Anxiety Self-Help Treatment Made Easy
by Silvia Hartmann, PhD
What Is Anxiety?
A few simple facts
Anxiety is a form of fear that happens as a result
of thoughts, rather than because of real immediate danger
in the present environment.
People, unlike animals, can cause ADRENALINE to be
produced in their own bodies in DIRECT RESPONSE TO a thought.
Because the thought and the environment are not the same (as it would
be for a zebra which spots a lion), the action requisite to get rid of
the adrenaline in the system doesn't happen (the zebra starts to run,
which is why it needs the adrenaline shock injection in the first place!).
What happens in people is that they don't get rid of the adrenaline,
so it builds up, and up - causing MORE thoughts which in turn trigger
MORE adrenaline releases.
Symptoms Of Anxiety
Too much adrenaline in the body causes ALL the symptoms
anxiety sufferers are so familiar with:
- The typical changes in the heart rate associated with anxiety;
- Body sensations like dry mouth and throat, trembling (like in shakey
handwriting), sweating, flushing, chest pains and tightness in the chest,
being unable to breathe properly;
- Racing thoughts that spin out of control; paranoia and hallucinations;
- Headaches (stress headaches, anxiety headaches), migraines;
- Vision disturbances, dizziness, inability to see things clearly or
to interpret what is being seen correctly (like dyslexia or totally
failing to make sense of numbers, maths, symbols, maps, etc.);
- Digestive problems as digestion is shut down or reduced during adrenaline
outbursts;
- Eating problems such as sugar cravings (insulin reduces adrenaline
in the blood), hunger pangs, and also loss of appetite on the other
hand;
- Hypervigilance or becoming overly sensitive to all sorts of sounds,
sights, touches, tastes and smells;
- Failure to be able to concentrate on the here-and-now, functional
failures (performance anxiety) like clumsiness, erection problems, "blocks"
(to writing, public speaking, social skills, learning etc. etc), forgetfulness;
- Inability to focus on others, making good connections with others,
attuning or relating to others;
- Sleep disturbances, trouble getting to sleep, sleeping badly, feeling
tired and worn out as a result - which makes all of the above even worse;
... and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Anxiety, in contrast to natural fear, is thereby a PHYSIOLOGICAL
state of a body that is too full of adrenaline, and the mental
or psychological problems and the behavior problems and performance problems
normally associated with high stress and anxiety are just a RESULT of
that underlying problem.
Who suffers from anxiety?
People who have already a build up of adrenaline in their bodies have
nowhere to go when a frightening thought strikes - their adrenaline levels
spike into the red immediately and the longer they stay there, the worse
all the symptoms of their anxiety will become, physical, mental and emotional.
This is the same for stressed and anxious children and babies as it
is for adults. It is structural, human and entirely logical.
Any human who is stressed for too long, or has been stressed repeatedly
severely (in war, bullying, abusive relationship), or is unable to escape
an ongoing stressful environment (family, school, prison, army, work)
will eventually show the symptoms of anxiety, some or many of them, depending
on how severe the stress is they have been under, and for how long it
has been going on.
The highest end and last-ditch "emergency defense" of high
anxiety is to have a panic attack. The systems in the body (and mind,
and energy system) become so chaotic that "something has to give".
Panic attacks are "nature's restart button" on a computer
that is blue screening.
Is anxiety genetic?
A child reared by anxious parents will naturally be more anxious than
a child reared by non-anxious parents. Although genetics may play a small
part, environment and HOW this is being responded to is much, much more
important than genetics.
Stressed and anxious people create a stressful atmosphere AROUND them,
and those who look to their leadership for security (children with parents,
workers with managers, soldiers with officers, students with teachers
etc.) will likewise experience far more stress than if their leader or
responsible adult was calmer and more in control of their environments.
It is far more important to remove excess stress hormones from the body
quickly and as soon as possible than to wonder if there are any genetic
components to being affected this way.
In other words, anxiety or adrenaline allergy is absolutely curable
and at the very least, it can be MARKEDLY REDUCED.
What is the difference between social anxiety, separation anxiety, performance
anxiety?
The only difference between any appearance of the symptoms of anxiety,
regardless if this is a maths anxiety, sexual or social anxiety, an anxiety
about dogs and cats, jury duty, test anxiety, or public speaking is
the TRIGGER which causes the adrenaline spikes to go into the red.
It is important to understand that WHAT the trigger is doesn't mean
ANYTHING about a person who suffers from anxiety disorders and their symptoms
- the problem is ALWAYS that there is already a high underlying level
of adrenaline rushing around their systems when they meet the trigger.
They have nowhere to go, the adrenaline spikes go into the red and that's
when the flare up happens.
Just as people can become accidentally phobic of just about anything
at all, they can become extremely anxious about anything at all
- this has little or nothing to do with REAL danger or any logical reasons
and is mostly simply accidental.
New effective tools for coping with anxiety
Ideally, we don't want to think of "coping" with it, but
to remove the problem and all the many symptoms altogether and
get a HEALTHY ADRENALINE SYSTEM back into action.
In order to do this, systematic desensitization is NOT a good option
because we want to ELIMINATE THE FEAR RESPONSES, rather than to get used
to more and more pain as we go on.
- It is extremely important to remove excess adrenaline from
our bodies as soon as possible, because serious, very serious long term
health damage is the risk here, not to speak of the incredible psychological
damage to self esteem, happiness, fulfillment and joy in life which
is being caused by the adrenaline allergy systems.
Someone who suffers from anxiety is often very likely to view the future
bleakly, feel themselves out of control and unable to achieve anything
meaningful at all.
They have to cope with many physical and psychological symptoms, problems
with substances, addictions and all sorts of limiting behaviors which
naturally leads to becoming very depressed.
Stimulating, exciting, exhilarating, new and challenging events become
rare in their lives because these would trigger the adrenaline spikes
with their awful symptoms, so with so much fear and so little joy every
day, it is no wonder that many people who suffer from anxiety symptoms
and disorders get very, very depressed and unhappy on top of it all.
A Two Part Approach To End Anxiety Problems
When we consider any anxiety related disorder to be nothing more than
an adrenaline allergy, we can know right away that the right methods of
treating anxiety come in two parts.
- 1. A treatment for the high anxiety situations.
The high spikes of heavy adrenaline shots into an already overstressed
system cause the most serious problems of them all, and so it is very,
very natural and even extremely HEALTHY for any individual to AVOID situations
which could cause these.
As anxieties can flare up at any time, become triggered by all sorts
of environments and all kinds of thoughts and memories, the only real
possibility of total avoidance is an absolute withdrawal from life - or
death in other words. It is sad to consider that there were people who
took that option, simply because they could not live with their anxiety/depression/ill
health spirals any longer.
The natural and effective treatments for anxiety, or rather, for the
adrenaline problems in the body which CAUSE the anxiety, is the same as
what is needed for the second, and even more important aspect of people
who suffer from adrenaline allergies, namely:
- 2. To reduce dramatically the BASE LEVELS OF STRESS they are
under all the time.
This is the key to treating the adrenaline problems in the first place.
When we start with a baseline of a lot less anxiety, there is more room
for real things to come in WITHOUT causing the dreaded anxiety spikes
as the systems goes into the red, and thoughts spiral out of control,
physical symptoms occur and behavior and life falls apart.
This is a two pronged approach which will make a TREMENDOUS
difference, especially in the long term, to anyone's levels of health,
happiness and self esteem.
A Self Help Treatment Program For Ending Anxiety
The very first rule:
STOP berating YOURSELF for suffering from an adrenaline
allergy.
It is NOT your fault.
These things just happen in our society and the way we live, it is INCREDIBLY
common and you KNOW just about everyone is "stressed out" most
of the time.
The fact that you are afraid doesn't mean ANYTHING about you - you're
not a coward, you don't suffer from having "no will power"
and there's actually, nothing wrong with you at all. You are responding
to YOUR situations EXACTLY like someone would who was in YOUR situation,
and who happens to be - YOU.
- Instead, stop for a moment and think how LUCKY you are to
have found out about this in a way that can NOT be ignored, and so you
are forced to sort this NOW, rather than spending your entire life running
around in circles, never getting to experience what you really longed
for, and then dying of a stroke or a heart attack a few years after
you've "retired".
I am completely serious about this.
Adrenaline allergies are DEATHLY in every way, and
I am incredibly glad that you will be spared the breakdowns of your health
and happiness simply because you have really learned what this is, and
you have a really good motivation to sort it out, once and for all.
The outcome of this program is that you should become actually a happier,
braver, MORE efficient and proactive person than those you are looking
at right now and thinking that they've got it all sussed. "They"
don't. They just don't know it like you and I do, and they will
pay the price in many ways for not dealing with their "stress"
here and now.
The Core Anxiety Treatment
This is really simple and easy, and involves a special version of an
Energy Therapies self help program which is vaguely related to acupuncture,
only you can do it with your own hands and fingertips instead, and it
works not just on the body, but on the mind, on your emotions and on your
thoughts, all together and all at the same time.
Our thoughts and our energy system (which is being treated in for example,
acupuncture, acupressure, faith healing, energy healing, Reiki, meditation,
Karate, Yoga, and many, many more likewise powerful and practical techniques)
are LINKED.
- When we think disturbing thoughts, our energy system becomes
disturbed IMMEDIATELY - and that is what causes the adrenaline injections
straight into our physical bodies.
Likewise, when our energy system runs calm an clear, our thoughts can't
help but run calm and clear also.
The energy body and thought are one and the same, and the state of one
reflects the state of the other.
In this way, thoughts don't impact the body directly, but VIA THE
CONNECTOR of the energy system.
- We might not be able to control our thoughts or calm them with ease,
but we CAN CALM THE ENERGY SYSTEM and then the thoughts
follow as they must.
This is the key to reducing the amount of adrenaline in our systems.
This is the key to being able to calm ourselves right down, so we get
to sleep properly again, eat properly again, feel strong and healthy,
and can handle surprise and the daily shocks of living easily as we flow
swiftly from one experience to the other, like the weather changes outside
as it must so the planet remains healthy.
Heart Healing
The most important energy system "organ" is the energy heart
- this is the nuclear reactor at the center of the energy system. It powers
all of the energy system and is intricately linked to every part of us
- thought, physical body, meridians, the lot.
- Get the Heart stabilized, and ALL YOUR SYSTEMS will be stronger,
more powerful and work better.
 People
still pray and meditate to achieve "peace of mind" which is
the same as "peace of energy system".
We are going to use this oldest of techniques as a general anxiety and
adrenaline remover prescription, at least 3x a day, EVERY DAY,
as our central stabilization
process.
Place both hands on your heart of energy.
Close your eyes and feel your hands.
Move the hand closest to your chest very lightly in a circle
and take seven deep breaths in and out, counting down on the out breath
aloud:
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
On Zero, open your eyes and continue with your day.
This takes only a minute but it gives your body a break,
like a miniature holiday. Three such little holidays EVERY DAY will
begin to take off some of the accumulated adrenaline and reduce your
overall stress levels for the sake of 3 x 1 minute spend.
- Do this regularly and you will find that it becomes EASIER
AND EASIER to slow down, to calm down.
With practice, this simple gesture becomes a stabilization ritual
in moments of crisis as well.
Real Energy Body Healing
This next treatment is more specific and deals with the worst places
where you can feel the physical results of your anxiety the most.
This is a real feeling in the body. For some it is the head; for others
it is the throat, for others yet again, it can be chest, or stomach.
Some people's hands or feet get very cold.
You know where you feel it FIRST and when you feel
THAT body sensation (not an imagination or a thought,
a real physical feeling!), your stress is already at dangerous levels.
Meridian Re-Balancing Full Treatment For Stress & Anxiety
Your thoughts, your energy system and your body are ONE system, so
by treating our energy system and using our thoughts to "call off
the emergency" we get the body to calm down and follow suit - the
result is that the adrenaline slowly disappears and with it, the anxiety
melts away.
When that happens, our thoughts become clearer as well and not only
do we FEEL better, we can THINK and ACT better, too.
Example: Anxiety Symptom: Shakey Handwriting
Under stress, Tony, a student, would experience
trembling from anxiety which would cause his hands to shake minutely
and produce ragged, untidy and shakey handwriting. When he thought about
it, he felt the first symptoms to know it was coming not in his hands
but in his back and neck which would go "rock hard and solid, nearly
painful". The shaking would follow soon after.
This is a classic example of how a part
of the energy system, in this case located in Tony's back and shoulders,
locked up and stopped the smooth flow of energy into his hands.
To treat this, Tony sat down at his writing
desk and looked at something that he had written which was very shakey
to bring on the symptoms of anxiety, in his case the locking up in his
neck and shoulders.
Then he began the meridian balancing treatment,
breathing in and out deeply on each meridian point and saying out aloud,
"I want to repair that blockage in my neck, soften and flow."
Halfway through the session he could feel
the blockage softening and "running down his arms, back and shoulders
like warm water". As soon as this happened, he also took a big
sigh of relief, that turned nearly into a yawn.
When the session was finished, he felt calm
and clear and the work itself did no longer frighten him.
Here is how to do the full meridian balancing treatment, step by step.
1. Find the place in your body that shows your anxiety the most. That
is where the energy blockage lies which stops on the physical level
the adrenaline from dispersing properly and flowing away.
2. Focus on that place, put your hands on your heart in the Heart
Healing posture.
Say out aloud, "I want to repair this blockage (and then name
where it is, in your stomach, in your head, in your back, in your throat
etc.)"
Breathe in and out deeply and then say it again, three times in all.
Remember to breathe in and out deeply each time.
3. Now place two fingers on the following points, one after the other.
- Make a tiny circle with your fingertips there.
- Breathe in and out deeply.
- Say, "I want to repair this blockage in my (...)
- Breathe in and out deeply.
Then move on to the next point and do it again.
4. Finish once more in the Heart Healing position with three deep
breaths in and out, but don't say the statement again.
This time listen in to yourself to find out how calm you are now.
If you wish, you can repeat the treatment up to three times.
Super Quick Treatment for Anxious Thoughts and Every Day
People who suffer from anxiety induced by an adrenaline allergy experience
adrenaline shots or "spikes" at many times during the day.
As soon as this happens, we need to treat it right away, there
and then, with the following quick meridian clearer.
- Here, we tap rhythmically on the meridian points under the
eye, switching from side to side, and simply think or say, "Adrenaline
allergy" until we can take a sigh of relief which is our sign
that the tension and the adrenaline is receding.
NB: Don't wait for big spikes to happen and before you are really
anxious.
Use this super quick treatment immediately and as soon as you
notice the "spike" has occurred.
You can do this anywhere, even in public, and in conjunction with
the other treatments, it is quickly effective and PREVENTS THE OVERALL
BUILD UP that causes the real deep anxiety in the end.
So it is very important to treat yourself right away when you are
noticing a spike:
- Whilst watching TV (movies AND news, and anything else that makes
you anxious, even an advertisement can!)
- In traffic or whilst driving (you only need one hand)
- Out and about when shopping, or even before you leave the house
and think about going out;
- In school and exam situations;
- When dealing with mail, or whilst on the telephone;
- In social situations where you notice an anxiety spike.
Example: Social Anxiety
Kathy, a high school student, was extremely anxious of social situations
such as parties but also had a hard time with being by herself in the
library, or walking into the dining hall. She had been doing the full
treatments for about a week when an important party came up and she
decided to go.
She had to treat herself with the full treatment at the thought once,
then the quick treatment was sufficient to help her decide what to wear,
to get her dressed, made up, out of the house and during the travel
to the venue.
When she arrived at the venue, she became very anxious, went to the
ladies room and treated herself there, especially concentrating on her
lower abdomen, which felt extremely hot and painful. This settled her
enough to be able to rejoin the party, and she was able to stay and
even talk and dance a little with the help of a few surreptitious taps
under her eye.
She was delighted with her progress and now is actively looking forward
to a class picnic "so I can practice until I feel really comfortable
all the time, and this awful anxiety is finally behind me!"
In Conclusion:
The above protocols are tried and tested with many, many people and
help significantly reduce overall levels of anxiety, even for people
who suffer from chronic anxiety and have done so for a long time.
Please USE these ideas and especially, TAKE NOTICE of how you feel,
all the time and most importantly, in the beginning as you learn how
to use these excellent, time honored approaches regularly in your every
day life.
All you really need to do is to REDUCE THE LEVELS OF ADRENALINE in
your system to feel better, think more clearly, sleep better and get
all the benefits of more self confidence in many different situations.
Focus on that and do the best you can; take GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF
and you will get the benefits in the end.
Anti-Anxiety Pattern by Silvia Hartmann from http://Sidereus.org,
All Rights Reserved 2004.
Please feel free to print, copy, translate and distribute this pattern
as long as it is:
FREE of charge and The Copyright Notice is included.
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