The downward spiral of anxiety

Anxiety strongly affects the lives of thousands of people,  so much so that in severe cases people literally feel taken hostage by anxiety. It prevents you from undertaking various activities, sometimes even very ordinary ones.

What is anxiety? In its essence, in most cases, anxiety is the worry about something negative that might happen in the future - a possible threat. Or a combination of threats.

It is impossible to cope with something uncertain that might lie in the future. You instinctively know that. Therefore you feel anxious about those potentially disastrous events in the future. You feel you will be unable to cope.

Far too often people then try to avoid these anxious feelings, these feelings of powerlessness and of not being in control. This is done by avoiding experiences, avoiding activities and locations that involve any degree of uncertainty.

You focus on mental and physiological symptoms that are linked with anxiety, and take these as signs that you will not be able to cope - thus restricting yourself further and further. And, without new experiences that might contradict those predictions, you are now on a downward spiral to more and more anxiety and in turn to more and more self-imposed restrictions.

This toxic cycle can be reversed with hypnotherapy, in particular with cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy. The negative process can be replaced with a positive upward spiral of overcoming anxiety. This is done by gradually exposing you to your anxiety, one step at a time. In hypnosis one can work through increasingly challenging scenarios. It is a safe space for experimentation. Additionally breathing and relaxation techniques can help to lessen the anxiety's physiological symptoms.

This approach can lead to a free and novel view of life and help you fulfil your potentials without the fear of taking new steps.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Hypnotherapy Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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