Free Free Yourself from Anxiety by Emma Fletcher

transport? YES/NO
    4. Do you feel embarrassed in company, dread being the centre of attention, or dislike going to pubs or restaurants? Do you worry about blushing or trembling when speaking to people? YES/NO
    5. Do you feel giddy when standing on the edge of a cliff? Or stifled in confined spaces like lifts or tunnels? YES/NO
    6. Do you break out in a sweat at the thought of coming in contact with a spider? A mouse? Flying insects? A cat or a dog? Any other creature? YES/NO
    7. Does the sight or thought of blood make you feel faint? Do you avoidthe dentist, or dread the thought of an injection? YES/NO
    8. Do you feel compelled to wash yourself or your clothes, or clean your house, many times over? Do you have to check again and again that taps or lights are switched off, or doors locked? YES/NO
    Look at the questions you answered with a yes. These will help you understand the nature of your Anxiety.
    Yes to questions 1 and/or 2 are signs of Generalised Anxiety.
Yes to any of questions 3–7 indicates different types of phobia.
Yes to question 8 refers to OCD.
    It is possible to have a combination of these. If your specific difficulty isn’t mentioned, don’t worry. The techniques we describe will still work for you.
Overview
    We’ve already said that Anxiety affects every aspect of your being. Here is a brief overview:
    • Physical: whether or not you suffer from panic attacks, the effects of Anxiety always have a physical element. You may feel weak, faint or dizzy from shallow breathing. You may have headaches, neck, shoulder or back pain from muscle tension. Your digestion may be affected, with loss of appetite, dry mouth, nausea, swallowing difficulty. Bowels and bladder may be affected. Almost any part of your body can be affected by Anxiety.
    • Emotional: as well as the dominant emotion of fear you may also feel shame and lack of self-worth. You may also have underlying emotions, such as anger or grief, that you are not able to express openly.
    • Thinking: your thoughts may race, be anxious or obsessive. You may be constantly saying negative things to yourself.
    • Behaviour: you may avoid certain places or situations, or you may have to complete compulsive rituals
    • Whole self: you may have poor self-esteem, fuelled by underlying beliefs about yourself. You may blame yourself for developing Anxiety.
    • Spiritual: you may be dissatisfied with life, or feel that life has no meaning.
Effects of anxiety
    Now examine each aspect of your life and decide how Anxiety affects it – use your notebook and work through each of the headings on the previous page. Here is an example from someone with severe agoraphobia:
    P hysical: sick and shaky, lightheaded.
    Emotional: fear, even at the thought of going out, embarrassed when I have to tell people.
    Thinking: supposing I do go out, and I collapse in public.
    Behaviour: avoid going out, even to the dustbin.
    Whole self: feel like giving up.
    Spiritual: hate my life.
    And another example from someone with OCD:
    Physical: feel better doing rituals, apart from knot in stomach.
    Emotional: fear, and ashamed of need to keep cleaning toilet.
    Thinking: if I don’t clean it’ll be my fault if someone gets ill.
    Behaviour: clean everything every day and clean toilet at least 10 times, more on bad days.
    Whole self: hate myself.
    Spiritual: I know that I’m responsible.
    Understanding the detail of your particular Anxiety problem will help you focus on the changes you can make. As you change some things, you’ll find that others change without you making a conscious effort. The lifestyle changes in section one were aimed at reducing some of the physical effects of Anxiety. This section will concentrate on your behaviour – the things that you do because of your Anxiety.
    GROUP MEMBERS TALK ABOUT ANXIETY BEHAVIOURS
    ‘I suppose you could say I’m a checker.’
A NDREW
    ‘I thought if I stood up I would fall over and pass out. I phoned my partner and said I was feeling