Therapist Guildford Anxiety

What is anxiety all about?

Everyone is familiar with the feeling of anxiety – a state of fear, apprehensiveness and inner turmoil in response to an oncoming event or situation. Experiencing occasional anxiety is normal and can even be beneficial in some cases, yet if it begins to impede your daily life, it could potentially signify an anxiety disorder such as panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), phobias or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Anxiety manifests differently for everyone, but some common indicators are difficulty focusing, feeling overwhelmed or tense, persistent worrying that is out of proportion to the situation at hand, being scared more easily than usual, irregular sleeping patterns (either insomnia or hypersomnia), a quicker heart rate and sweating.

If left untreated, anxiety can become debilitating and have a major impact on everyday life. For the people of Guildford Surrey, there are many options available to help manage their anxiety, whether that is through talking therapy CBT and lifestyle changes or medication. For those who need it, there are local support communities that offer the opportunity to meet and converse with fellow individuals facing comparable situations.

 

What are the symptoms of anxiety?

Anxiety is a broad concept, encompassing various disorders. Beneath the wide-reaching term of anxiety lies numerous diagnoses that are unique to each individual’s experience. Telltale signs you may have a form of anxiety would include:

• your worrying is uncontrollable and causes distress
• your worrying affects your daily life, including school, your job and your social life
• you cannot let go of your worries
• you worry about all sorts of things, such as your job or health, and minor concerns, such as household chores

If your anxieties are disrupting your daily life or causing you any distress, it is recommended that you consult with a general practitioner. Your GP can identify the condition based on indicators such as:

• feeling restless or on edge
• being irritable
• getting tired easily
• having difficulty concentrating or feeling your mind goes blank
• having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep
• having tense muscles

In more extreme cases anxiety can manifest itself with physical conditions too such as palpitations, headaches, stomach upsets like nausea, diarrhoea, chest tightness, breathlessness, sweating, trembling and muscle weakness. There may be drowsiness, pins and needles sensation, dry mouth, excessive thirst, frequent urinating and painful and missed periods.

In these cases, you must contact someone, whether that be a friend, therapist or medical professional. There may be long-term effects to putting treatment off that may also be irreversible.

 

Therapy and how it helps anxiety

Therapy or psychotherapy is a great way to tackle anxiety. It helps people to understand why they feel anxious and how to manage these feelings.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychological therapy that will help you identify any negative thought patterns or beliefs that may be causing your anxiety. Through CBT, you can then learn techniques to better manage or overcome these feelings of anxiety.

Other forms of therapy, such as exposure therapy can also be useful in treating some forms of anxiety. This is where a person is gradually exposed to the situations that they feel anxious about in order to help them cope with their fears and eventually be able to face those situations without being anxious.

It is important to note that therapy isn’t a quick fix and it will take time to manage or overcome anxiety. However, talking therapy can be highly beneficial in helping people in Guildford Surrey cope with their anxieties on a daily basis.

What therapy does provide is a safe, open platform for you to discuss your feelings without fear of judgement or persecution. This will allow you to feel comfortable with yourself, gaining self-belief and a deeper confidence you can use to tackle everyday life. It will also assist you in wrestling back your life and reclaiming it in the way that you want and how you want to live it.

Ultimately, the best course of action for you depends on your personality and willingness and ability to follow and embrace the process.

 

How Brian at Guildford Therapy can help you?

At Guildford Therapy I offer psychotherapy and counselling in Surrey and have many years of experience providing psychotherapy in private practice and the NHS. Based in Guildford, Surrey, I offer therapy services to a wider area too, including Godalming, Woking, Cranleigh, Farnham, Aldershot, Farnborough and Haslemere.

Psychotherapy and counselling are about helping you to enrich your life, grow and reach your potential. This may well include dealing with specific things that are currently troubling you. The process happens as you talk, either with a therapist or with a therapist and members of a therapy group, in a safe, confidential, sensitive, respectful and non-judgemental environment.

It may also be that Covid and its restrictions have put you in closer touch with aspects of your life that you would like to improve. Therapy may be able to help here.

Analytic psychotherapy and counselling go beneath blockages to growth to find their origins and work through them. Therapy in particular works with the unconscious mind. It aims to uncover why someone is feeling or behaving as they are and operates at a deep level to bring about change.

Don’t hesitate to reach out and connect with me today, where I guarantee you the utmost confidentiality, respect, and understanding. It may be the most rewarding decision you ever make!