Hi Mandy,

Sorry to hear that you have the dreaded anxiety issues...hope the following helps.It usually does as long as you remember to practice the technique even when you think it's not working..I'll tell you why...

Anxiety and depression are basically learning states...anxiety is the external focus and tends to be the "I need to be vigilent(hypervigilent) about my surroundings/environment/events as I think I may be in some kind of danger and I must respond to keep myself safe." the latter part of this response mechanism can be summed up in the impulsivity factor that often arises from time to time....depression is the internal focus and tends to be the often unrecognised natural learning state..."I know I need to learn something...do something different to what I always do (in this or that situation) behave in a different way in response to my situation/environment/events. So I'll stop doing what I always do (..and in fact I'll stop doing everything to focus on this one area of my emotional trigger and wait until I learn what it is better for me to do)" You will naturally remain in this depressive or anxiety state until your brain has learned/reprogrammed itself on what to do, or how to respond in a different manner. In order to learn the brain must FOCUS its attention on the underlying emotional state...with anxiety it can be fear, abandonment, rejection (..or any other state that the individual associates.) and with depression it tends to be an anger or sadness response...(but again these emotions can differ from individual to individual). Now that you know everything that occurs has a purpose you can overcome these states one by one by paying attention to them and thanking your brain for letting you know there is something in your response to the world that needs to change and accept yourself with those feelings (both emotional and physical)...this should lessen any symptoms almost immediately...then ask yourself what are you thinking about that has caused those symptoms and ask yourself what if I was to react differently/think differently/have a different value base about this...what if it was not a big deal...as your mind adjusts to new ways of looking at the issues, your symptoms will ease. If they don't ease then you just need to concentrate on where the physical symptoms in your body have gone and gently stroke or tap a number of different areas or points on the body (it actually doesn't matter where this is) and whilst doing so tell yourself that you accept yourself with the symptoms, thank them for warning you of potential dangers ahead and that you will change your response and ensure your own safety from now on...the symptoms will diminish.

You'll more than likely get a few major attitudinal or value based shifts as your self limiting beliefs are challenged under the "how come I'm thinking this way...what if this were not true..what then could I do/think" self questioning technique...it is a powerful process. Some people find it helpful to write a few notes down or draw cartoon pictures as they uncover their self limiting beliefs and the eurika moments of new ways of thinking and responding/behaving.

Once again if symptoms are not relieved or you cannot find the self limiting belief just set your mind to act differently in response to the trigger situation...consciously will yourself to act differently...your brain will form a different habit in no time at all and you will not get the symptoms so often.

As the anxitey lessens you will become depressed less often and can enjoy the external focus for the benefit of more uplifting mood states. You can speed this up by consciosly including more and more things that you like doing into your weekly routine. This way you replace anxiety and depression with relaxation and fun and dare I say it...yes...laughter.

Let me know how you get on...

Hypno