Dealing with anxiety: from self-regulation to therapy

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a common experience for many people, characterized by feelings of worry, fear, or unease. While occasional anxiety is a normal part of life, chronic anxiety can be debilitating. We see people all the time going through different crises, and one of the things that we consistently notice is their fear of being fearful. The ‘fear of the fear’ is often the major contributing issue with anxiety. Once we can get our head around this idea, we can start to get a grip on it. Remember always that anxiety both starts and ends in our head. What we need to learn is how to become the boss of the thoughts that are happening inside our heads. 

Anxiety is our brain saying things are not safe. For some reason we are reminded of a past event or feeling and this sets up a flight-fight-freeze response. Our brain is actually trying to protect us when we feel anxious. 

Self-regulation of anxiety at home

The first step to managing anxiety when faced with the uncomfortable sensations and feelings of fear is to get our breathing in order. Our breathing rate and depth of breath is like a barometer of our emotional health. As we breathe out we can actually control the time interval between our heart beats, and we can put ourselves into a relaxed state. This is a component of Heart Rate Variability, an important health factor in managing our response to fearful stimulus, and a powerful way to manage our psychological and physiological stability during anxiety. Through consciously managing our breathing alone, we can put ourselves into a relaxed state and control our heart rhythm. To breathe effectively try this routine:

1. breathe in counting to four,

2. hold your breath for four,

3. breathe out slowly counting to four

4. leave your lungs empty counting to four,

5. then repeat over and over.

If this rhythm is challenging, you can do this breathing cycle in counts of two or three instead of four, whichever is comfortable for you.  As you feel better you can increase your count. Anytime you feel stressed or anxious, start your breathing.  A person breathing this way looks and feels more centered, both physically and emotionally. You may want to investigate mindfulness practices focused on the breath, such as yoga and meditation.

Psychology and counselling for anxiety

One of the most common approaches to treating anxiety is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a structured, time-limited psychotherapeutic approach that focuses on the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. The underlying principle of CBT is that negative thought patterns can lead to unhealthy behaviors and emotional distress. By identifying and challenging these thought patterns, individuals can learn healthier ways to cope with anxiety. CBT works for anxiety by identifying and challenging negative thoughts, learning coping strategies, and developing problem-solving skills. A trained psychologist or counsellor will gradually guide the individual through these stages in a controlled and supportive manner. Research has shown that CBT is one of the most effective treatments for various anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and specific phobias.

But, what happens when psychotherapy alone doesn’t work for anxiety?

Integrating CBT and Neurofeedback for anxiety

Some people may struggle with anxiety for years, even after trying different forms of psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural interventions from clinical psychologists, and pharmacotherapy from their doctors. And yet, they still can’t overcome their fears and worries. When we look at brainwaves of people with anxiety we often see a lot of fast activity on the screen.   It looks as if their brains are constantly in overdrive and cannot stop for a minute to re-change. This is caused by the brain’s desperate attempt to minimise the danger. If this state is maintained from a prolonged period of time the brain forgets how to relax and change states of arousal.

With careful analysis of brainwaves via qEEG we can determine which parts of the brain are most affected and then train the brain to reduce this activity.  From a few electrodes gently in touch with the head we can collect the information and then use this to determine the best protocol for brain training. The brain can learn to control symptoms of anxiety with computerised training called Neurofeedback. Dr. Norman Doidge, a psychiatrist at the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research at Columbia and the author of “The Brain That Changes Itself”, said he considered neurofeedback a powerful stabiliser of the brain. This is indeed our experience at Brain Care.  The brain learns to identify these states and “shift gear” in a more subtle way, regulating the brainwave patterns often associated with anxiety.

At our psychology clinic in Tweed Heads, we help people with anxiety on a daily basis and see how even during the first training sessions people are able to change their brain activity and feel significantly more relaxed. Cases of anxiety combined with severe trauma or obsessive-compulsive disorder might need to visit a number of times before they start feeling relief.  while neuromodulation produces measurable results, patients and their families still benefit greatly from counselling to support them through the challenges they may face during their journey. Therefore, we offer an approach that combines both psychotherapy and neurotherapy for optimal results. Often the first step -to seek help- is the hardest, however we are here to support the rest of your journey.