Anxiety—A New Way to Tackle a Growing Problem
Anxiety. Let’s face it, most of us suffer from this to different degrees from time to time. How could we not with the balancing act we perform every day? Work, family, study, friends, bills, health… not to mention the challenges we are navigating on a global scale. Balancing life is a delicate game and to play it, we must prioritise and become more forgiving of ourselves and others. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? However, putting this into practice is another matter. What if there were a simple, gentle way to help lessen the grip of anxiety, allowing you to thrive again? Keep reading because we have just the thing.
The Stats on Anxiety are Frightening
For most, anxiety doesn’t persist beyond the twelve-month mark. For many, it hinders their lives a great deal and presents a huge burden to their health and the health system. It can affect every body system, our work, social, and home lives in a plethora of unpleasant ways.
Studies have estimated that over a third of the population will experience an anxiety disorder—of which there are several types—in their lifetime[1].
In Australia, between February 2017 and April 2020, researchers from the Australian National University found a substantial increase in levels of psychological distress[2]. Lockdown after lockdown and natural disaster after natural disaster, took their toll. But even up to early in 2022 the scale of distress among our population didn’t appear to be easing[5].
These conditions often go hand in hand with other mental disorders and account for most mental health diagnoses[1].
Treatment Options
Overall, anxiety disorders go largely unrecognised and do not receive adequate treatment. The recommended treatment method is a combination of psychotherapy and medication, perhaps adding adjunct measures and therapies such as exercise, relaxation, and complementary therapies such as hypnotherapy[3]. An article published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed hypnotherapy to be 90% effective across many studies in the treatment of anxiety for people undergoing medical or dental procedures[4].
RARM—At the Cutting Edge of Anxiety Treatment
Even better, now there’s an innovative new kid on the block for the treatment of anxiety—RARM—Rapid Anxiety Reduction Method. This is a specialised technique developed by Karen Phillip of the Australian Hypnotherapy College that is having amazing results for the clients of hypnotherapists trained in using it.
Having used this new innovative RARM tool with many clients, I can say that the shifts this can bring about are astounding.
I recently used RARM on a client who rated her anxiety level regarding public speaking at a ten out of ten. She went into a sweat just thinking about standing in front of a crowd. We went through the RARM process, and the change was visible and palpable. Her shoulders and neck relaxed, she sat up straighter, and her voice became determined. By the end of the session, she was ready to march out and grab the nearest microphone to let her voice be heard. Her anxiety rating afterwards was down to a zero.
Another client was experiencing an intense fear of flying that had had her grounded for some years. After the session, she felt confident and so excited about her travel prospects for the near future. She booked her ticket and flew to visit her family, so happy with her newly developed confidence.
Think of the possibilities for you. If you’ve been suffering with anxiety, there may be an easy, gentle, fast way to ease the burden and set you free.
References:
1) Borwin Bandelow & Sophie Michaelis (2015) Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century, Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 17:3, 327-335, DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/bbandelow https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/bbandelow?scroll=top&needAccess=true
3) Borwin Bandelow, Sophie Michaelis & Dirk Wedekind (2017) Treatment of anxiety disorders, Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 19:2, 93-107, DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.2/bbandelow
4) Carol Cronin Weisfeld, Jill A. Turner, Jennifer I. Bowen, Reem Eissa, Brandi Roelk, Arthur Ko, Kim Dunleavy, Kristen Robertson, and Erica Benfield. Dealing with Anxious Patients: An Integrative Review of the Literature on Nonpharmaceutical Interventions to Reduce Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Medical or Dental Procedures. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Sep 2021.727-737. http://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2020.0505
5) Biddle N and Gray M (2022) Tracking wellbeing outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2022): Riding the Omicron wave, ANU Centre of Social Research and Methods, Canberra. https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/tracking-wellbeing-outcomes-during-covid-19-pandemic-january-2022-riding Accessed: 24/9/2022.
