Does anxiety stop you from doing the things in life that you want to do? Do you worry that you will not be safe, that the people you love will not be safe or perhaps that others will not like and accept you? You may be suffering from acute or enduring anxiety. Whilst anxiety can sometimes be very important in keeping you safe, when it gets to a certain level and is experienced frequently, it can have a serious impact on your life and stop you from getting on and achieving the things you want to do. However, working through your anxieties in therapy can help you understand exactly what it is that is making you feel so worried, making it possible to explore and implement small changes in your life to help you.

 

Panic attacks are a particular form of anxiety and can be hugely scary for the people that suffer with them. This is often because the sufferer can truly believe at the time of the panic attack that they are going to die or be at serious risk of harm. As a result, a panic attack can make people take certain actions and develop certain routines to try and keep themselves safe. This makes complete sense. However, overtime, such actions and routines may become  less helpful and actually reinforce some of the difficulties being experienced. Panic and the experience of panic attacks can, again, be explored with a safe and calm therapy environment to help you gradually work towards new understandings and ways to manage stressful and complex feelings.

 

Social Anxiety is something that may be experienced, specifically, in relation to social situations and mixing with other people. Sometimes, we can become very focused and worried about how we think others may perceive us and this can stop us from wanting or enjoying being in the company of others. In the most severe cases, social anxiety can even stop people from wanting to leave the safety of their own home and being with other people all together which, in turn, can have further distressing effects. If this sounds familiar, it may be something that you wish to explore in a calm, therapeutic setting where you can feel safe that you will not be judged whilst you consider and work towards change.

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Whilst we all get anxious from time to time about important things in life, sometimes people can experience difficulties due to frequent heightened anxiety in relation to something more specific. This can be, for example, in relation to public speaking, engaging in particular activity, relationships or something else entirely. With such difficulties, it is possible to use the therapy process to develop a greater understanding of the factors related to this anxiety (i.e. the things that can keep it going or even make it more significant over time) and then start to think of small changes that can be made to help you feel more able to cope with and overtime help lower your levels of anxiety.