Please click here to visit our sponsor

Anxiety Warning Signs


How do you know when you are suffering from background anxiety? It's important to be aware of the warning signs, because excessive levels of anxiety can disrupt your performance, stifle joy and lead to depression and illness.

A good test of a person's physical fitness lies in their ability to do the things our ancestors did, routinely. So you are physically fit if you can run slowly for several miles without getting out of breath, climb, hunt wild animals . . . you get the picture.

Perhaps you've stopped reading already, daunted by this test of physical fitness, but we know, deep down, that we're built for that kind of activity. It's what your human frame was designed for.

So what about anxiety? What is the equivalent test of 'normality' which we should apply when deciding whether we are over-stressed? I would propose the following list. I don't claim that it's scientific, but I would defend it as a pragmatic and practical list of qualities. These are the conditions which each one of us can aspire to.

A reasonably relaxed person :

· Doesn't procrastinate

· Is open to spontaneous suggestions

· Looks forward to the weekend . . . and looks forward to the working week

· Feels that they have plenty of time

· Moves gracefully

· Enjoys their food

· Sleeps well

· Good balance of time between family, personal and working lives

· Fit

· Efficient

· Looks forward to challenges

· Not readily affected by criticism

· Not particularly susceptible to vices such as overeating, smoking, heavy drinking

· Open and courteous

How did you do? Don't worry too much if you struggled. It isn't unusual for people to struggle with half of the items on this list. Turn this around for a moment and think about the gains to be achieved when you do learn to relax. Think how pleasant it would be to feel more optimism. To take greater pleasure in your animal nature (eg exercise, sex, food, sleep). To enjoy greater control over your own destiny. And, of course, the career benefits to be enjoyed from greater efficiency and effectiveness.

We can all benefit from increased relaxation. Perhaps surprisingly, this isn't hard to come by. As a hypnotherapist I treat people for a range of conditions, and the consistent response from my clients is "yes, you helped me with my condition, and I've also discovered again how much fun life can be". Stress reduction is a side effect, a by-product, for many hypnotherapy clients. If you wish, it could also be the main event.

Look after yourself. It's a short life and it's here to be enjoyed. Consider hypnotherapy. Consider meditation. Above all, look honestly within yourself to identify sources of anxiety. Don't be embarrassed, or feel guilty, simply because you feel anxious. It's normal. Doing something positive about our background anxiety is possibly the most positive step any of us can make towards enjoying life more.

Jim Sullivan is a hypnotherapist specialising in confidence, self esteem and stress management. He may be contacted via Confidence Club http://www.confidenceclub.net




Patients Declare Grounds for Medical Skepticism: Alternative ...
American Chronicle, CA - 1 hour ago
Callahan and colleagues (2008) set out to determine whether medical skepticism was associated with the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). ...


Doctors in for a dose of alternative medicine
The Age, Australia - Jul 4, 2008
It gives me a sense that I'm in the right place, somewhere between alternative medicine and Western," he told an interviewer. ...
GP training to include the fringe alternatives The Age
all 5 news articles


The Gazette (Montreal)

Alternative therapies up close
The Gazette (Montreal), Canada - Jul 5, 2008
In Trick or Treatment, British authors Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst expose the false claims and profiteering of alternative medicine while sounding the ...


Irish Independent

Time to stop and smell the roses
Irish Independent, Ireland - 14 hours ago
She firmly believes her frenetic lifestyle had been the catalyst for her illness and that alternative medicine was the answer. "I think stress caused my ...


Communication Key to Blending Eastern and Western Medicine
RedOrbit, TX - Jun 30, 2008
Yet alternative medicine is finding its place in health care. "There are some things that Western medicine just can't fix," Evans said. ...


International Conference in HolguĂ­n Promotes Natural Alternative ...
Radio Nuevitas, Cuba - Jun 26, 2008
Sixty academia studies are to be presented at the conference, which takes place near a flagship alternative medicine hospital in HolguĂ­n. ...


Telegraph.co.uk

Complementary medicine: seeking out alternatives
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Jun 10, 2008
Alternative therapists now outnumber GPs in the UK, universities run courses on alternative medicine and the industry receives ÂŁ500 million a year from the ...
Alternative therapies put to the test Telegraph.co.uk
all 2 news articles


NewsReleaseWire.com (press release)

Alternative Medicine Solutions Markets Naringenin, Grapefruit ...
NewsReleaseWire.com (press release) - Jun 24, 2008
Lloyd Wright, CEO of AMS Inc. and author of “Triumph Over Hepatitis C: An Alternative Medicine Solution,” is currently the only one in the world marketing a ...


Physician and Patient Attitudes towards Complementary and ...
7thSpace Interactive (press release), NY - Jun 26, 2008
In the US, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is most prevalent among reproductive age, educated women. We sought to determine general ...


The case against cure-alls
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - Jun 18, 2008
Alternative Medicine On Trial, co-authored with a journalist, Simon Singh. It is a very timely tome, with the Federal Government considering a toughening of ...

alternative medicine - Google News

home | site map

© 2006 www.elearn-university.org