|
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
| 
