Hasson - Overcoming anxiety: reassuring ways to break free from stress and worry and lead a calmer life

Gill Hasson

This edition first published 2016

2016 Gill Hasson

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hasson, Gill, author.
Overcoming anxiety : reassuring ways to break free from stress and worry and lead a calmer life / Gill Hasson.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-85708-630-3 (pbk.)
1. Anxiety. 2. Stress management. I. Title.
BF575.A6H37 2016
152.46dc23

2015028627

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-0-857-08630-3 (pbk)
ISBN 978-0-857-08632-7 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-857-08631-0 (ebk)

Cover design: Wiley

Thanks, Marianne

A horrible dread at the pit of my stomach a sense of the insecurity of life.

William James Hall

Over the last few years, Ive learnt a lot about anxiety from people who come on the personal development courses and workshops I run. Increasingly, it seems that more and more people are struggling with anxiety; they describe how in varying degrees anxiety has affected and disrupted their lives.

Anxiety affects all of us in one way or another. You dont have to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder to feel its intrusive, debilitating effects.

I grew up with anxiety my Mum has been anxious all her life. There was always something she was anxious about. As soon as one anxiety was over, another would take its place. My Dad, sister and I managed Mum and her anxiety as best we could.

Fortunately, I havent inherited my mothers persistent anxiety, but in my 20s and 30s I suffered from panic attacks. They seemed to come from nowhere. They also went away for no apparent reason. It wasnt until they went away that I even knew there was a name for them.

The Mental Health Foundation (the UKs leading mental health research, policy and service improvement charity) suggests that anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health problems in the UK and elsewhere, yet it is still under-reported, under-diagnosed and under-treated.

A survey of 2,330 people in the UK carried out in 2014 by YouGov for the Mental Health Foundation revealed that almost one in five people feel anxious nearly all of the time or a lot of the time.

The Mental Health Foundations report Living with Anxiety showed that worries concerning financial issues, the welfare of children and family members, and work issues are the main factors contributing to high levels of anxiety in everyday life.

The report also highlighted the following findings:

Who gets anxious:

• Women are more likely to feel anxious than men.
• Students, young people and people not in employment are more likely to feel anxious all of the time or a lot of the time.
• Just under half of people get more anxious these days than they used to and believe that anxiety has stopped them from doing things in their life.

What people get anxious about:

• Financial issues are a cause of anxiety for half of people, but this is less likely to be the case for older people.
• Women and older people are more likely to feel anxious about the welfare of loved ones.
• Four in every ten employed people experience anxiety about their work.
• Around a fifth of people who are anxious have a fear of unemployment.
• Younger people are much more likely to feel anxious about personal relationships.
• Older people are more likely to be anxious about growing old, the death of a loved one and their own death.
• The youngest people surveyed (aged 1824) were twice as likely to be anxious about being alone than the oldest people (aged over 55 years).

How people cope with anxiety:

• Fewer than one in ten people have sought help from their doctor to deal with anxiety, although those who feel anxious more frequently are much more likely to do this.
• The most commonly used coping strategies are talking to a friend, going for a walk and physical exercise.
• Comfort eating is used by a quarter of people to cope with feelings of anxiety; women and young people are more likely to use this as a way of coping.
• A third of the students in the survey said they cope by hiding themselves away from the world.
• People who are unemployed are more likely to use coping strategies that are potentially harmful, such as alcohol and cigarettes.

Attitudes towards anxiety:

• More than a quarter of people felt that feeling anxious was a sign of not being able to cope.
• But 50% disagreed and nearly three-quarters (74%) of people said anxiety was not something to be ashamed of.

The Age of Anxiety appears to be defined by the pressures and uncertainties of modern life. However, the Mental Health Foundations report concludes that anxiety stems as much from concern for family, friends and relationships as it does from the demands of the outside world. The bottom line is that people can experience anxiety, and anxiety disorders, related to just about anything.