What triggers anxiety?

Anxiety is a huge problem in our modern world with an estimated 40 million people in the US suffering anxiety disorders. In Australia, it’s estimated that 45% of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. In any one year, around 1 million Aussie adults have depression, and over 2 million have anxiety. So anxiety is a huge issue in our society, but what triggers anxiety?

Symptoms of anxiety may include but are not limited to a feeling of fear, a sense of impending dread, difficulty breathing, rumination, excessive sweating, irritability, a desire to fight/flight, a pounding heartbeat, and tense muscles.

Anxiety occurs for many different reasons and is highly dependent upon the individual.

Here are a few common reasons that you may relate to:

• Health issues
• Too much caffeine
• Being in public or social situations
• Fear of being judged or ridiculed
• Tests
• Leaving the house
• Stress
• Conflict or Arguments
• Money Problems
• Change (new job, new therapist etc)
• Anytime you feel out of control

Often if the individual has a negative experience with something (an animal, person, spider, airplane, social situation, etc), then they will experience anxiety as a safety mechanism to avoid having to experience that event again. The subconscious is always trying to protect you and that anxious feeling is your mind saying “Nope! Not going there again!” So we need to work with the subconscious mind and help it to recognize that not all experiences are the same as that 1st negative experience.

So what can you do about it?

Support Groups

There are many support groups both online and in person. These support groups are great for people who experience anxiety as they quickly learn that they are not alone, and can express themselves freely without judgment. It’s a safe place to begin healing and trusting again.

Therapy

Talk therapy tools including psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and hypnotherapy are all great methods to help deal with anxiety and get to the underlying reasons for the anxiety. If anxiety is connected to childhood trauma, then hypnotherapy is a powerful method for healing the past. 

Journaling

A great way to work through your anxious experiences is to write them down. Everyone has their own unique triggers. You can then look at those triggers from a safe place and write what you are feeling and perhaps consider how you’d like to behave next time you come into contact with your trigger.

Exercise

A daily exercise routine will help you feel good about yourself and your body. It will also help to release any stress or tension in the body. (Massage is great for this too!)

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The good news is that anxiety can be managed and in some cases, completely overcome. The tools we use in hypnotherapy make finding your breath, your centre, and that calmness inside yourself a lot easier the more you practice. It really is a lot easier than you think!

Are you ready to heal?

We can discuss how therapy can help conquer your anxiety triggers for good.

Namaste,
Janine xx