Why I’m the best person to treat you for anxiety and depression
Two years ago I broke my back.
I lay in agony in a hospital bed, feeling down and miserable – and cursing ever climbing that tree!
But all of that was nothing to the anxiety, panic attacks and depression I suffered before becoming a hypnotherapist.
My first experience of panic attacks and anxiety was back in 1995.
I was working seven days a week, 12 hours a day. My relationship had broken down and I was exhausted.
I had been working in financial services for 15 years and was starting to question my career; my life. I just didn’t want to go on any more. The pain of living was too great and I wanted out.
I was anxious and panicky and constantly felt like I was caught in the headlights of an oncoming train and I couldn’t move.
I was having regular panic attacks and mistaking them for heart attacks. I found myself calling for ambulances I was so frightened. Everything felt out of sync, I became disassociated and felt totally out of touch with the world.
I went to my doctor who prescribed anti depressants.
That has all changed now.
Through therapy I changed how I was thinking and in turn the way I was feeling.
I will never compromise my mental health again. I am able to manage my feelings and my moods instead of them managing me.
I can tell when I am doing too much and am able to ease off and remind myself that life is a journey – it’s not the arrival that counts.
†I now run one of the busiest hypnotherapy centres in the country and treat patients who suffer with depression anxiety and panic attacks.
Many of my patients feel depression is a weakness and we need to change this perception and talk about it in the open.
If you do something like break your back, everyone rallies around you because they can see the problem and so sympathise. But you are not seen as a hero with depression and if anything you are avoided.
You feel isolated and comments like “snap out of it” or “pull yourself together” do not help.
So what is the message to take from this?
Never ever take your mental health for granted.
Anyone can become depressed and many of us will indeed suffer from depression or anxiety at some time in our lives.
If you felt flu coming on, you would do something to avert it, so treat your mental health with the same care.
Recognising you are depressed can be difficult. You may have constant flat moods or feel you are taking on too much and you can’t cope with it. And your behaviour may start to change.
If this happens to you, seek help.
Sometimes you may not even be able to put your finger on what is troubling you but it is best to react quickly to any symptoms as the sooner you deal with your depression or panic attacks the better.
Speak to your GP – there are more routes to go down besides medication such as cognitive therapy.
So how can hypnotherapy help?
One of the most researched approaches is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It focuses on inappropriate and negative thoughts about ourselves and our futures, resulting in unhealthy negative beliefs and feelings.
But of vital importance is to have a good therapeutic relationship with the client. And my background and the fact that I’ve ‘been there and done that’ means I know exactly what it feels like to be them. I know where they are coming from and I know the journey they need to make to get better.
The majority of my clients who come here with depression and anxiety-related conditions such as panic attacks, have been recommended by previous clients. And that is the greatest compliment a therapist can have.
Anxiety disorders come in many guises and the best way to find the road to recovery is to recognise it quickly. And it is important to challenge patients’ avoidance strategies.
People around you who have never experienced panic attacks will be able to relate to how you’re feeling. You may feel as though you are going to lose control, go mad or, worst still, die. But the worst thing than can happen is the panic attack itself.
It is the fear of one or more of these things happening that maintains the fears and prolongs the feelings generated in your body – feelings that would normally be generated if we were in danger (the fight or flight response).
But having experienced all this myself puts me in a very strong position to help others recover from these disabling thoughts and feelings.
Anxiety is a 21st century epidemic and I have made it my business to tackle it head on.
I have walked that path and found my journey of recovery has that has given me the tools to help other sufferers recover and stay that way.
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