Anxiety Disorders: The Size and Scale of the Anxiety Problem
Anxiety which is not made conscious is most pernicious, for we can never say exactly how it will manifest itself. However, it will go somewhere. In many cases, the anxiety is displaced into a projection on to something else, such as a phobia. But anxiety can be turned inward, such as an eating disorder, obsessions, addictions, or drinking, all of which are defence mechanisms to try to control anxiety.
Severe Anxiety and Phobic Disorders are a major and widespread problem. Surveys indicate that they affect up to 18% of the population of the United Kingdom:
· UP TO 5 MILLION WITH AGORAPHOBIA
· UP TO 1 MILLION WITH SOCIAL PHOBIAS
· UP TO 4 MILLION WITH SPECIFIC PHOBIAS
· UP TO 2 MILLION WITH OBSESSIVE / COMPULSIVE DISORDERS
· UP TO 2 MILLION ON TRANQUILLISERS, MANY LONG TERM
About 75% of Anxiety sufferers get no professional help whatsoever and are left
to cope alone with overwhelming feelings of desperation.
What are Anxiety Disorders and their effects?
We live in an age where anxiety is an accepted part of daily life: will I get to work on time? Will the bills get paid? Will the car start? These are examples of "normal" anxiety, which we have all experienced during our lives and which represent relatively small problems.
However, for people who suffer from Anxiety Disorders, these "small" problems get blown up out of all proportion and can dramatically affect their lives, resulting in such severe anxiety that they may well develop Panic Attacks and/or Phobias and/or Obsessive/Compulsive Disorders. These illnesses ruin the quality of sufferer's lives and subsequently the quality of life for their families, partners and carers. They frequently result in the sufferer becoming handicapped, severely disabled and even excluded from society, e.g. not able to go to parties or take holidays; many sufferers are even unable to go to work.
Why suffer? There is a reason for your underlying anxiety, and using hypnotherapy will help you dispel that unknown “something” inside of you so that you can get on with the business of living.
Anxiety and Prolonged Stress
Australian researchers say they have scientifically proven a long-suspected link between emotional stress and illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer. The group from Sydney's Garvan Institute found that a hormone released into the body during times of stress, neuropeptide Y (NPY), undermined the body's immune system and literally made you sick.
"Until now there has mostly been circumstantial evidence of a link between the brain and the immune system, but now we have that connection," said the Institute's Fabienne Mackay. "During periods of stress, nerves release a lot of NPY and it gets into the bloodstream, where it inhibits the cells in the immune system that look out for and destroy pathogens in the body.”
"That stress makes you sick is no longer a myth, it is a reality and we need to take it seriously."
The group's findings were published in an edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine and the researchers said they hoped their work would lead to new kinds of therapeutic intervention.
Herbert Herzog, another of the scientists, said neuropeptide Y had been known to affect blood pressure and heart rates, but discovering its impact on the immune system opened up new doors for tackling some illnesses.
"That makes you more vulnerable when you for example have a cold or flu and even the more serious situations such as cancer can be enhanced," he said on ABC Radio.
Other illnesses with a link to stress include rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, Type 1 diabetes and lupus, the researchers said.
Mackay stressed that it would take years to develop drugs to counter the affects of NPY and that the best short-term solution for people was to combat their stress.
"The best thing to do is to remove stress from our lives just by reorganising the way we live, changing our lifestyle and using things like yoga and relaxation to the best of our ability," she said.
For Hypnotherapy Birmingham to help deal with Anxiety and Stress-Related Illness issues, ring me on 0121 707 3588