Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Could thinking the worst help you feel happier (and reduce anxiety and stress)?

by Dan Regan | Oct 24, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Could thinking the worst make you happier (and reduce anxiety and stress)?

Sometimes we all have to think about the worst case. Whether it’s when taking out any type of insurance in case something bad happens, or when you get your will drafted, or even just when someone is very ill or sick and there’s a need for planning. Because sometimes contemplating the worst case is an important aspect of planning ahead and being prepared.

Of course, thinking or contemplating the worst case is very different to worrying about it or getting anxious about it. With anxiety, our anxious brain can start to imagine the worst in just about anything and everything, and because it is imagined in such an impactful and ‘real’ way, it can cause those unwanted feelings to seriously spike.

But could deliberately thinking about bad things happening to us actually reduce anxiety and stress and become happier?

Taking Action On Anxiety – The Latest Hypnotherapy Vlog

by Dan Regan | Oct 15, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Taking Action On Anxiety – The Latest Hypnotherapy Vlog:

This weekend saw the opportunity to walk over the new Ely bypass bridge before it opens for traffic later this month. Anyone reading this who ever travels to Ely from that direction will be looking forward to a reduction in the traffic bottlenecks (for those outside the area, at the moment a railway crossing and low bridge tend to block things up quite significantly).

Anyway, despite the pouring rain it was all to help raise funds for a great charity and one close to my heart because of the help they gave us when my Dad battled cancer a few years ago (MacMillan Cancer Research). So despite the protests of the kids, I hustled, cajoled and dragged them into the rain to take advantage of this once on a lifetime chance to walk the bridge before a few thousand cars get to take it over every day forever more.

Now, I love stuff like this because it was a chance to do something new and different…almost like the kind of stuff you get to do on holiday! A chance to walk a new road and take in some new views and sights, and, either because of the rain or because it’s actually quite a wide road, it was nice and relaxed and there was plenty of space for messing about with the kids (one of whom mainly moaned a lot and one of whom mainly laughed a lot). I enjoyed our little family walk though and that’s the most important thing!

Due to the weather and the need to dry out from the rain, we stayed in the rest of the day and that gave me a chance to upload my latest vlog all about the importance of taking action on anxiety (it’s been a while since my last vlog due to my workload so I hope you enjoy their return!). You can check out my vlog further down the page.

When Anxiety Takes Over – Check out this client blog!

by Dan Regan | Oct 11, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

When Anxiety Takes Over – Check out this client blog!

October 10th was World Mental Health Day and I was delighted to be tagged in a Twitter post that day from a former client. Lauren, who has her own brilliant blog called ‘Girl Running Late‘ took the opportunity to write about her anxiety around running.

Or, as she writes, her anxiety around running that had grown into her everyday life. It really is worth a read of her blog as it touches upon how anxiety and panic can start to expand into all sorts of aspects of everyday life. And, of course, it’s worth reading because it talks about how it is possible to rein it back in and take back control (and it’s even worth reading it because she says some nice things about her work with me!).

Gaining Perspective & Clarity – Seeing the Wood From the Trees!

by Dan Regan | Oct 8, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Gaining Perspective & Clarity – Seeing the Wood From the Trees!

It can sometimes be hard to get a sense of perspective and clarity on our own problems can’t it? We can be so involved in something in our mind that we can’t mentally distance ourselves enough from it to view it in a clearer way. All our thoughts, feelings, emotions and concerns create a mash up of being stuck in our minds, and sometimes in our life too.

Or as the old saying goes, sometimes we ‘can’t see the wood for the trees’ (the meaning of which, according to the Cambridge dictionary is ‘to be unable to understand a situation clearly because you are too involved in it’).

And I think we’ve all been there. It’s like those moments where we realise what great advice we can give to others about how they should handle a situation yet, despite knowing that advice, we seem unable to apply it to ourselves. We just can’t get that distance and perspective on it.

Last week was a pretty rough one for me, simply because the man flu well and truly knocked me for six (and as we all know, man flu really is the worst!!). I think it was the longest period of sickness I’ve experienced for more than a decade. My high hopes of a swift recovery soon evaporated into a lost week of feeling rubbish and not getting much done in any area of my life. I had to rearrange clients (all of whom were great – thank you!), cancel meetings and pretty much draw a line through anything I had planned.

And perhaps the hardest thing for me was missing out on any exercise; just going from one room to another left me drained! Missing a couple of sessions here and there with a niggle or family commitments is frustrating; missing a whole week is a disaster. Isn’t it? When I miss training I instantly feel like I’ve put on half a stone and I hate that feeling. I won’t lie, there were times last week when I felt very, very sorry for myself! There were moments when I totally lost perspective. Instead of a week of illness it felt at times like the wheels of life were well and truly coming right off!

Of course that’s not logical or reasonable. And it certainly isn’t helpful!

So what I needed, and I think we all need sometimes, is a way to gain a bit of perspective and clarity on our current situation.

Managing Emotional Distress Related To Medical Procedures

by Dan Regan | Oct 3, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Managing Emotional Distress Related To Medical Procedures:

This week has mainly been a bit of a write-off for me due to the dreaded ‘man flu’ striking me down (or ‘a bit of a cold’ as others might call it!!). It’s hit me hard and has wiped out my exercise at bootcamp, my work and pretty much everything in-between.

All in all it’s been pretty frustrating but I know I’ll get through it and get better and survive (somehow, like if I’m really brave about it!!).

But, of course, the frustration and distress caused by a heavy cold is nothing compared to the emotional distress that can be associated with medical procedures. Only last week I heard back from a client who had originally been to see me about an intense dental phobia and fear about dental treatment. She told me how she had been and had a filling removed and replaced. She was ecstatic afterwards (as was her long-suffering dentist!) to know she can now do it without all that fear, anxiety, dread and distress.

Medical procedures can generate all sorts of distress and worry and that can impact both before the procedure and can even impact on recovery afterwards. Luckily we have a meta-analysis available that evaluates the effect of hypnosis in reducing emotional distress associated with medical procedures.

Using Choice Overload To Reduce Anxiety

by Dan Regan | Oct 2, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Using Choice Overload To Reduce Anxiety:

Ever noticed how when you struggle with anxiety, every possible option you can think of seems to be the worst case scenario. Whether you run movies in your head or find your inner dialogue is filled with doubt, dread and worry, it’s like a sort of tunnel vision that invariably leads to things going wrong or ending badly for you in some way.

And as you’ll know, the more you have those anxious thoughts, the worse you feel; and the worse you feel, the more your head fills with those anxious thoughts.

I remember sitting in a restaurant a few months back with my girls. We were nearly finished when a new family arrived on the next table. A quick read of the menu and three of the four had made their decision and were ready to order. One of them was not at all ready. She sent the waitress away so she could have more time. Then when the waitress came back she sent her away again. Even from our table you could sense the tension rising in her as she tried to choose what to have, a task not aided by the rest of the family who kept upping the pressure on her. Finally she chose. Only to then call back the waitress a couple of moments later as she’d changed her mind. At that point her frustration poured out and her family received a rather loud verbal lashing that I’m sure didn’t do too much to improve the mood during the rest of their meal.

Now there may have been other factors at play yet certainly from where I was sitting it looked like a classic case of choice overload – when there are too many choices we can become well and truly mentally stuck in a fog of indecision.

And I was reminded of the restaurant story after reading an abstract of some new research that looked into which parts of the brain were active during choice overload.

One technique I sometimes talk to clients about is how they can use choice overload to diminish the run-away train of anxious thoughts.

New Anxiety Hypnotherapy Video Testimonial

by Dan Regan | Oct 1, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

New anxiety hypnotherapy video testimonial:

There are few things as satisfying to a hypnotherapist as watching someone progress from being filled with anxiety, worry and dread when I first meet them, to having them tell me how much happier and better they feel once we have worked together.

All that anxiety, worry and dread can take over your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. You may start dwelling on things that have happened, worrying about things that may happen in the future and you may also find yourself becoming self critical and negative about yourself and life.

You may already have read the many testimonials on my website pages, and watched the videos from people who have worked with me. And now there’s another great anxiety hypnotherapy video testimonial to add to this ever-growing collection.

In the video below, Shaun give his feedback on his anxiety hypnotherapy sessions and how much they helped him.

Does Adding Hypnosis To Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Help Treat Acute Stress Disorder?

by Dan Regan | Sep 27, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Does Adding Hypnosis To Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Help Treat Acute Stress Disorder?

In my last couple of blogs I’ve written about the research suggesting that adding hypnosis to cognitive behavioural therapy tends to enhance the results achieved.

Or as Kirsch wrote, “The results of this meta-analysis indicates a fairly substantial effect as a result of adding hypnosis to cognitive-behavioural psychotherapies…hypnosis enhances the effects of cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy across a broad range of problems” (Kirsch et al, Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy: A meta-analysis).

I’ve written about how adding hypnosis can benefit weight loss results and about the benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy with hypnosis for managing fatigue during breast cancer radiotherapy.

Today I’m writing about the benefit of hypnosis and cognitive behavioural therapy in treating acute stress disorder. And once again we have research to tell us about the added benefit of including hypnosis in the treatment.

Health Anxiety – Is it Cancer?

by Dan Regan | Sep 17, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Health Anxiety – Is it Cancer?

When I’m working with someone with health anxiety, perhaps the biggest concern is that any physical symptom being experienced could be a sign of having cancer. And with so many references to cancer around us, it’s perhaps no surprise that the anxiety heads in the direction of what is perceived to be the worst possible case.

In the last 24 hours alone, I’ve heard a cancer charity advert on the radio, seen a similar, watched a programme where a character had been diagnosed and heard about a relative receiving treatment. It can seem like it is all around us, impacting everywhere, and that is the fuel that anxiety needs to start imagining the worst.

And of course, ‘Doctor Google’ doesn’t help here because just about any symptom ‘could’ be a sign of cancer. Of course, it could be a sign of something else or even nothing at all, yet those nagging thoughts continue to grow stronger and ramp up the panic. The internet just isn’t that great at helping you to self-diagnose effectively.

Once you calm the anxiety down (and ditch trying to be an online doctor), your thoughts become clearer, more logical and more reasoned. You can make better decisions about what you should do next.

Just recently I’ve had my own reasons to be thinking about cancer and my own future health.

Are Mental Health Apps Helpful For Anxiety?

by Dan Regan | Sep 12, 2018 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Are Mental Health Apps Helpful For Anxiety?

There has been an immense level of excitement in the Regan household over the last 48 hours, with levels not far off those experienced at Christmas. And it’s all been because my daughter saved up and ordered herself a fitbit. From the moment the online order was placed she has was asking when it would arrive and whether it would come while she was at school the next day or whether it would be the evening. I reckon we were getting a dozen mentions, questions and references about it every hour!

The following evening, when it hadn’t arrived by the evening, she could be seen going and standing by the door to look out for the delivery driver, and then things moved into the realm of questioning whether the order had actually gone through ok. Perhaps it had been lost? Maybe the company had delivered it to the wrong house? Would it arrive? Would it ever arrive?!!!! (By this point I think we were all just hoping it would arrive soon!).

The no sooner had it been delivered than she was sprinting down the stairs to unbox it and get started (those running steps obviously wasted because they weren’t counted by the fitbit).

And the excitement didn’t stop because no sooner was she awake than she was wanting to look at the app to find out how she had slept (no more relying on guesswork about sleep from now on!). And then the joy of updates every ten minutes on the number of steps she had taken. I say every ten minutes but it seemed like a lot more!

Now I don’t mind all this excitement about walking and moving because it can only have a healthy goal of having her being more active. That can only be a good thing in the age of screen after screen.

And I think this is an example of technology and an app that serves people well if they want to improve their health and wellbeing.

But what about the ever growing multitude of mental health apps? Are they good for anxiety and other mental health issues?

A recently published study took a look at mental health apps to identify how they frame mental health, including who has problems and how they should be managed.

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