Anxiety is different from stress, and in some ways even more scary. But, thankfully, it’s manageable when you understand how the mind works.
It’s easy to confuse stress with anxiety. They are closely-related and the symptoms are the same – your heart banging in your chest, shortness of breath, a churning in your stomach. But there is a difference. Stress, is what we feel when confronted by some kind of external threat or pressure. Anxiety, however, comes from inside of us.
Given that they produce the same symptoms does it matter that stress and anxiety differ in this respect? Yes! If you are to treat it effectively.
Confusingly, prolonged stress can develop into anxiety. Our subconscious mind becomes imprinted with memories of all the things we experience – including all those times we got stressed. If we have a lot of those stressful periods then the imprint becomes profound. These then tend to resurface and can develop into an ever-present mental health issue. Whereas stress tends to subside once the cause has passed (a deadline, a meeting) anxiety continues even though there is actually nothing to worry about – it’s a persistent state of mind that we’re stuck with.
Identifying the cause of stress is relatively straightforward – work pressures, relationship problems and financial challenges are kind of obvious. With anxiety, however, it’s our internal thought pattern that’s the issue. There is no obvious trigger, which makes anxiety more upsetting.
One minute you’re fine and the next, for no apparent reason, you start to experience a nagging worried feeling, your heart begins to race, you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t drop off for hours or you have a full-on panic attack.
Anxiety is less scary when you understand what’s going on (you’re not going crazy!). I can sit down with you and explain all this in more detail – this will help you manage those feelings. Then, with the help of hypnosis, I can help you rearrange your thought patterns so they become less of an issue. You don’t have to live with anxiety – I can help you get your thoughts under control and remove that constant worry of always being worried!
Let's talk about how I can help you nip it in the bud. Call +44 (0) 7966 517708.
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