Anxiety is universally experienced by all people and is a useful mechanism in warning us of impending danger or difficulty. It is only when this anxiety is at extreme or significant levels that it requires treatment by a psychologist. DSA Psychologists has a number of psychologists who specialise in this area.
Symptoms of anxiety are commonly physiological, psychological or behavioural. Physiological symptoms include butterflies in the stomach, sweating, heart racing or pounding, sexual dysfunction, going weak at the knees, needing to go to the toilet and muscle tension.
Psychological symptoms include mind racing, constant agitation or irritability, excessive rumination about a particular topic or worrying issues. Behavioural symptoms of anxiety include inability to sleep or waking through the night, outbursts of frustration or anger, inability to concentrate or hopping from topic to topic or activity to activity, inability to sit still.
Clinically significant or problem anxiety may be experienced as a general anxiety disorder, as part of post traumatic stress disorder or as a simple phobia. It may also be a single feature interfering with performance of any kind such as sport, public speaking, exams or study.
DSA Psychologists treat anxiety in a variety of ways, following an initial assessment to determine its existence, type and contributing factors.
Treatment methods include supportive counselling where the relevant issues are discussed and ways of dealing with them are generated and followed
up:
• behavioural approaches such as systematic desensitisation where increasingly anxiety-provoking situations are presented to the client whilst in a very relaxed state in order to reduce the felt anxiety to at least a manageable level until the problem is overcome;
• cognitive approaches where irrational thoughts and ideas about the issue leading to the anxiety are explored and challenged leading to more rational thoughts and ideas about them;
Hypnosis may be used by some of the qualified psychologists at DSA in any of the above methods as well as in ego enhancement and confidence building processes.
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