Anxiety Counselling

Counselling for Anxiety

The current Covid pandemic is causing many of us to experience additional worries and fears which in turn can lead to heightened anxiety. Counselling for anxiety is a very common reason why clients make initial contact with us here at Simply Counselling. Anxiety can have an adverse effect on day-to-day life and make it difficult to function. Finding a counsellor to help with anxiety can be the turning point in your life. Getting help and support from a counsellor trained in managing anxiety issues is crucial to free your mind and enable a brighter, lighter, stronger ‘you’.

First Things First – What is Anxiety?

Anxiety can be a natural human reaction to something which we need to escape from when we are under threat. Our heart rate quickens, our breathing gets faster and our adrenaline starts to pump around the body. After the threat has gone, our bodies then release other hormones to help our muscles relax which sometimes cause us to shake. This physical reaction to a threat helps us to escape and run from danger and is commonly called the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. It is something that happens automatically in our bodies, and we have no control over it.

Anxiety can become an issue if it impacts your ability to live your life as fully as you want to.

For example, the mental health charity Mind states that anxiety might be a problem if:

  • Your feelings of anxiety are very strong or last for a long time
  • Your fears or worries are out of proportion to the situation
  • You avoid situations that might cause you to feel anxious
  • Your worries feel very distressing or are hard to control
  • You regularly experience symptoms of anxiety, which could include panic attacks
  • You find it hard to go about your everyday life or do things you enjoy

General Anxiety Disorder

Many individuals who experience anxiety are diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). GAD is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event. GAD happens when you have excessive worries about everyday life that are disproportionate to the actual reality of what is going on in your life. Whilst research shows that the onset of anxiety issues often begins for people in their early 20s, all ages, ethnicities and genders can suffer from anxiety disorders.

Some people can experience anxiety disorders so acutely that it can feel as though they are having a heart attack or are going to die. When anxiety escalates, people can sometimes suffer from panic disorder which can manifest itself in a panic attack. The symptoms of this can be extremely frightening for the person suffering from the attack and includes a whole host of symptoms from chest pain to nausea, difficulty breathing, hot flushes, a fear of dying and fear of losing control or passing out.

These intense feelings can be debilitating for people suffering from anxiety, and they often result in a cyclical reaction (you fear having a panic attack, which in turn leads to feelings of anxiety and panic and so on).

How Can Counselling Help my Anxiety?

Sometimes anxiety disorders can start seemingly from nowhere, but often the development of panic/anxiety disorders might result from negative life experiences such as physical, sexual, emotional abuse, physical illness, war experience, and other traumas. If painful experiences are left emotionally unresolved, mental health problems may arise and make ordinary life very difficult. Being unable to concentrate, disturbed sleep, irritability, muscle tension, fatigue, and feelings of anxiety are all issues which can be helped by getting counselling for anxiety.

Anxiety therapy focuses on getting to the root of the cause, identifying possible triggers and developing positive coping strategies to help the individual regain control. Using a counsellor for managing your anxiety issues is key to getting your life back on track and making you feel in control once more.

Take these first 3 steps, be empowered and get the right support for you…

Step
01

Get in touch

Pick up the phone, drop us an email or fill in the contact form to tell us a little about why you are here. You can also ask us what we can do for you.

Step
02

Understand

We speak with you to gain a basic understanding of how you are feeling and your individual situation. We work with you to work out what kind of therapy and which counsellor (or counsellors) is the best fit for you. If you don’t relate to a therapist or feel safe, we will make changes until you are happy and confident.

Step
03

Meet

We introduce you to your counsellor and you will speak with them (either in person, online or via telephone).