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We can all think about a time when our breathing quickened, muscles tensed, our mouth dried up and our heart pounded with a sudden sense of dread. Usually this happens when something unexpected happens, for instance the train you're on comes to a sudden jolt or there is an exam looming or perhaps a presentation at work.
When we are confronted with what seems to be a serious threat to our well-being, we may react with a state of tension, this is fear. However, sometimes we may not be able to pinpoint the precise cause for this state and it may get worse each time a particular event arises which causes us to fear. For example you may feel tense when there are a lot of people around and each time it could get worse. Or perhaps getting up in the morning because you may fear what the day has instore. This overwhelming sense of fear, dread and doom is anxiety.
Anxiety is often accompanied with a myriad of physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms. The heart beats faster, you perspire, have a dry mouth, feel nauseous, and have muscular tension, especially in the head which may then turn to migraine. You may also experience fast shallow breathing and blurred vision. The list is endless. The emotional symptoms may involve feelings of dread, anguish, sadness, fear and you may feel as though you are going to pass out, vomit, or wanting to run away. Of course you may experience more extreme symptoms or lesser depending on the circumstances and your anxiety levels and such symptoms and sensations may appear in a number of situations i.e. going to work, meeting people for the first time, giving a presentation, socialising or getting anxious for being anxious which may keep you awake at night.
Fear and anxiety do have a protective function as they prepare us for circumstances when we need to be alert to dangers. Those physical symptoms you feel when anxious are known as the ‘fight of flight’ response that prepares the body’s Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) to respond to threats. So those feelings of the dry mouth, rushing heart beat, perspiration and churning stomach is the body preparing to take battle or run! When the symptoms reduce, it is the parasympathetic nervous system which brings us back to baseline.
However, whilst the 'fight and flight' response is necessary to prepare us for dangerous situations it can become a burdon wants it starts seeping into your day-to-day life. It can cause many physical and psychological problems which over time may result in sleep disturbance, taking medication in which to reduce these feelings. Or perhaps you have troubling feelings and begin to worry if you have done something, or perhaps that you've forgotten to do something. This results in an ever decreasing circle of anxiety which can blight your enjoyment of your life. Could be driving in bad weather: We drive more cautiously and become more vigilant.
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How can counselling help?
Counselling can help at a number of levels. For instance there maybe patterns of behaviour in which your anxious response is more acute. In such circumstances, you may be asked to keep a diary to see when and where these patterns emerge and then strategies can be implemented in which to reduce the negative feelings, thoughts and emotions.
Or perhaps the anxiety is related to a specific event/s in the past and that the emotions reactive each time the same or similar event occurs i.e. flying. A combination of exercises can be implemented, depending on the circumstances involving role play, cognitive rehearsal, using Gestalt, CBT and Transactional Analysis techniques along with mindfullness exercises.
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Perhaps as part of your therapy you are taught progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). This is an invaluable relaxation technique developed in the 1920s, and created by a GP called Dr Edmund Jacobson. He realised that many of patients reported more pain when their muscles were tensed. He set about to relax them by first asking his patients to tense up and then relax all their muscles. What he found was that when people relaxed their muscles using the
Relaxation should never be underestimated. It is not the case of sitting down for 5 minutes. It is a progressive and sequential relaxation starting usually from the top of your head and working down your body. This can take between 20-40 minutes depending on the level of anxiety. Overtime this reduces to a point when it may take from 10-15 minutes.
