Dan’s Blog

Why Anxiety Sometimes Feels Like Self-Sabotage

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

Why Anxiety Sometimes Feels Like Self-Sabotage (and what to do about it)

Does it sometimes feel like you are self-sabotaging your attempts to overcome anxiety?

Many people in Ely and Newmarket who come to me for help with anxiety notice something confusing: They want change and to feel better – they try to move forward and make progress – yet something inside them seems to push back and hold them back.

It can feel like self-sabotage: taking one step forward and two steps back.

You start questioning yourself. Why do you hold yourself back? Why can’t you follow through?

Even more frustratingly, you may know there is no logical reason for your anxiety. And at times you may feel fine. Yet the anxiety is always lurking and can resurface at any time.

This is all very common, and it doesn’t mean you lack willpower or commitment. In fact, it often reflects how your nervous system learned to respond to threat – it’s not some sort of flaw in your character or capability.

When I used to struggle with anxiety, this sense of stop-start and forwards-backwards was a common pattern. One day could be the great and the next I was a ball of anxiety. A situation may go well and I felt positive that this was the time when everything would improve. Yet, when the next similar situation arose, the same old anxious thoughts and feelings would resurface. You start to try and hide it, avoid possible triggers and work around your anxiety.

This article covers what is happening if your anxiety sometimes feels like self-sabotage, and what to do about it.

Low Confidence and Anxiety: Why They’re Often Linked

by Dan Regan | Feb 23, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Low Confidence and Anxiety: Why They’re Often Linked

My latest regular Ely Standard column is all about the link between confidence and anxiety. My article also appears in the Cambs Times, Hunts Post and Wisbech Standard.

Many people describe struggling with low confidence – hesitating to speak up, doubting themselves, struggling to make decisions or holding back through fear of getting things wrong.

What’s often less obvious is that anxiety frequently sits underneath low confidence, quietly shaping how safe or capable someone feels in everyday situations.

In my work as an anxiety specialist in Ely, I regularly meet people who feel frustrated with themselves for “not being more confident”, without realising how much anxiety and overthinking are influencing their confidence levels.

Recognition for Specialist Social Anxiety Work | Anxiety Support in Ely

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

Recognition for Specialist Social Anxiety Work – What Actually Matters to Clients

From time to time, therapists receive industry recognition for their work. Recently, my practice was recognised as Leading Social Anxiety Hypnotherapist 2026 (East of England) by LUXlife.

If you’ve been a reader of my articles, you’ll know this is just the latest in a series of awards for my hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket.

As someone who used to suffer with social anxiety, I know what is important. You need the trust, belief and comfort to make real progress towards feeling better.

While acknowledgements like this are appreciated, they raise an important question – what really matters when you’re looking for help with social anxiety?

Understanding Anxiety: Why It Feels So Overwhelming

by Dan Regan | Feb 14, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Understanding Anxiety: Why It Feels So Overwhelming – and What Actually Helps

Anxiety can feel confusing, overwhelming and exhausting – especially when it shows up without an obvious reason. Many people worry that anxiety means something is “wrong” with them, or that they should be able to control it better.

In reality, anxiety is a natural response. And understanding how it works is often the first step towards feeling calmer and more in control.

All the mind racing and thinking the worst can feel overwhelming and confusing when you aren’t sure why it is happening. And all those unpleasant physical sensations of anxiety can cause worry and fear that there is something serious medically wrong with you. It becomes and ongoing cycle of dread, worry, fear and anxiety.

This article is based on Episode 1 of the Dan Regan Hypnotherapy Podcast, where I explain what anxiety really is, why it can feel so intense, and what genuinely helps when it shows up. Through upcoming episodes we are going to explain and normalise anxiety, alongside helping you learn how to feel better in yourself.

Practical Ways to Calm Anxiety When It Feels Overwhelming

by Dan Regan | Feb 12, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Practical Ways to Calm Anxiety When It Feels Overwhelming

When anxiety feels overwhelming, it can be hard to know what will actually help you to calm anxiety in the moment. Your thoughts race, the physical sensations intensify, and logical reassurance can feel out of reach.

You may not know how to calm your anxiety and the things you have tried haven’t helped or just aren’t enough to help you feel better. Your mind races, your heart pounds, you feel hot and tense and you can feel stuck and helpless. The more anxious you feel, the more your thoughts race. The more you think the worst, the stronger the anxious physical sensations become. It’s exhausting and repetitive. You feel overwhelmed and you withdraw as you avoid things more and more. You struggle to calm your anxiety long enough to feel ‘normal’.

Many people I work with in Ely, Newmarket and the surrounding Cambridgeshire area tell me they don’t need ‘big solutions’ – they need small, practical ways to feel calmer when anxiety spikes.

Whilst you may not know how yet, you can calm anxious feelings and thoughts, even if they do feel overwhelming right now.

This article shares some gentle, realistic steps that can help settle anxiety and bring your nervous system back towards balance.

Introducing the Dan Regan Hypnotherapy Podcast

by Dan Regan | Feb 10, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Introducing the Dan Regan Hypnotherapy Podcast

Over the years, many people I work with have said the same thing: “I wish I could take a bit of the therapy room away with me.”

That idea is one of the main reasons I’ve launched the Dan Regan Hypnotherapy Podcast.

This podcast is a space where I can share calm, clear guidance to help you better understand anxiety, reduce stress, and feel more confident and in control – wherever you are and whenever you need it.

I’m Dan Regan, an anxiety specialist and clinical hypnotherapist based in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and I run Dan Regan Hypnotherapy. For over 15 years, I’ve worked with people experiencing anxiety, panic, overthinking, low confidence and stress. Alongside my professional experience, I also understand anxiety from a personal perspective, which strongly shapes how I work and how I communicate.

The aim of this podcast is simple: to help you understand your mind a little better, so anxiety feels less frightening and more manageable.

Why Phobias Can Feel So Intense

by Dan Regan | Feb 6, 2026 | Phobias and Fears

Why Phobias Can Feel So Intense (And Why They’re Not Logical)

If you’ve ever struggled with a phobia – whether it’s heights, spiders, injections, flying, enclosed spaces, or something else entirely – you might have wondered why the fear you feel can seem so intense, even when the danger is minimal or nonexistent. It doesn’t make sense logically, and that paradox can leave you feeling frustrated or worried.

Fears and phobias are pretty common things. You may have learnt to live with it or just to avoid things. Yet even this can be uncomfortable if your phobia feels intense just when things get mentioned in conversation or you see something related on a screen. You live on edge and in fear of having to face your fear. And when that day comes, as it so often does eventually, you struggle with anxiety beforehand and either bail out or find yourself an anxious wreck as you try and do things that others seem to do so easily.

You may know when and why your phobia started. However, it’s far more common that at some point, probably when young, it started and then at some point it became problematic and limiting. The same thoughts, feelings and behaviours repeat when you see, hear or think about it.

You know that your fear is irrational but that knowledge doesn’t change anything. Your phobia feels intense. The way your brain works means that emotions always triumph over logic. Panic, tears, shaky legs, racing thoughts, heart palpitations and sleepless nights can all happen.

Many people I work with in Ely and the surrounding Cambridgeshire area describe the intensity of their phobic reactions as one of the most confusing and overwhelming aspects of their anxiety experience.

Low Confidence and Anxiety

by Dan Regan | Feb 4, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks, Confidence and Self Esteem

Low Confidence and Anxiety: Why They’re Often Linked

Low confidence and anxiety often go hand in hand. Many people notice that when anxiety becomes more persistent, their confidence gradually fades – even in situations that once felt manageable.

In the same way, if you struggle with low confidence, then it leads to worry, self-doubt, anxiety and dread. You worry about messing up, being found out, what others think and about whether you have the ability to do things. You may constantly criticise yourself and be harsh about what you do or what you feel you can’t do. This leads to feeling low and anxiety and so you avoid things and stay firmly within your comfort zone. You may find you take things personally and struggle when challenges arise or things go wrong.

Back when I used to struggle with anxiety and low confidence, there were some situations where I felt totally fine, comfortable and self-assured. Yet, there were other times where I was caught in a spiral of fear, doubt and worry. I would avoid things, escape from things and work hard to disguise how I really felt. I would try to orchestrate things to make them feel more manageable for me and would worry about expressing my opinion in case there was any backlash that could make me crumble.

Sometimes you may be able to hide how you feel from others. Yet the same cycle of negative thought and feelings repeat internally over and over. You get that feeling in the pit of your stomach, your mind races as you think the worst, and the anxiety and doubt increase.

People I work with in Ely often describe feeling less sure of themselves, more self-critical, or worried about how they come across to others. Over time, this can affect work, relationships and everyday decisions.

Why Anxiety Can Return After Feeling Better

by Dan Regan | Jan 25, 2026 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Why Anxiety Can Return After Feeling Better | Anxiety Support in Ely

One of the most unsettling experiences is when anxiety returns after you had started feeling better. You start to feel better and think things are going to keep improving… and then anxiety seems to return.

Many people describe feeling confused or discouraged when this happens. Thoughts such as ‘I thought I was past this’ or ‘Does this mean nothing has really changed?’ are very common. You start to worry about your anxiety coming back and that you will feel as bad as you used to.

The thing to keep in mind is that you definitely have the capability to feel calm, confident and in control. Anxiety is where negative thoughts and feelings start, and then they grow from worry and repetition. You already know how to take back control and feel better. So it is very possible to nip any little bits of anxiety, the sort of thing that everyone gets now and again, in the bud so that it doesn’t take over.

In my work with anxiety clients in Ely and surrounding areas, this fear of anxiety returning often causes more distress than the symptoms themselves.

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.

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