MY SPECIALTIES
GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER AND WORRY
We all worry but when this begins to take over our lives and we are worrying about lots of different things a lot of the time, causing tension in the body and distress, this is called Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) comprises of obsessions (intrusive thoughts, images or urges) which are repeated and lead to anxiety and subsequent compulsions (repeated behaviours aimed to reduce the anxiety).
HEALTH ANXIETY
Health anxiety is an excessive fear that you have a life threatening condition when there is no evidence for this, leading to safety behaviours such as excessive checking of symptoms and reassurance seeking such as repeatedly seeing your GP or researching symptoms.
VOMITING PHOBIA
The fear of vomiting is a very common phobia. This can become very debilitating as the object of fear is in your body. As it is natural to avoid feared objects this phobia leads to avoidance of anything that is believed to cause vomiting.
PANIC
A panic attack can be characterised as a sudden rush of intense symptoms including racing heart, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea and feeling faint, which are experienced as frightening and distressing. Panic disorder develops when the fear of having panic attacks becomes overwhelmingly scary leading to avoidance.
SOCIAL ANXIETY
Social anxiety is the fear of situations where you expect to be judged, embarrass yourself or that others will notice you looking anxious. This leads to avoidance of social situations and talking to people.
PHOBIAS
A phobia is an intense fear of specific objects or situations which is disproportionate to their actual danger, leading to an avoidance of them.
SEPARATION ANXIETY
When children are unable to feel safe without their caregiver this can develop into separation anxiety. This can manifest as crying, screaming, aggression, withdrawal or ‘frozen’ behaviour when separating from caregiver. This is often distressing for the child and the caregiver.
LOW SELF-ESTEEM
DEPRESSION
Depression is characterised by many symptoms including feelings of sadness, reduced motivation and enjoyment, changes in sleep, appetite and energy levels.
Our self-esteem or confidence is how much we value ourselves. When we don’t value ourselves this can lead to low mood and anxiety and affect the quality of our lives.
LONG TERM PHYSICAL HEALTH CONDITIONS
TRAUMA AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Many of us have experienced traumatic life events. When these experiences are severe we can develop PTSD where our body confuses the past with the present. Symptoms of PTSD include hypervigilance, flashbacks, sleep disturbances (including nightmares), irritability, poor concentration and avoidance of any triggers.
Having a physical health condition can place extra demands on you, increasing the chances of having depression and anxiety. There is a clear interplay between our physical health and mental health. Psychological therapy can help with the mental health difficulties but also the management of the physical health difficulties.
STRESS
We live in a world where experiencing stress is all too common. When the demands on us are higher than our resources we become stressed. Common stress symptoms include: worry, feeling tense, irritability, poor sleep and poor concentration.