How to deal with anxiety
The secrets of dealing with anxiety revealed...
Dealing with anxiety is generally misunderstood. Hence, the huge number of people trying to deal with anxiety by being stuck on long term medication and others searching for information and help online. If you’re here because you genuinely want to learn how to deal with anxiety - we can help you. All it takes is the commitment to say "I no longer want to have to deal with anxiety anymore - I want my life back!" If you're fed up with suffering through anxiety, it's time to take action...
If you've already done your research and are looking for help in overcoming anxiety, you should go straight to our treatment page.
The truth about how to deal with anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotion created by thought process, not by situations and events as many people incorrectly believe. Thus, the mechanics of how to deal with anxiety lie within our ability to understand and master our thought processes.
You are almost certainly aware, as an anxiety sufferer, that advice from well meaning people (including medical professionals) does not really help. No amount of being told to 'think positive’ changes the way you feel - right?
The solution (and we know this through 15 years of success stories) rests within the 'software’ the brain uses to code emotional signals in the body.
Anxiety becomes an anxiety disorder through habitual processes. The reason this is allowed to happen is generally down to the sufferer believing the problem is elsewhere. For example a social anxiety sufferer will focus their attention on social events and social situations - trying their best to control their anxiety by avoiding such situations. Thus the focus of the problem, the perceived cause in this case would be social situations. The TRUTH is that social situations are not the cause at all - the cause is the way the mind processes information with respect to those situations. Thus the actual social situations are merely the 'trigger' for the information processing which in turn generate the anxious states.
A second example (because it's really important you understand this) could be for an anorexic. Many people label anorexia as an eating disorder but the truth is that eating (or lack of it) is just a symptom - the real problem is anxiety... hence it's an anxiety disorder too. The anorexic looks in the mirror and FEELS BAD (anxious) as they tell themselves how fat, overweight or unacceptable they look. Notice how the thoughts are causing the anxious feelings and the looking in the mirror was just a trigger for those thoughts!
The anorexic then tries to starve themselves because they see this as a behavioural solution to overcoming their perceived problem (being fat, overweight or ugly). However, because their weight isn't the real problem they remain anxious no matter how much they starve themselves or how much weight they lose. Many actually die from starvation as a direct result of this cycle.
The reason the cycle self-perpetuates is because the anorexic never realises that their true problem lies in their thought processes - thus they never take action to remedy the real problem. Anorexics are far too focused on how they look in a mirror to ever consider anything else could be the problem.
Perhaps you need to start considering what's really going on in your life in terms of creating and maintaining your anxiety.
How to deal with anxiety - The emotional software
The brain uses software in a similar way to a computer. This is how incoming information (through our five senses) gets coded into experience. We absorb information through the following sources:
- Visual - Light & Imagery (Eyes)
- Auditory - Sounds & Language (Ears)
- Kinaesthetic - Touch & Feelings (Skin)
- Olfactory - Smells (Nose)
- Gustatory - Taste (Tongue)
Due to the way we have evolved our senses have developed in a certain way. We tend to focus most of our daily attention on sight and sound and this is reflected in the way our mind uses software (thoughts). We're sure you'll agree that your thoughts generally consist of visual mental imagery (still images and movies) and auditory internal dialogue (the voice that talks in your head). This is how external information becomes internalised so you can make sense of it.
Have you ever noticed that you can remember something from the past (through mental imagery and internal dialogue) and feel a certain way about it. Perhaps it's a happy memory and makes you feel good or maybe it's about something you regret and you feel guilty. Either way you experience an emotional response.
By the same token you can imagine something bad happening in the future and feel anxious about it. However, what we really want you to notice here is that in neither case are the events actually happening in the moment. You are merely 'thinking' about events (past or future) and this in itself is enough to create feelings (emotional states). Bearing in mind that anxiety is an emotional state - you should become aware that remembering the past and speculating upon the future are popular avenues for fuelling anxiety disorders.
So how are emotions actually created?
How to deal with anxiety - Cracking the code...
Just as a computers software is made up of code (a set of instructions) - so is our emotional software. Within our thought processes certain pieces of information act as an instruction to experience a given emotional state. So when you imagine something bad happening in the future (or remember something bad from the past) part of that thought process triggers an anxious emotional state in the present.
Within each thought there is a specific set of instructions which direct your emotional centre. Sometimes the instructions will tell the emotional centre to take no action, for example if the thought is mundane, dull or perceived to be unimportant. The instructions may alternatively tell the emotional centre to feel a given emotion (happiness, guilt, jealousy, anxiety) at a certain intensity (let's say from 1-10 with 1 being mild and 10 being intense).
The good news is that we've cracked how this code works and are able to teach our clients how to change the emotional signals their thoughts produce. Thus if you are plagued by habitual thoughts which cause you anxiety - we can teach you how to not only neutralise the feelings... but also how to stop having those thoughts at all.
Of course, you will have already tried to 'think' your way out of anxiety by rationalising your fears and you've also probably tried to block out the thoughts which are making you feel bad - more than likely in vain on both counts. This is completely normal for an anxiety sufferer - but rationalising and blocking out are NOT what we're talking about!
It's important you understand there is a process that goes on in your mind that you are oblivious to as it is filtered out of your awareness. We can teach you how to become aware of this process, how it works and how to change it at will. The benefits are instant and profound. Now that you have become aware of what is available, it would follow that if you continue to suffer with anxiety in your life - it's because you haven't bothered to commit to do something about it. We appreciate that these are harsh words, but in reality only you can commit to doing something about it!
Are you willing to suffer with anxiety for the rest of your life?
How to deal with anxiety - Rewriting the code...
Emotional code is merely a set of instructions and just like with a computer it can be rewritten in order to change the results it produces.
The reason anxiety is a problem for you is that your thought processes have become repetitive and habitual. The emotional code you run has become prolific - this is why you not only feel physically anxious but you also repeat the same sort of thought patterns over and over. It doesn’t need to be this way.
Willpower and logic will not change the feelings of anxiety because neither affect the coding. This you must have realised already. However, changing the coding (and the signals it sends) will rid you not only of the feelings of anxiety but will also break the cycle of repetitive thoughts.
The mind is essentially a thinking machine and it's purpose is to generate thoughts. As an anxiety sufferer we're sure you'd agree that may of the thoughts your mind generates (and brings to your attention) cause you to feel anxious. It's perhaps also true to say that many thoughts you have are habitual or repetitive in nature. There is good reason for this.
The mind needs a system to understand what thoughts are important and what thoughts are not. It needs to do this as it is programmed to bring important thoughts to your attention and discard the unimportant ones. So how does the mind decide what is important? The answer is very simple - the mind assesses importance based upon the emotional intensity a given thought elicits.
So if you think about washing your car and feel that you can't be bothered, the brain assesses that as unimportant because there's no intense emotional response or feeling. Such a thought is discarded or deleted. However, let's say you're going for a job interview tomorrow and thinking about it makes you you feel intensely anxious about messing up and making a fool of yourself. The brain recognises the intense emotion associated with the thought and files it as important in its 'must bring this up again' folder.
An hour later you're sitting watching TV and the thought of the interview pops into your head seemingly from nowhere. You dwell on the thought, feel anxious about it and the brain once again considers the thought to be important and refiles it to be brought up again. The truth is that your mind is working perfectly, specifically in the way it is designed to - there's actually nothing wrong with your functionality. Rather, you're simply stuck in a self perpetuating habit that you can't get out of on your own.
We are here to help you break this habit and get your life back...
Overcoming anxiety - What really works?
We often work with people who view us as a last resort when medication, counselling and traditional therapy have failed. We are used to working with the toughest cases in the country and still succeeding.
We appreciate you’re probably skeptical and that’s a good attitude to have. We (like you) see online reports and cd’s promising cures and dramatic results... well we don’t do reports or cd’s because we believe the only way to help an anxiety sufferer is one to one. There are simply too many variables from person to person to ever produce a cd or report that is applicable to everyone - it’s rubbish. However, when working one to one with a seasoned specialist your treatment can be personally tailored to specifically what you need. It’s the only genuine way.
How to overcome YOUR anxiety - The right way...
We've worked with anxiety sufferers for over fifteen years at our Anxiety Clinic. We deal with all types of anxiety including specific anxiety disorders such as, anxiety attacks (panic attacks), eating disorders, OCD, body dysmorphic disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Whether your case is crushing, mildly inconvenient or anything in between - we can help you overcome it.
Remember that our clients are ordinary people just like you. The only difference is that each of our existing clients has taken positive action to help themselves. This places you at a sort of decision junction. Do you press on browsing the internet hoping for a magic bullet, risk taking drugs for the rest of your life or do you make the decision to do something to help yourself right now?
If you live in or near Staffordshire we'd be delighted to work with you face to face at our Clinic. However, if you live further afield we can still work together through our Online Consultancy service. The following links contain information on our fees, how long treatment takes and details of our money back satisfaction guarantee:
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