Anxiety & Stress

Categories of anxiety

Anxiety comes in many forms and being anxious is a condition which affects all of us at some point in our lives to a greater or lesser degree. There are seven types of anxiety, all of which exhibit similar negative symptoms; choking, nausea, increased heart rate, upset stomach, sweating, trembling. These seven areas include General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Phobia, Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Often the person suffering from anxiety has a fear of losing control in some way.

What are the effects of anxiety?

People who are anxious for some reason have a feeling of being out of control of a situation, constantly imagining the worst outcome or believing there is no hope. This can affect not only their everyday moods but also affect sleep patterns and in some extreme cases a person end up mildly or chronically depressed. Anxiety leads to avoiding all kinds of situations and people. A person suffering from anxiety will avoid meeting new people, may feel inadequate in their jobs or destroy their relationships.

Anxiety and panic attacks

The worst effect common to many sufferers is a sudden but intense feeling of panic, better known as a panic attack. People who suffer from panic attacks also tend to suffer from claustrophobia and/or agoraphobia. This condition unchecked can lead to long term problems which can also to the development of depression.

What is the Domino System and How Can it Help?

Put simply, for the first time in the history of civilization through the Domino System™, we have the ability to release negative emotions and limiting beliefs, which invariably lead to anxiety and low mood or depression. The way this is achieved is by releasing the root of the emotion or belief from past memories and emotions about ourselves and our past. Once this unconscious block is eliminated, in effect this has a knock on effect on how we feel in the present and more importantly how we begin to feel about the future. With the blockage now removed through hypnotherapy the client can be empowered to create a new more resourceful attitude towards a more confident and anxiety free future.

Learn Mindfulness to manage your mental health

Mindfulness is evermore accepted in the mainstream as an effective way to balance the mind and body. Scientific studies have proven that learning to practice mindfulness can affect the brain chemistry in a similar way to taking certain mood enhancing medications.

More and more organisations and businesses are recognising the benefits of training their employees in the art of mindful living. This acceptance isn't altogether altruistic because it has significant benefits for the organisation by making the employee more productive and efficient.

Here at The Cumbria hypnosis and mindfulness clinic our entire philosophy when it comes to treating any kind of psychological imbalance is teaching our clients how to be mindful whether dealing with negative behaviours, feelings or emotions.

Learning to become more mindful at work especially in the office can create a more effortless experience of the working day which can translate into a much healthier work home life balance.

When you learn to stop and become more mindful in all of your activity you can essentially step off the hamster wheel, create some space and allow your natural mental processes to flow rather than to come to a grinding halt, which is often associated with frustration, lack of concentration, interrupted sleep patterns and a growing sense of mental stress and poor mental health.

Effective treatment for anxiety

People are advised always to consult their GP before considering alternatives. The good news however, is that for those people who want to find an effective compliment to the treatment being received from their doctor, there is always NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and Hypnotherapy. By its very nature hypnosis is a relaxation therapy and can be of great help in helping the sufferer release subconscious tension. More importantly, NLP and mindfulness have an excellent track record in identifying the trigger for panic attacks and empowering the sufferer to neutralise any limiting emotions or beliefs using effective strategies to rewire the anxious brain.

Until I saw David Faratian I was living a daily nightmare. I couldn't eat or sleep properly and I felt everyone and everything was against me. I wouldn't say this unless it was true, but now I feel much better in myself and able to cope

Gemma Prestwick (Cumbria)

EMDR — reprocessing what’s driving the anxiety

Alongside hypnotherapy, David works with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) — a well-researched approach first developed for trauma and now widely used for anxiety, panic and distressing memories. When something overwhelming happens, the brain can store the memory “unprocessed”, so the images, feelings and beliefs attached to it stay raw and keep getting triggered in the present.

EMDR uses gentle bilateral stimulation — usually guided left-to-right eye movements or light tapping — while you briefly bring a difficult memory to mind. This helps the brain do what it naturally does during dream sleep: file the memory away properly so it loses its emotional charge. You stay fully awake, aware and in control the whole time; you don’t need to relive events in detail, and you don’t even have to describe them out loud. Many people find that situations which used to spike their anxiety simply start to feel more neutral and manageable.

PTSD — when the past won’t stay in the past

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after a frightening, overwhelming or life-threatening experience — an accident, an assault, a bereavement, medical trauma, or difficult experiences in childhood or at work. When the mind hasn’t been able to process what happened, the memory stays “live”: flashbacks, nightmares, feeling constantly on edge or “on guard”, avoiding reminders, broken sleep, and sudden waves of anxiety, anger or numbness that seem to come from nowhere.

These are normal reactions to abnormal events — not a sign of weakness — and they respond well to the right help. David works gently and at your pace; you stay in control throughout, and you never have to relive events in detail or even describe them out loud.

How hypnotherapy and EMDR help. Hypnotherapy calms an over-active nervous system, eases the flashbacks and gives you practical tools to feel safe and grounded again. Alongside it, EMDR (above) is one of the most researched approaches for trauma: using gentle bilateral stimulation, it helps the brain finally file the memory away properly, so it loses its emotional charge and stops intruding on the present. Many people find that events which once felt raw and overwhelming settle into something they can recall calmly, without being hijacked by them. Together, hypnotherapy and EMDR offer a calm, structured way through — in Cumbria or online worldwide.

EFT — Emotional Freedom Technique (“tapping”)

EFT, often called “tapping”, combines gentle tapping on a sequence of acupressure points with focused attention on how you’re feeling. It’s simple, non-invasive and quick to learn — which means it also becomes a self-help tool you can use at home whenever anxiety, cravings or stress start to build.

David will show you exactly where and how to tap, and how to word what you’re working on, so you leave with a practical way to settle your nervous system in the moment. EFT sits naturally alongside hypnotherapy and mindfulness as part of a tailored toolkit for calming the anxious mind. Read more about EFT →

More on David’s YouTube channel.