Dan’s Blog

Anxiety and Overthinking: Why the Mind Gets Stuck

by Dan Regan | Jan 19, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Anxiety and Overthinking: Why the Mind Gets Stuck

Overthinking is one of the most common and frustrating features of anxiety. Your mind goes over the same worries again and again – replaying conversations, imagining worst-case scenarios or searching endlessly for certainty.

You think the worst and feel anxious about what you are imagining and focusing upon. Your mind starts to race and you spiral from one catastrophe to the next. The more anxious you feel, the more you dread and worry about what will happen and how you’ll cope.

Many people describe it as feeling unable to ‘switch off’, even when they know logically that nothing bad is happening right now. It’s like your mind can always find something for you to worry about. It can become so habitual that if you aren’t worrying about something then you worry that you should be.

In my work with anxiety clients in Ely, overthinking is often one of the anxiety symptoms people find most exhausting.

Why Anxiety Often Feels So Physical | Anxiety Explained

by Dan Regan | Jan 11, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Why Anxiety Often Feels So Physical

This article expands on questions I’m often asked by clients locally, particularly around why anxiety symptoms feel so physical even when medical tests come back clear.

Many people are surprised by just how physical anxiety can feel.

In my work as an anxiety specialist in Ely, one of the most common things clients tell me is that the physical sensations are often the most frightening part – sometimes even more distressing than the anxious thoughts themselves.

Symptoms such as a racing heart, chest tightness, dizziness, breathlessness, muscle tension or a churning stomach can feel intense and alarming. When these sensations come on suddenly or without a clear cause, it’s easy to worry that something is physically wrong.

This is something I recently spoke about in my regular column published by the Ely Standard, exploring why anxiety so often shows up in the body rather than just the mind.

Weight Loss Mindset in Ely

by Dan Regan | Jan 10, 2026 | Weight Loss

Weight Loss Mindset in Ely: Why Mindset Matters More Than Willpower

For many people, weight loss feels like a constant battle with willpower. You might start with good intentions, follow a plan for a while, then find old habits creeping back in – often accompanied by frustration, self-criticism and a sense of failure. This article explains why your mindset matters more.

In my work as a hypnotherapist in Ely and Newmarket, I regularly meet people who are not lacking motivation or discipline. What they’re struggling with is something deeper: the patterns, habits and emotional responses that sit underneath eating behaviour.

It’s these habitual patterns that drive emotional eating, overeating, snacking and unhealthy choices. And it is these things that lead to excess weight and struggling to achieve your goals. You want to be slimmer, healthier and happier – yet your mind is currently working against you.

This is where mindset – rather than willpower – becomes important.

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.

January Weight Loss Mindset

by Dan Regan | Jan 6, 2026 | Weight Loss

January Weight Loss Mindset

Why ‘New Year, New You’ Thinking Makes Weight Shifts Harder – And What Actually Helps

Every January you might hear the phrase ‘New Year, new you over and over – but that idea can unintentionally create pressure rather than progress.

Rather than motivating, this mindset often leads to:

Stress about making the ‘perfect start
Feeling you must be disciplined from day one
Frustration when life doesn’t bend to your plans
A cycle of ‘start / stop / punish / restart’

You end up with so much stress, anxiety and frustration that you give up. You start January with a mindset for weight loss but struggle to maintain it. It’s why so many people in Ely and Newmarket tell me about their history of failed diets and their years of yo-yo dieting.

This article explores why the fresh start narrative can work against you, and how a calmer, more manageable approach helps sustainable change – especially when anxiety, emotions and habits play a role.

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.

How Hypnotherapy Can Help You Through Dry January

by Dan Regan | Jan 1, 2026 | Excessive Drinking and Binge Drinking

How Hypnotherapy Can Help You Through Dry January

Have you ever wondered how hypnotherapy can help you through Dry January?

As the festive season winds down, you may have decided that you need to go on a health kick after the indulgences of Christmas and New Year. I help people take control over excessive drinking and binge drinking all year round. However, many people decide that January, full of New Year’s hope, will be their time to take back control over their drinking.

Drinking alcohol can easily become habitual. You drink to relax after a long day, to accompany a meal, to celebrate, because it’s the weekend and socially with friends. You know too much alcohol is bad for you and can damage your health. Indeed, in Ireland they are moving to label all alcohol with a warning that drinking causes liver disease and is linked to fatal cancers.

Drinking too much is expensive, bloats your waist line, is risky for your health and it can steal your sleep, motivation and energy. It can also be linked to low mood and anxiety. And yet, despite all this, you still find yourself drinking more often, or more volume, than you’d really like. You wake in the morning full of determination to have an alcohol free day. And yet by the evening you are there again with a glass in your hand. You want to cut down your drinking but it just never happens successfully. The alcohol is in control.

At this time of year, many people start looking to Dry January – that month long commitment to take a break from alcohol, reset your habits and boost your mental and physical well-being. For some, it’s a simple challenge to go a month alcohol free (although those excessive drinking habits can soon kick back in once February arrives).

For many others, Dry January is a colossal challenge. You can battle with cravings, urges, social pressure and a sense of doubt whether you can manage the whole month. You may even have started thinking of exceptions, times during Dry January you’ll allow yourself a drink or two, to help make it seem more achievable. I’ve helped clients who secretly drink during Dry January, or who only apply it to certain alcoholic drinks (e.g. only to wine and not beer) to try and cut back their drinking.

If you are thinking about taking part, or you’ve tried before and found it tougher than expected, hypnotherapy can be an effective, practical way to support your Dry January success.

Fear of Flying: Anxiety or Phobia?

by Dan Regan | Dec 31, 2025 | Phobias and Fears

Fear of Flying: Anxiety or Phobia?

I work with many people in Ely and Newmarket who struggle with a fear of flying. The anxiety and fear can stop you flying altogether, or make it a thoroughly uncomfortable experience. So is your fear of flying an anxiety or a phobia? And how can you tackle it so that you can fly calmly and confidently. How can you overcome your fear of flying so you can look forward to going to the places you want to go?

For many people, flying isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s deeply distressing. The thought of getting on a plane can trigger anxiety days or even weeks in advance, and for some, it leads to avoiding travel altogether.

If you are able to tackle the initial barrier of buying a ticket, your anxiety and panic starts to increase. You imagine all the worst case scenarios, from the plane going down to having a panic attack and feeling trapped. The closer flying gets, the more you feel restless and get that sinking feeling. The airport can feel hot and uncomfortable. And being on the plane can lead to panic, hyper alertness and wave after wave of fear. You can arrive at your destination feeling drained and exhausted from all the anxious thoughts and feelings you’ve been trying to deal with.

If you struggle with a fear of flying, you may wonder whether what you’re experiencing is anxiety or a phobia. Understanding the difference is an important first step toward feeling calmer and more in control. And, as my many clients in Ely and Newmarket have gone on to discover, you an feel more calm and in control before and during flying.

All or Nothing Thinking Around Food

by Dan Regan | Dec 30, 2025 | Weight Loss

All or Nothing Thinking Around Food

All-or-nothing thinking around food is a common pattern where eating choices are viewed as either “good” or “bad”, often leading to guilt, restriction, or giving up altogether after small slips.

This way of thinking often sounds like:

“I’ve ruined today, so I may as well eat whatever I want.”
“I’ll start again properly on Monday.”
“If I can’t do this perfectly, there’s no point.”

All-or-nothing thinking isn’t a lack of willpower. It’s usually a response to pressure, stress or anxiety, especially after periods like Christmas, holidays, or busy life changes.

When food becomes tied to strict rules, black and white thinking, self-criticism or control, even small deviations can feel like failure. That emotional reaction often drives overeating, comfort eating, or abandoning healthy intentions altogether.

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