Overcoming Anxiety, Fears, and Phobias
Overcoming Anxiety, Fears, and Phobias
WHAT ARE ANXIETY DISORDERS?
Panic attacks can occur in the context of ANY anxiety disorders. The attack has a sudden onset and builds to a peak rapidly, and is often accompanied by a sense of imminent danger or impending doom and an urge to escape. And, all of these somatic and cognitive demonstrations usually occur in an ABSENCE of any real danger.
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Agoraphobia is most common of all phobias and occurs predominantly in women. While this phobia is commonly defined as a fear of open spaces, the primary fear is leaving the safety and security of home and/or companions. The fear of being in public is the secondary fear. It often centers on a fear of finding oneself in a situation from which escape is difficult, or where help is unavailable, in the case of panic attacks and the avoidance of stimuli.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by obsession (which causes marked anxiety and distress) or by compulsions (which serve to neutralize anxiety).
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder refers to a personís re-experiencing of an extremely traumatic event accompanied by symptoms of increased arousal and by the avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma.
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder is when one suffers from at least 6 months persistent and excessive anxiety and worry.
HOW IT AFFECTS YOU PHYSICALLY?
We had already mentioned Specific Phobia, which is characterized by a clinically significant anxiety as a result of exposure to a specific feared object or situation. The list of specific phobias is endless. Just to prove it, Professor Murray (1997) reported a case of a three-year-old girl who developed a Popeye phobia after seeing the character on TV. Seeing the Popeye cartoon, combined with fright, resulted in the immediate association, Popeye Equals Fear. As a result she developed bronchitis, which got worse when she attended school. Why? There was a boy at school who had slippers with a picture of Popeye on them, and this triggered her extreme reaction.​
​There is also Social Phobia. Symptoms are abnormal anxiety provoked by exposure to certain types of social or performance situations. Both specific and social phobia can lead to avoidance behavior. If left untreated, these disorders can usually dominate a person's life and take over their every action. By acknolwedging and undergroing treatment, a permanent cure can be achieved.
WHAT HYPNOSIS CAN DO TO HELP?
Many scientific theories have been proposed as to why we develop anxiety disorders. Many researchers point towards specific traumatic experiences in our earlier life that trigger strong emotions that in turn create problems for us in our later lives. However, as the problems develop and as the years go by, the reason for our fears and anxieties become unsupported.
Using advanced ëregression hypnotherapyí we are able to take you back to those traumatic events.
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Do not worry - you do not have to go through the event again if it is too painful. Instead, we focus on feelings that are present just AFTER the event. The difference is that you can look at those emotions and situations from the perspective of the person that you are NOW, and therefore you begin to realise that there is no longer any need to feel NOW as you did THEN.
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The therapy takes on average 5 sessions, which are spread across 4 weeks. In the case of agoraphobia, we would arrange home visits..
