, read what Caroline Smart, a yoga teacher in Glasgow, has to say about yoga.

I was very lucky to discover yoga when I was 17. A TV series in the 70s called Yoga for Health hooked me and now, over 30 years on, I am a trained Yoga Scotland teacher. The great thing about yoga is that it is a journey to good health and it offers many different types of path to get there. May be you just want a gentle incline. Or perhaps you are after the challenge of a steep climb. You need to decide which path suits you best. Ultimately the goal is well being (both of body and probably more importantly, of mind). Sometimes people are put off by the strange sounding names: Iyengar, Bikram, Ashtanga, Dru. These are just the different teaching methods and may refer to the name of the teacher who inspired it (Iyengar) or the style (Ashtanga). See the glossary below for further information. All these types of yoga are essentially hatha yoga which means your route to total wellbeing is through a physical approach. You may have already come across some of the poses: cobra, tree, mountain, etc. Many are named after the natural world and the shape the pose makes.

Practising the poses gets your body a bit more supple and under your control. This doesn’t mean getting your feet hooked behind the back of your head stuff. A back bend might be simply lying on your tummy and lifting your head and shoulders off the ground. An upside down pose could be lying on the ground with your legs leaning up against the wall (believe me, this is very refreshing!).

And yoga can help you quieten your mind. Anyone out there with grasshopper concentration? No, it’s not a yoga technique! It is probably where most of us are today with the hundreds of distractions that fill our minds with a ticker tape of worrying thoughts. The quickest way to still an overworked mind is simply by turning your attention to your breath. Just focus on the breath being drawn in and out through your nostrils. Feel it on the inside of the nostrils as it enters the body, and then, when you are ready to breath out, feel it as it leaves the body. See? Everything else has been blocked out. Yoga teaches you how to fill your lungs with nourishing oxygen-rich air and then how to empty them completely.

Many of the problems associated with hyperventilation and panic attacks come from bad habits in breathing. Maybe over the years and leading a stressful life you have forgotten how to breathe properly and any breathing takes place in the top of your lungs. Yoga teaches how to relearn good habits. Visualise a jug filling a glass full of water. As you pour the water in, first the bottom of the glass fills, then the middle, then the top. To empty the glass, first the water comes out of the top, then the middle and then the bottom. So it is with belly breathing. As you fill the bottom of the lungs with air, it forces the diaphragm down leaving no room for the belly except to push outwards. As you empty the lungs and the diaphragm is drawn back into place, so your belly is drawn back into its usual position.

Your experience can often depend on the teacher. It may take a few tries to find both the style of yoga and teacher that are right for you. It is wise to find out whether the class is right for you - beginner or advanced.

For classes with me here in Glasgow, email ninianetta@yahoo.co.uk. For hatha yoga classes in Scotland visit www.yogascotland.org.uk.

Hatha: Classes with this name are probably more suited to beginners who want a gentle introduction to the poses and basic breathing techniques.
Dru: A graceful form of yoga based on flowing movement using the breath. Good for beginners.
Vinyasa: Relatively fast paced combining breath and movement. Salute to the Sun often introduces the class.
Bikram: A sequence of 26 poses carried out in sauna-like condition so that toxins are sweated out of the body. Better for advanced students who know the poses.
Iyengar: Usually quite physically challenging, using props such as belt and blocks. Often suited to men because of the physical strength aspect.
Ashtanga: Power yoga. Even more physical than Iyengar. Suits people with lots of energy to burn and who want a body like Madonna’s.

If you get deeply involved in yoga you may be interested in its traditional beliefs. For example, that yoga breathing directs energy (prana) around the body to ensure that the main energy channel travelling up the spine is free of blockages. To move energy upwards, there are 7 wheels (chakras) located from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. These wheels are also associated with emotional states: any blockages (or, indeed, too open a chakra) can cause problems. A blockage in the throat chakra (associated with communication) might mean that you find it difficult to express what you feel. Too open a heart centre (associated with compassion) might mean that you are taking on everyone else’s problems and becoming overwhelmed by them.

While these beliefs might not fit in with your view of the world, research does show that yoga practice reduces anxiety by reducing the levels of cortisol in the blood. Well worth a try.

The symptoms of anxiety are caused by the flood of hormones rushing through your body - the body's way of preparing you for danger,  the fight or flight response. This response can be triggered by lots of different things. These symptoms can come out out of the blue. The fight or flight response happens instantly when we sense a threat. This could just be a preconscious recall of a difficult experience, triggered by smell, the sight of something linked to the situation, or a wide range of seemingly unrelated things. Whatever it is, if we sense danger, this hormonal response is triggered.

It takes a few seconds for the thinking part of the brain (the cortex) to process the situation and evaluate whether the threat is real, and if so, how to handle it. So the hormones get triggered quite a bit before your brain gets involved. If the cortex sends the all-clear signal, the fight-flight response is deactivated and the nervous system can relax. But if we now start worrying about why we felt this way, we can get those hormones racing again.

If you are menopausal, these symptoms can be purely related to the changing hormonal balance. They may feel like anxiety, but they are just physiological. They have no meaning. (Hot flushes can be managed by hypnosis.)

Cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy will help you to understand and manage anxiety symptoms, so that you get relaxed and comfortable again quickly.