History and Treatment of Anxiety

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The world is a frightening place. When you are a child and surrounded by noise and giants you stay close to the person who looks after you.

Wherever she is, that place is safe. As you go further away, you check that she is there.

When you go out on your own you take the feelings of being safe with you. You can move about the world despite its dangers. As adults we form new relationships – with friends, lovers, children. We get into routines – of work, play and relaxation. These are our habits, our people. If we go close to the edge, for excitement or by accident, we know we’ll be all right because we have got our habits, our people.

Anxiety’s a bit like excitement. It is a lot like fear. It is a feeling you get when the person who looks after you suddenly isn’t there. The safety net has gone.

This feeling can come on in all sorts of different situations. A person who is under stress may find that she has more and more physical symptoms. She may get headaches, chest pains, feelings of tiredness and tension. She may fear that she is physically ill, that she is going to drop dead of a heart attack. But in fact she is just doing too much. She needs to slow down, relax, take some of the worry from her life. Some people experience real fear in the most unlikely places. Sometimes even when just sitting at home he may find that his heart is pounding, he is sweating, unable to get his breathe and terrified that something dreadful is going to happen.

Other times something dreadful has happened. For example, the person may have seen violent death first hand. She may be unable to get the image of it out of her head. She may awake petrified from nightmares. She may be irritable, jumpy, cold and distant with her loved ones.

Anxiety appears in many forms. Whenever it comes on, whatever it is called, it is fear. It may seem ridiculous that a person cannot even walk to the end of his road but that is the power of fear. It may be out of proportion but it is paralysing.

It doesn’t have to be forever. Anxiety in all forms can be treated.

1. Anxiety

Eighty years ago this man’s grandfather was called a coward. Today he’s called a hero. They both came under fire on enemy lines. Both were changed men afterwards. They couldn’t sleep, they had nightmares, they were jumpy and irritable. Both were distant from their wives and children.<.p>

Eighty years ago soldiers like that were said to have shell-shock. Today it’s called post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s not only soldiers who get it. A woman who has been raped. A teenager who has been mugged. They may get flashbacks. They may avoid anything to do with what happened.

Life doesn't change. Our understanding of it does. Let us understand more and condemn less.

2. Anxiety

65,000 years ago this woman's ancestors survived on the plains of Africa. One of the things that helped them was feeling anxious. Some things never change.

Anxiety has a purpose. It makes us more alert, more aware, more ready for action. When we feel wound up we can either attack or run away. That’s very useful in the jungle. And a little bit can help on a Saturday morning in the supermarket. Too much and you’ve got to run away. That’s called panic.

The person suffering a panic attack feels as if something dreadful is going to happen. Her heart pounds, she can’t catch her breath. She feels all hot and dizzy and light-headed. It takes a lot of courage even to go shopping if you think you’re going to die.

3. Anxiety

Four months ago this woman wasn’t here. She was stuck at home. She hadn’t been out for years. She could move her arms and legs. She had no trouble with her chest. In fact she looked perfectly all right. Her children couldn’t understand it. And when they had to do everything for her, they thought she was having them on.

In fact she had agoraphobia. That means that she didn’t go out. She didn’t go out because she felt frightened. At first she just felt panicky at the bus-stop. So she stopped taking the bus. Then she felt scared in the town. So she just went to her local shop. Then even the thought of that was terrifying. So she never went out again.

Until now that is. Someone helped her. They went up her road together and then into town. It took a long time and a lot of effort. But look where she is now.

4. Anxiety

Tomorrow this man isn't going to think about work at all. He's had six months of learning how to forget about it.

Sometimes we think about things more than we’d like to. We worry – about work, about bills, about our friends or families. If a thought keeps coming to mind, if we can’t shut it out, if it is there so much that we can’t stand it, then we are obsessed.

The thing about obsession is that you can’t stop it. At least you feel you can’t. It’s out of your control. It’s driving you mad. You are frightened that something awful is going to happen. Something you can do nothing about. In the end you are so afraid of doing something wrong that you can’t do anything at all.

Now he's coming back to work. His boss is delighted. At least he will have his mind on the job.

5. Anxiety

Three hundred years ago this woman would have been burnt at the stake. Now she doesn't even know she's practising magic. But she spends her days doing spells.

She touches each corner of her front door three times ... three times. She turns the gas off three times ... three times. And when she says goodnight to her cat she says ‘sleep tight, sleep tight, sleep tight’ as many times as there are hours in the night. Once she tried not to do it and she didn’t sleep a wink. She was terrified that she had killed her cat. She was compelled to count to keep him safe.

We often say we just had to do something – like buy that jacket or have that second cake. Most of the time it’s just an excuse. But feeling compelled is not just an excuse. Sometimes it isn’t – then it’s a compulsion. Then it’s a matter of life and death - until you can break the spell.