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ANXIETY
by
Christine Hargan, BSc (Hons)
Psychology
www.psychologicalsolutionsforme.com
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Sounds a bit daft, but have
you ever stopped to think what anxiety is?...... the
assumption is that we all know, but if you check a
dictionary, there are lots of definitions… In their
dictionary of psychological terms English & English
(1958) state 6 separate meanings, one of the most
obvious being… that anxiety is a learned and
anticipatory response to an event in the future and it
has three components – the first is rooted in thought
processes, the second in behaviour, and the third in
physiology.
Did you know that when you get anxious/ worried about
something; your body changes. You become more nervous,
anticipating something bad will happen your behaviour
changes, fidgety perhaps, or jumpy, your breathing
becomes more rapid and shallower, your heart beat races
you become a little flushed, ….. your metabolism will
speed up a little and you may get a rush of adrenaline –
the primitive fight or flight syndrome. Actually when
you think about it, a little anxiety is healthy, humans
still have some primeval instincts even in this modern
computer driven age and consumer society – but what if
it becomes a problem?
The simple answer is: do something about it. What can
you do? There are lots of self help methods available.
Firstly work out what you are anxious about. Is there a
certain cause? You could brain dump…. Get a piece of
paper and empty your mind…. Write down all the things
that make you anxious and see if they have anything in
common. Then ask yourself why they make you anxious? Is
there a common cause? How do you react to anxiety? Once
you have found the cause you can rationalise, are you
justified in being anxious?
• If you are - simply reduce the likelihood of being
exposed to the trigger.
• If not - you could ask yourself what you need to do to
minimise the effects.
The effects usually include:-
Rapid breathing, increased heart beat and knots in the
stomach
How do I minimise the effects?
Simply take three deep breaths, each to a count of three
and exhale thoroughly, until the lungs are completely
empty. The reason breathing deeply is so calming is that
over breathing creates excess oxygen in the body, that
causes, flushed skin, increased heart beat, and
increased adrenaline. Sounds simple…. For some people it
is, for many others it really isn’t.
A very sad sign of the times is that a whole set of
industries (mine included) have been created to address
anxiety. The leisure industry has been created in
response to parental fear of their children being
abducted, and murdered or molested, to the point that
town dwellers are reluctant to let their little ones
play outside. For the lucky children that get to play
out, they may get skin cancer because of the sun… so
rather than being sensible and stay out of the sun,
simply taking a siesta, or training them to play in the
shade we spend a fortune on products that protect the
skin…. (another industry built on fear) so we can stay
out in the sun for longer… Grannies in hot countries
used olive oil, (that their families produce) from the
kitchen cupboard to protect the skin and Aloe Vera from
their gardens to sooth burns, grazes and cuts.
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Christine Hargan, BSc (Hons) Psychology; Specialises in
and treats the causes and effects of emotional
disorders, confidence and addiction based issues with
hypnotherapy, NLP and psychotherapy. For further
information
www.psychologicalsolutionsforme.com
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