Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Can Hypnotherapy Help Calm Anxiety Quickly?

by Dan Regan | Jan 7, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Can Hypnotherapy Help Calm Anxiety Quickly?

When anxiety feels overwhelming, one of the most common questions people ask is how quickly it can improve. If you’re feeling constantly on edge, dealing with panic symptoms, or stuck in cycles of worry, it’s natural to want relief as soon as possible.

Many people I work with here in Ely come to me asking how quickly anxiety can begin to feel more manageable.

Anxiety leads you to think the worst and you feel all the uncomfortable physical sensations. Anxiety can be unsettling and frightening. You aren’t sure what is happening or why you feel this way. You also worry about it lasting a long time or even if it will ever go away.

In my work as an anxiety hypnotherapist in Ely, I often meet people who feel exhausted from trying to manage anxiety on their own. Many are surprised to learn that anxiety can sometimes begin to settle sooner than they expect – particularly when the nervous system is supported in the right way.

When Anxiety Feels Out of Control: How to Know What Really Helps

by Dan Regan | Jan 6, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

When Anxiety Feels Out of Control: How to Know What Really Helps

Sometimes anxiety can feel like it has taken over. It can show up as constant worrying thoughts, sudden panic, physical symptoms, avoidance, or a feeling that you’ve lost control of your own reactions.

In my anxiety therapy in Ely and Newmarket, people with anxiety and panic often tell me how they feel out of control. It can stop you doing things because there will be things outside of your control. And as well as external things, some people think they are going crazy because they can’t calm their own feelings and calm their own thinking.

Anxiety brings unpleasant physical symptoms such as feeling shaky, restless and tense. Your chest feels tight and your heart races.

You get that sense of dread before you do things and your mind races through all the worst cases. Your mind jumps from one imagined catastrophe to the next. Even when you feel okay, you still feel anxious because you know your anxiety is still lurking and could strike again at any time. You start to worry about feeling anxious.

Your confidence plummets, your sleep is broken and you feel fraught and exhausted.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone – and the most important thing is knowing that anxiety can be helped. The next step is understanding what tends to make the biggest difference.

Driving Anxiety Hypnotherapy

by Dan Regan | Jan 2, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Driving Anxiety Hypnotherapy: Fear, Confidence and Feeling Back in Control

Driving anxiety can make even short or familiar journeys feel overwhelming. This article explains why driving anxiety develops, how it affects confidence, and how hypnotherapy can help you feel calmer and more in control behind the wheel.

Driving anxiety is one of the common issues that I help people with in Ely and Newmarket.

Like all types of anxiety, you get caught up in a self re-enforcing spiral. You feel anxious thinking about driving even when you aren’t in the car. Those anxious feelings increase the closer a journey gets and the thoughts of the worst happening race through your imagination. You may avoid all driving or going on certain roads or in particular situations. If you do get in the car, your heart races, your chest feels tight and you worry about everything to do with what you are doing and what other drivers are doing.

The particular roads and situations that cause you anxiety can vary. In this area, it’s very common that people avoid the busy A14, especially the sections where there is no lay-by to pull into or no nearby junction to escape on if it were all to get too much. However, driving anxiety can equally apply to smaller roads, unfamiliar routes or anything that feels too far from home.

Sometimes driving anxiety arises because of something that previously happened when you were in the car. Or it can be that, in the solitude of the car with time to think, all the stress and anxiety from the rest of your life catches up with you. You feel anxious or have a panic attack and your mind associates the fear with where you are at that moment, in the car. Suddenly, even where driving was previously fine, being in the car triggers anxiety, tension and overwhelm.

However your driving anxiety started, and whatever the roads and situations, hypnotherapy can help you to start feeling more calm and confident behind the wheel again.

Physical Anxiety Symptoms

by Dan Regan | Dec 27, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Physical Anxiety Symptoms: Why Anxiety Feels So Physical

Anxiety fills your mind with racing thoughts of the worst happening. You get caught in a loop of worrying thoughts, fear and overthinking. Alongside this, you experience all the unpleasant, frightening and uncomfortable physical anxiety symptoms. For some people, the most distressing part of anxiety is what they feel in their body.

It doesn’t matter whether your anxiety is about something specific or more general. Your heart races, your chest tightens and you can experience dizziness, nausea and a wave of fear. When those bodily sensations and feelings strike and hit you, it can feel debilitating and crushing.

These symptoms can be frightening and feel overwhelming. They can appear suddenly or without any obvious cause. The bodily feelings can become more and more frequent. You start to focus upon them more and more. Even when you feel fine, you worry about feeling that bad again. You may start limiting what you do and avoiding things. You just want to retreat to somewhere where you feel more safe.

It’s very common for people to start worrying that something is physically wrong with them. The medical tests all come back normal but your anxiety about your health continues.

This article will help you to understand why anxiety causes physical symptoms and how you can start feeling better.

Returning to Work Anxiety

by Dan Regan | Dec 26, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Returning To Work Anxiety: How To Ease Post Holiday Stress

Returning to work after the holidays can trigger anxiety.

During the festive break you may have found time to relax, rest, see people and do fun things. If you’ve had time off you’ll have fallen into new patterns and routines, perhaps staying up later and sleeping in. There may have been changes to what you eat, drink and how you have used your time.

Now you face the prospect of returning to the work routine. That likely means getting up earlier and dealing with the rush. You’ll have deadlines, demands and people to deal with. It may feel overwhelming just to think about it after your break from it all. The decorations and lights are taken down, the weather is dark and cold, and the next real break is not for quite some time.

Your anxiety about returning to work may mean you notice tension, restlessness, overthinking and a sense of overwhelm as you face emails, tasks and deadlines. Post holiday anxiety and stress affects countless people each year.

New Year Anxiety

by Dan Regan | Dec 26, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

New Year Anxiety: How To Prepare Yourself Mentally for January

Christmas is over and January approaches. It’s the time when New Year anxiety starts to rise.

The activities, celebrations, resting and festivities are all over and done for another year. And now comes the dread and worry as January arrives. Your normal routine and rushing around is about to kick back in. Even worse, the weather is rubbish and the nights are dark.

Many people start to notice their anxiety increasing between 27 December and early January.

You might have a sense of dread about returning to work or getting back into the school run. This can come with racing thoughts about demands, routines and responsibilities. There will be people, tasks and things that you’ve enjoyed being away from and that you now need to face. You might also feel under pressure to make healthy changes or improve yourself.

You might notice that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, or an increasing restlessness and irritability. It’s like a mental countdown where all these things get closer and closer, robbing you of peace and enjoyment right now. It can affect your sleep and lead to low motivation mixed with anxiety.

These thoughts and feelings are often called New Year anxiety or January anxiety. You dread things, think the worst and feel agitated. However, it is possible to successfully tackle these negative thoughts and feelings and to enter January feel calm, confident and positive.

Social Anxiety vs Low Confidence

by Dan Regan | Dec 23, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Social Anxiety vs Low Confidence

In this article I’m covering the difference between social anxiety and low confidence and how hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket can help you.

Feeling uncomfortable in social situations is very common. Some people describe it as anxiety, others as low confidence — and many aren’t sure which applies to them.

I’ve covered in previous articles about how I used to struggle with social anxiety and low self esteem. When I first became aware of how I would dread and avoid certain social situations, I assumed it was just low confidence. There was all the self doubt, overthinking and worry about what others were thinking. And there was all the thinking the worst, negative inner commentary and ruminating. It was exhausting and limiting.

It was a constant theme in my life for years until hypnotherapy helped me to overcome my social anxiety and move forward with confidence. Knowing how bad it feels is why I love helping others to end that fear of being judged. It’s life changing and allows you to move forward feeling lighter and more free.

Wondering “Is this social anxiety, or am I just not very confident?” is very common. The two experiences often overlap, but they aren’t always the same thing. Understanding the difference can make it much easier to find the right kind of support (spoiler: hypnotherapy can help you with both).

Post Christmas Anxiety and Emotional Crash

by Dan Regan | Dec 17, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Post Christmas Anxiety: Feeling low or anxious after Christmas?

Do you struggle with post Christmas anxiety? The build up and the rushing around are all over. You stop and pause. And you experience a wave of anxiety, low mood and negativity.

You knew the Christmas pressure would pass but you also know how you usually feel once it’s all over. Every year, many people experience a sudden dip in mood or a rise in anxiety in the days after Christmas. It’s a sort of post Christmas emotional crash or holiday letdown. It can feel confusing, especially if you’ve enjoyed the festive period or feel you should be grateful and content.

If you feel anxious or low after Christmas, then you may find the days after are harder and more draining than the build up. Once the pressure, anticipation and activity stop, you may notice a sudden drop in mood, anxiety without a clear cause and that you feel emotional or even tearful. You start overthinking everything, have trouble relaxing and may have trouble sleeping.

The most frustrating part is that you looked forward to these quieter days. They were a sort of reward to look forward to and that you used to push on in the build up to Christmas itself. Just when you think you can enjoy relaxing and resting, you get post Christmas anxiety, sometimes called a post Christmas emotional crash.

Like all anxiety, once it starts, you may have trouble stopping it. You dwell on how bad you feel and worry about it continuing. You start to think about how you will cope in January if you haven’t had time to recharge. And outside of your normal routine, those anxious thoughts and feelings can expand and accelerate. You find yourself feeling lower, more drained and more anxious.

In this article I’ll be covering why anxiety increases after Christmas, and more importantly, how to calm your post Christmas anxiety.

End of Year Reflection Anxiety and Overthinking

by Dan Regan | Dec 16, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

End of Year Reflection Anxiety and Overthinking

Do you struggle with end of year reflection anxiety and overthinking? Sometimes it can be hard to quiet a busy mind in December.

As the year draws to a close, many people notice their minds becoming busier than usual. Even before Christmas arrives, it’s common to start mentally reviewing the past twelve months. For some, this reflection quickly turns into overthinking. Thoughts loop and regrets resurface. Self-criticism creeps in – often at the same time as festive pressure and emotional overload. The tiredness from the Christmas rush can play a part in where your mind goes, along with the increased alcohol and sugar. Your normal routines can be thrown out and you can have more time to think. Old family and festive triggers and memories can also create anxiety.

The end of the year can feel like something significant. It’s a time of endings and the coming of a fresh chapter with the twelve months ahead. You find all sorts of overthinking can fill your mind. Thoughts about the past twelve months, what went well, what didn’t, what should have been different, what you didn’t achieve and what the New Year might bring can all start circling at once.

For some, this reflection can feel positive and motivating. For others, their end of year reflection triggers overthinking, anxiety, regret, guilt or self criticism. End of year reflection anxiety can dominate your mind and leave you feeling low frustrated and full of worry. It could be part of your general anxiety and habitual thinking processes. Or it may be something that just hits you as the year draws to a close.

You can find yourself overthinking and replaying moments from the year, worrying about the future, or feeling uneasy instead of peaceful in December. End of year anxiety can trigger and exacerbate anxious thoughts and feelings that then quickly take hold.

Alcohol Anxiety

by Dan Regan | Dec 15, 2025 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks, Excessive Drinking and Binge Drinking

Alcohol Anxiety: Why Drinking Makes Anxiety Worse

Does drinking alcohol seem to make your anxiety worse?

You may have a drink or two as a way to relax. It can mark the end of the busy day and the transition into evening. You have a couple of drinks to take the edge off, to unwind or to feel more at ease socially. Perhaps you look forward to that first sip, or you long for that initial nice feeling it can give you.

But rather than helping you feel relaxed, you may have noticed the opposite effect happening afterwards. You experience a spike in worry, racing thoughts, poor sleep and that familiar feeling of dread. Rather than waking up the next day feeling refreshed, you drag yourself out of bed fearing the worst.

With anxiety and social anxiety you may drink at social situations to try and feel more comfortable and confident. It may work for a bit but it’s easy to drink too much, too quickly. The following morning you are filled with anxiety and overthink what you may have said and done. It’s well known that hangovers often come with anxiety alongside all the other after effects of drinking too much. And some anxious people avoid alcohol as much as possible because they hate the feeling of being out of control.

I’ve worked with many people who binge drink, drink excessively or drink too much. They promise themselves (and others) that they will cut back this time. But the same habits and patterns creep back in again. They are no longer in control over their drinking.

If you’ve ever woken up the day after drinking with a pounding heart, low mood and a sense that something is wrong, then that is the alcohol anxiety. Alcohol can significantly increase your anxiety, even in people who don’t usually struggle with anxious thoughts and feelings. And if you already struggle with anxiety, despite the promise of relaxation, alcohol often makes it much worse.

As my anxiety clients have discovered, it is possible to take back control over your drinking habits and behaviours.

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