We live in a time of high stress. Unemployment is on the rise, while the global economy is rarely out of the news. The television is full of warnings about terrorism, war, global warming and increased violence and crime in the workplace, in our schools and town centres. It is little wonder that many of us feel anxious!
In America, the National Institute of Mental Health Survey of 2008 tells us that approximately 40 million Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder, which is close to 20 percent of the adult population.1 the total population of people in the US with mental health problems was estimated to be almost 58 million people - close to the entire population of the UK! 2
In the UK, the Office of National Statistics (2000) 3 found around 1 in 6 people had a diagnosable mental health problem, the most common being anxiety and depression. More recent surveys put the figure even higher.
Anxiety is the reaction we feel when our body responds to a frightening or threatening experience. It is simply our body preparing for action, either to freeze (to 'play dead'), to fight, or to run away as fast as we can. Anxiety is our reaction to stress. The trouble is, stress over a long period can cause us to have this reaction nearly all of the time. We become 'stuck'. Our bodies were never designed for this level of continuous stress, so we can enter a downward spiral. Although we usually realise our anxiety is excessive and inappropriate, we feel powerless to do anything about it. We're like a car with the throttle stuck wide open!
There are different types of anxiety disorder, and it's not uncommon for people to be diagnosed with more than one. Different types include:
There may be many reasons why we become anxious. There's not usually one simple cause.
Vicious circle - As the symptoms of anxiety can be new, scary and unusual, we might think there could be something seriously physically wrong, or that something awful is going to happen. This makes us worry more, causes more symptoms, and so a vicious circle develops. The end result is sometimes panic.
Fear of fear- If we've felt anxious in a certain situation, we may start to predict feeling anxious again, and become frightened of the symptoms themselves, especially if we think they're really serious. This in turn causes another vicious circle and can bring about the very symptoms we fear.
Avoidance - Avoiding the things we're afraid of might seem sensible - but it doesn't help in the long run. Once a vicious circle has developed, avoidance is often used as a way of coping. It's natural to want to avoid something that feels scary, but the sorts of things we avoid are not really dangerous, just busy shops, buses, crowded places, eating out, talking to people etc. Avoiding them can make life very difficult. Avoiding these situations prevents us from overcoming our fears and learning to manage our anxiety in challenging situations, which blocks our recovery. We need to 'feel the fear and do it anyway!'
How we feel
Common thoughts
What happens to our body
How we behave
The Serenity Programme™ is specially designed to help you overcome all four major anxiety symptom areas. The good news is that change in just one of the areas helps bring about change in all the others, as they're all interconnected. For example, once we are able to change what we do, we often find our thoughts quieten and we begin to feel a little better as a result.
It is important to understand that many factors other than depression or anxiety can cause some of the symptoms listed above. Diagnoses can only be provided by appropriately trained health professionals. If you are concerned in any way about your symptoms, please consult with a trained professional.