Anxiety is a normal reaction to help us deal with difficult or dangerous situations, and occurs throughout the animal kingdom. We need it to survive as it alerts our body for action and enables us to react swiftly and efficiently - anxiety before an exam or during a presentation increases the flow of adrenaline and enhances our performance.
Anxiety disorders tend to manifest around late adolescence and the early 20s, and rarely occur for the first time after 35. Conditions that are present or appear then are usually a continuation of conditions that have developed earlier in life. There is a clear genetic basis to anxiety disorders. Some people are born more anxious than others. Children with anxious parents are more likely to develop the same ways of thinking by modelling themselves on their parents.
Physical sensations of anxiety are triggered by the brain interpreting a given situation as threatening. This occurs within seconds without us having to think about it. This response has become known as the ‘fight or flight’ reaction, because the body is getting ready to stand and fight, or to run away.
Everybody experiences anxious feelings at one time or another - going to the dentist, taking a driving test or attending an interview. At these times, our anxiety is normal, appropriate and even useful. However, if anxiety becomes too intense or occurs in situations where there is no real danger, then it becomes very distressing and can cause major difficulties.
We learn to become anxious when there is no real threat to our being by misinterpreting events as stressful when they are not. When we start to get anxious, we think negatively, and it is this negative thinking that creates the environment for frequent anxiety. Negative thoughts turn safe situations into stressful situations and raise anxiety levels. So it is not so much the situations or events themselves that make us anxious, it is the way we view them.
Our specialist team has a wealth of experience in treating all aspects of anxiety.
The treatment for anxiety disorders typically consists of showing the individual how our thoughts and physical sensations associated with anxiety affect our behaviour. During treatment, individuals are shown how to challenge the anxiety which provokes thoughts and irrational beliefs and asked to confront the situations that they are avoiding because of their anxiety. These cognitive and behavioural interventions help the individual to develop more helpful, rational thoughts and beliefs and reduce the fear experienced by the individual. Anxiety management training teaches the anxious person to cope with the symptoms. This way, anxieties may be channelled in a more positive direction.
We have individually tailored Inpatient, Day Care and Outpatient Treatment Programmes to help people overcome and manage their anxiety.
For any further information or to book an appointment, please call the Admission team on 0800 783 0594 (24hr) or fill out the Enquiry Form