Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Using Hypnosis To Manage Rumination – Depression and Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jan 13, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Using Hypnosis To Manage Rumination – Depression and Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

If you have a tendency to ruminate or dwell then you’ll already know how it can become an habitual, perhaps even seemingly automatic, way of thinking. You can find yourself going over and over negative events and outcomes and other situations where things didn’t turn out well or where you consider yourself to have failed in some way.

The more you imagine, focus upon and engage in these repetitive negative thoughts, the more they can lead to you feeling anxious, down, low or angry. And as those negative feelings increase, you get caught in the internal thinking spiral that leads to more and more overthinking and ruminating.

Whether you ruminate for a few minutes at a time, or for hours, it can seem like you are lost in a sort of trance of negativity that you can’t always bring yourself out of. Your head seems to be always busy and noisy and stressed.

Rumination is a thinking pattern characterised by negative and repetitive thoughts that are often linked to a sense of loss or failure. It is a common thinking pattern that contributes to common mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. You may find yourself struggling with anticipatory anxiety where you worry ‘what if’ something bad happens and other anxiety provoking worst case scenarios. You may find yourself wishing that things could have been different to how they are (thoughts that are about ‘if only…’) or you can find yourself being negative and critical in your assessment of yourself and your capabilities, such as telling yourself you are a failure or not good enough and so on. As you repeat these thoughts and thinking patterns, you feel more and more down, low, anxious and stressed (which can then have a ripple effect into the rest of your life and your relationships with others).

Rumination, and the negative feelings that it generates and that persist, thrives on receiving focus, belief, engagement and having time and space to run on and on through your mind. Yet as a learned pattern of thinking, and because what goes on inside your own head is something you can certainly learn to manage and orchestrate, it is a style of thinking that can be modified reduced, diffused and changed in a variety of ways that will lead to you feeling more in control and feeling better in yourself (rather than repeating the same old ongoing spiral of negative thoughts that go on and on).

Hypnosis As A Support in Cancer Treatment – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jan 12, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Hypnosis As A Support in Cancer Treatment – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Cancer is a terrible condition that sadly is likely to have affected many people that you know. There’s the worry, anxiety and fear around the condition, your treatment and your prognosis, that can cause concern for you and your loved ones. And the condition and treatment can entail pain, fatigue, insomnia and anxiety.

A significant number of cancer patients experience anxiety or suffer with depression. There can be symptoms such as muscle fatigue, insomnia, poor sleep quality, and chronic and acute pain.

Recently a close family member went through chemotherapy for his cancer. Before his diagnosis was confirmed he was very poorly, and throughout his treatment there were challenges such as fatigue and sleep problems. Thankfully recent scans show that the treatment has been very successful. Yet as with all cancer patients, there is always the lurking anxiety about health and the worry of the cancer returning.

At every stage of the cancer journey there can be mental distress, anxiety worry and fear. There can also be the impacts of treatment on your mental and physical well-being. And whilst hypnotherapy and hypnosis can’t cure cancer (in fact it is illegal for anyone to claim they can), the research and evidence demonstrates that, alongside your medical treatment, there are many ways that hypnotherapy can help with the things that come with it, from cancer treatments or symptoms, such as anxiety, nausea, distress and so on.

How Nature Helps With Anxiety, Stress and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jan 10, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

How Nature Helps With Anxiety, Stress and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

I don’t know about you and your family, but we quite like to watch Richard Osman’s House of Games on TV together. I really like some of the rounds and the way they are put together, and it’s one of those shows that, no matter what your age, you can join in with and play along at home. Only no shouting out the answer please because that just leads to arguments!

The other day, after a particularly engaging play along at home episode, a show came on the TV which was all about groups of strangers getting together and hiking in areas around the country. In the show, five walkers compete against each other with their favourite walks to win a voucher or something at the end of the week. It’s like a strange hiking based reality competition show.

As the show aired, we were shown some absolutely fabulous areas of nature in Yorkshire, and we became particularly interested when they walked in and around Robin Hood’s Bay, a place we’ve visited on many occasions and which we always enjoy going to when we are in that part of the world. They showed some areas nearby that we’ve never explored, or even been aware of, on our previous visits.

Now the reason I mention this is not because I now work for the Yorkshire tourist board, but more because of some of the comments made by the walkers about their love of hiking and what got them into it, along with what they continue to get from their endeavours.

Several of the hikers mentioned how walking, and particularly walking in nature, had helped them with their mental health. From overcoming fears to anxiety and lowness, they had found a method and a passion that helped them. Part of this may have been having a sense of purpose and part of it may have been from being in an environment where it can be a bit easier to discuss mental health issues safely. Yet certainly a large aspect of the mental health boost they talked about came from getting out and spending time in nature.

Now, if you are an avid follower of my articles here on my website then this perhaps wasn’t really news to you. Research upon research has shown that spending time in nature and walking in nature can have immensely positive impacts upon anxiety, stress, depression and your mental health and well-being.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Anxiety Disorders – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jan 5, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Anxiety Disorders – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

The level of anxiety disorders that are recognised and diagnosed seems to continue to rise and rise. More and more people are sadly struggling with anxiety, and within the plethora of possible treatments and ways forward, it can be tough to be sure that you are making the best decision that you can. Luckily, we have an increasing body of scientific research and evidence that can point you in the direction of the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders.

Rather than having to endure all of those never ending anxious thoughts that race through your mind, and having to struggle with all of those uncomfortable anxious feelings, it is possible to learn how to take back control over your thoughts, feelings, action and reactions. In fact, you can come out of the other side of your treatment even better equipped with tools, strategies and the self-belief you need to handle, deal and cope with any future challenges you may face too.

Cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnosis grew out of a shared therapeutic background so it is unsurprising if I call upon aspects of each when helping people with their anxiety. By drawing up the most helpful approaches that are tailored to your own needs, you can move forwards past anxiety and start feeling better again.

As I describe below, hypnotherapy has strong evidence to support its effectiveness as a treatment for anxiety, and adding hypnosis to your cognitive behavioural therapy has been demonstrated to increase positive outcomes.

And here I’m taking a quick look at research into the long term effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety related disorders.

Hypnosis During Pregnancy and Childbirth – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Jan 5, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Hypnosis During Pregnancy and Childbirth – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

With my eldest just turning fifteen and with both of my kids now at college, the pregnancy and childbirth for both of them should feel like a long time ago (they grow up so fast as we like to say!). Yet, I can still remember the entire experience of pregnancy and childbirth like it was just a few days ago.

There was the worry, anxiety, stress and hope that all would be ok and that they would be born healthy and well (especially as we had sadly suffered a miscarriage along our journey to parenthood). There was the whole birthing process and the tiredness and anticipation of waiting for the little one to come along. And then the turmoil as you try and work out what to do with a new baby in the house and how to try and stay on top of everything as you build new routines and try to cope with interrupted sleep, feeding and nappies whilst also managing work and life at the same time.

I often work with women during pregnancy and through childbirth and throughout the adjustment to parenthood stages. They may be struggling with anxiety and a sense of overwhelm. There may be anxiety about health, about being in hospital and coping with the birthing process, and about how well they think they will cope with having the responsibility of a new born to look after. There is no doubt that there are a lot of demands, challenges and things to learn through pregnancy and into parenthood (as well as a lot of love, happiness and joy, of course!!). And, of course, the change in roles and routines can equally have an impact upon fathers too as they also need to adjust through the pregnancy process and into being a new father.

A Quick Strategy For Anxious Overthinking – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Dec 22, 2022 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

A Quick Strategy For Anxious Overthinking – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

If you struggle with anxiety then you’ll be all too familiar with the overthinking that takes over your thinking and that leads to you feeling more and more tense and on edge. All of that anxious overthinking drives your focus and attention towards all sorts of possible worst case scenarios and other catastrophic outcomes.

And even though you know that a lot of those thoughts aren’t rational or logical, that doesn’t stop them from going around and around inside of your head.

There are many, many strategies for calming anxious feelings and interrupting unwanted anxious thoughts. In this short video I share one strategy that you can all upon to bring your focus back to the present moment and to move your time, focus and energy away from all those imagined future possibilities.

Anxiety and Worrying What Other People Think – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 29, 2022 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Anxiety and Worrying What Other People Think – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

When I used to struggle with social anxiety, my life was dominated by the overarching, and ever present, worry about what other people think.

Anxious thoughts and feelings about being judged negatively, making an idiot of myself or somehow failing in the eyes of others, would lead to overthinking, anxiety and avoidance. I would worry about everything, from how I looked and dressed, to how I moved and to what I said and did.

At school, I would get out of anything in the limelight if I could in any way do so, I would hesitate at speaking up, or giving an opinion, and I would struggle in groups. It dogged me through my teens and well into my thirties. There were even periods when I struggled to force myself out of the house, and, when out, I would be almost paranoid that people were looking at me, mocking me and judging me.

Somehow I made it through education and into the work place and into management despite my worry, anxiety and fear. Yet it was never a smooth journey or an entirely comfortable one. Certain tasks, people and places were fine, others left me feeling awkward, uncomfortable, unable to think clearly and wanting to just escape to somewhere more comfortable for me.

And although that anxiety is now long gone, that same anxiety and worry about what other people think is a regular theme that comes up time and time again when I’m working with people.

Controlling Unwanted Thoughts – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 22, 2022 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Controlling Unwanted Thoughts – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

As well as all of the uncomfortable feelings of anxiety, worry and stress, it is often the constant stream of anxious thoughts that causes the most distress.

You may find your thoughts racing off in all sorts of negative directions. You find yourself thinking the worst, catastrophising and overthinking everything. You feel mentally exhausted, making it even harder to deal and cope with your thoughts. They follow you around inside of your head, turning everything into anxiety, dread, fear and worry.

And you may very well find yourself stuck in the negative spiral and cycle where your anxious thoughts lead to anxious feelings increasing. And all of those anxious feelings lead your thinking towards the source of all the worry and dread and you find yourself imagining and thinking about things getting worse and worse. That cycle of thoughts increasing feelings, and feelings increasing thoughts can start to become more and more habitual, persistent and distressing. Your anxiety can start to pervade into all areas of your life as you worry about things going badly or wrong in some way.

There are many ways you may try to deal with your unwanted anxious thoughts. You may try and distract yourself and aim to avoid thinking about those things (although you probably find they still come into your head again in quieter moments). You may go through a gruelling battle inside your own mind as you battle with the anxiety generated thoughts. Or you may simply find yourself lost in the never ending flow of anxious thoughts as they spiral from one thing to another and one worst case to another catastrophe of some kind.

As well as many of the strategies I’ve covered before for dealing with anxiety and anxious thoughts, an approach that is quite common within hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioural therapy is to start to learn how to challenge, dispute and undermine those thoughts and, in so doing, to calm your anxiety and take back control over what goes on inside of your own head.

Mindfulness For Anxiety and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 14, 2022 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Mindfulness For Anxiety and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Anxiety and depression are two of the main things that people come to see me for help with. All of those unhelpful thoughts and feelings can feel overwhelming, impact upon all areas of your life and leave you feeling stuck, low and full of distress.

In conjunction with other coping mechanisms and strategies, hypnotherapy has an excellent track record and body of evidence to support it’s effectiveness for helping you with anxiety and depression. By learning how to take control over your own thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions, you can start to alleviate your symptoms and feel more comfortable inside of your own mind.

Alongside hypnotherapy, mindfulness can also be very effective for anxiety and depression. Something that certainly exacerbates how bad you feel are all the negative and worrying thoughts that seem to dominate your mind. It’s like your brain always finds something to feel anxious, low or fearful about. And all of the ceaseless negative thinking can feel more and more draining and exhausting for you, leading you to withdraw from the things you might usually do and enjoy. In some cases, you might even start to fear the thoughts that go through your own mind and wonder if you will ever be able to feel better.

Yet, by developing your skills, through hypnotherapy and mindfulness, you can start to feel more calm and comfortable in yourself. You can learn how to feel more at peace inside of your own mind and how to notice your thoughts without engaging with them or responding negatively to them. By doing so, not only will you start to reduce the volume of problematic thoughts you experience, you will also be more and more able to let thoughts come and go and manage what goes on side of your own mind.

Self Compassion and Social Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 8, 2022 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Self Compassion and Social Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

When I used to struggle with social anxiety, perhaps one of the most detrimental things I used to do came from the excessive level to which I would be hard, negative and harsh upon myself. Never mind what anyone else was thinking (probably nothing if we are honest), I would chastise, criticise and berate myself over any slight perceived failing or embarrassment. If I felt I’d said something stupid, done something not quite perfectly, or if I missed the opportunity to do something positive, then that self-critical inner voice would be there.

And, swith social anxiety, that inner voice and the way we communicate with ourselves, probably won’t stop with just the current perceived self-failing. In my case, it will probably then also drag out a whole load of the other past mistakes and other justifications for considering myself to be a failure, stupid or an idiot in some way. A lack of self compassion, self encouragement and support can easily exacerbate and consolidate that social anxiety and the worries about failing or being judged negatively by others.

A lack of self compassion and kindness to yourself, and a habitual tendency towards self-criticism and negative self judgements, can feed your ongoing social anxiety and contribute to more generalised anxiety, lowness, perfectionism and low self esteem.

Yet, of course, just because your social anxiety patterns of thinking and feeling currently lead to worry, negativity and lowness, doesn’t mean that you are stuck that way. It is possible to learn how to be more balanced and rational in your own thoughts and feelings towards yourself, to even encourage yourself sometimes, to recognise that sometimes things do go awry and to to feel more comfortable in your own skin so that you can be more relaxed around other people.

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