Interesting facts about Anxiety
Research conducted a few years ago found that over 6,000,000 people in the UK suffered from anxiety either in its “pure” form or combined with depression. The numbers are still going up and recent UK statistics suggest 8.3 million people now suffer from a significant form of this problem. It’s not only an issue in the UK – similar research in the USA found over 40,000,000 anxiety victims.
Despite being so wide-spread, this mental health problem affects our lives in some very serious ways. A recent report by UN experts stated that anxiety-related issues caused more debilitating health effects than any other known long term physical disorders. At present 40% of disability worldwide is due to depression and anxiety!
We are thankfully living in a time where we are more aware of mental illnesses than in the past, however this problem disrupts our lifestyle and is a threat to our well-being more than ever before.
Despite all of this, over 65% of sufferers get no help. There are two major factors for the lack of support:
The first factor is subjective, as many people think “I’m just a it stressed, that’s all, It’s nothing serious”. That may be true in certain cases, but the millions of people suffering without treatment demonstrate that for many of us seeking professional help is still considered taboo, and many of us just keep “waiting for the right moment”.
The second factor is objective – it’s not pleasant to admit, but if all anxiety sufferers – millions of them – decided to seek professional help, there is no system in the world that could cope with providing professional help to each individual.
We don’t know how this global problem can be resolved, but we do have many experienced therapists and counsellors and we’re happy to help match you with the best suitable expert for your type of issue. You are invited to call now on 020 8158 6650.
But this is on an individual level, a private arrangement and is not free of charge. The saying “you get what you pay for” may not be the most pleasant in this case but it’s at least partially true. We have many options available with very reasonable rates, but if you can’t afford even these then there’s still help available – not with our experts but for free through the NHS. Hopefully, if you have access to a good GP, they might have some answers as there sometimes local services that can help, albeit these can be patchy and usually with significant waiting periods.
You can at least console yourself with the fact that in most other countries, there is no free service of this kind whatsoever.
Is anxiety normal?
Anxiety can be a normal emotion. We all suffer from anxiety at some point in our life. For example, anxiety is commonly felt before an exam or a performance. On many occasions anxiety is felt when a person encounters fear, which may lead to sweating and an elevated heartbeat, in addition to feeling stressed.
The worst part is that even when everything around you is perfectly normal you might still feel bad, tense and unhappy, along with any or all other symptoms. You known that you can’t just switch it off, you can’t relax, and you feel even more anxious because of the realisation that you can’t do anything about it.
Few people would consider it reasonable to DIY repairs on a plane, bus or even car – even though it’s relatively straight-forward to learn and the results are usually predictable, well documented and described in precise detail. However, when something happens to our mental health, most of us want to believe that it’s just “normal”, or it will get better on its own. We often think that we can read about a DIY solution and we don’t need anyone’s help.
Overcoming anxiety disorder
Anxiety becomes a serious problem when it starts to hinder your daily life. It can prevent you from doing important tasks, forces you to change your daily routine, affects your career, daily feelings, family, physical health or relationships. Successful treatment should not be measured by the anxiety totally disappearing (we are not machines and that’s impossible), but when it stops negatively affecting your life.
When you talk with our online customer advisors, you will be matched with a suitable counsellor and then start the first session. This is when it is important to describe the issues that bother you, and thus allow the expert to analyse what actually constitutes the problem.
Our therapists are trained and experienced in helping you to identify what the problem is, so at a later stage when you see that the therapy succeeds, you will clearly see that the anxiety is not causing you the same disorder that you started with.
Stress management
Every human-being encounters stress and anxiety on multiple occasions in life. Many people use these two terms interchangeably when describing the same situations. For most practical purposes this could be accepted, but the true meaning of these words differs. Strictly speaking, stress is a response to a threat in a situation while anxiety is a consequent reaction to stress.
There are many ways to classify stress, and again for practicality we can distinguish stress as a reaction to work conditions (work-related stress) and “routine” stress. Traumatic stress is experienced in an event like a major accident, war, assault, or a natural disaster.
It’s important to separate the types of stress. Employers might be interested in preventing stressful situations or offering ways to reduce work-related stress. If unattended, it could significantly reduce efficiency and productivity. For this reason alone, combating stress situations and reducing existing stress at work is a valuable investment for any business. It’s not uncommon for employers to spend considerable amount budget towards stress management. Research demonstrated this to be an extremely valuable investment, not least by saving significant amount of losses related to stress.
Stress relief
Stress which is not related to the workplace, unfortunately receives much less attention. Many people live in a state of chronic stress without any attempt to confront it.
Stress management can be split into separate types. There’s the DIY type, which can include a certain “dose” of physical activity, proper sleep and rest, and specific relaxation activities. This can help a lot, however for a significant minority (in the UK alone, this is several million individuals), this is not enough and they need a professional intervention.
We’re happy to match you with an expert in counselling, who will help you to combat anxiety and stress, so please feel welcome to contact us now on 020 8158 6650
Anxiety types and symptoms
The symptoms of anxiety include irritability, restlessness, a feeling of being on edge all the time, feelings of worry that you can’t control, difficulty with concentration and difficulty with falling asleep or staying asleep. While these symptoms are something everyone experienced occasionally, when it starts to affect your daily lifestyle – that’s when its a problem. Coping with anxiety is something that can be dealt with by therapy and psychiatric treatment. There are many different types of anxiety so to really figure out your problem, you will need a professional to help you. Therapy can help you with an array of things and anxiety is one of them.
Panic attacks help
People with generalized anxiety often go through the symptoms listed above, but panic disorder is characterised by panic attacks. Panic attacks are a sudden and intense attack of terror and apprehension. These can also be brief. They mostly peak after 10 minutes but sometimes such anxiety attacks can last for hours.
There are two seemingly contradictory characteristics of these panic attacks: they come out of the blue (as the sufferers say) and they are highly predictable in certain situations – as both the panic attacks therapists and victims would agree. An experienced counsellor can very precisely predict the attacks of “horror” with hyperventilation, palpitations, fast heart-rate, sweating, tremors, feeling of “I am going to faint”, “or “I am going to lose my mind”, and more.
Phobias related to anxiety
Let’s take an example of a specific phobia (fear) of being entrapped in an “enclosed space”, such as fear of flights, public transport, cinema, or just a crowded place. “If something happens to me, I’ll be trapped without a fast and clear way to escape”. This phobia is frequently central in the panic disorders and can be treated only by an experienced therapist.
Agoraphobia treatment
This phobia is particularly complicated when combined with panic or anxiety attacks. One thing is very clear to any phobia therapist though: when the sufferer enters this “entrapping” situation, the arrival of the attack is rather inevitable. This is why some sufferers are willing to do anything to avoid entering into what is perceived as a “potential entrapment”.
There are several more anxiety related problems
For example, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are closely related to anxiety disorders, which some may experience at the same time, along with depression.
Find a counsellor for anxiety disorder treatment
If you are someone who suffers from an anxiety disorder, you should definitely seek professional help for overcoming anxiety. This is something that is extremely hard to control on your own. Be easy on yourself and seek help. You can enjoy every moment of your life anxiety-free.
Whether you want to start therapy now, worry about affordability and fees, or you’re just consider asking us about what is potentially available – don’t hesitate and give us a call on 020 8158 6650
