Overcome Anxiety

By Charlie Wardle

A practical self-help book to help you understand and overcome anxiety. Anxiety is very common and affects millions of people every day; however, with the right knowledge and understanding combined with applying the right tools and techniques you can overcome anxiety once and for all. This book will help you to live a much happier and healthier life as a result.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charlie Wardle
• Release date: Mar 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9780993559389

Charlie Wardle

Hi there, I am Charlie Wardle, 41 years old, living in Milton Keynes, England! Since 2008, I have spent my life either organising, managing and leading groups on hikes, climbs and outdoor adventures or researching, writing books, talking, doing presentations, delivering workshops and courses, offering advice and supporting people on a wide range of Health & Wellbeing topics.These topics include stress, anxiety, depression, confidence, motivation, exercise, sleep, weight loss, healthy eating, addictions, financial issues, relationships, achievement, success and happiness. I have delivered hundreds of talks, workshops and courses to over 5,000 people, written 7 books that have been published and over 90,000 have been downloaded and I have advised hundreds of people personally and confidentially on a one-to-one basis. I am not a qualified doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist but I am confident I can really help people through my experience, knowledge and understanding gained over many years and I have thousands of testimonials to support this. Prior to the change of career in 2008, I held a number of Senior Finance roles with major companies. I am an ACA Qualified Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, have an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and also qualified with the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I love the outdoors and especially mountains but I also love understanding about people and helping them overcome challenges they may face and improving their lives in whatever way that might be. Anyone can enjoy the outdoor trips, adventures and challenges and anyone can benefit from the health and wellbeing books, programs or the personal coaching and advice I offer. Please feel free to contact me on: [e-mail]

Book preview

A word from the Mountain Coach…

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a magic wand or a magic pill that could instantly make you feel happier and not be anxious? Unfortunately, there isn’t but then again if there was then that wouldn’t be as interesting or rewarding as understanding and then overcoming anxiety for yourself!

Charlie Wardle

Many people will experience anxiety in its various forms and for many reasons, yet most will never really understand why. They won’t know why they feel, think, and behave the way they do, or what are the reasons and triggers for anxiety. But you can! And with the knowledge and understanding and the control that brings, you can overcome your anxiety forever.

I strongly believe that everybody can beat anxiety if they have the understanding and the tools and techniques necessary to manage and prevent it – but that isn’t easy and sometimes you need a helping hand and I am here to give you that hand. But before I do, let’s go back to what I need from you throughout this book:

Effort – You get out what you put in. So live, breath, and embrace this book over the next eight chapters - you will see the rewards.

Patience – As the saying goes, a little patience goes a long way. You may start feeling improvements from day one; you may not realise them until towards the end. But either way, if you have the patience and perseverance, you will get there.

Practice – Practice makes perfect and it is key to overcoming anxiety. Practice the techniques throughout the course in order to reinforce the thoughts, beliefs, and actions. The more you practice, the easier it becomes and the greater the results.

Desire – I already know you want this because you’ve got this far. If you have the desire you will get the results. So never forget why you turned to this book in the first place. You can overcome anxiety and think how much better your life will be in the future.

I know you won’t need it but good luck! If you get stuck, have questions, want to provide feedback or just want to let me know how you are getting me on, contact me by email at [e-mail]

I wish you the very best. Now go for it!

The Mountain Coach

How to Use This Book

This book has eight chapters and you should aim to commit to all eight of them.

Anxiety can be very difficult to deal with and the thought of overcoming it is an exciting prospect, but rushing through the book quickly may mean that you don’t gain the full benefit of the information, exercises, and time to think and reflect.

I also know that life is busy and can get in the way, but dedicating a few hours per week to reading the content and a few minutes a day to practicing the exercises, means that you will have every chance to overcome anxiety and significantly improve your life as a result.

The book has lots of questions, exercises, and reflection time as well as information. Make sure you complete all of these and give the exercises your all. Be honest with yourself and your answers – if this means that you’d rather not write something down, that is fine as long as you are truthful with yourself.

Take your time to really think about any questions posed and your answers and although it is very much about your own thoughts it may be useful to ask a close friend, partner or family member their thoughts, so that you can gain a different perspective. You never know, their answers might surprise you.

Spread your weekly commitment to this book however best works for you, but commit yourself to making that time and make that commitment now. You already know this but it will be re-iterated throughout the next eight chapters that the more you put in then the more you get out. The effort will be rewarded and the more you learn, understand, apply, and practice then the more your confidence will grow and skills develop to overcome your anxiety once and for all.

Each chapter starts with the objectives and before you proceed onto the following one make sure that you feel you have fulfilled those objectives. If you cannot do this it may be that you need to complete the exercises or that you need more time to absorb the information presented. Don’t worry if this is you; some chapters will be harder than others.

If you do get stuck please feel free to contact me on [e-mail] or proceed to the next chapter but make a note to return to that pending objective later on.

Introduction

Everyone will feel anxious from time to time. It is a normal and natural reaction to certain situations and it can be a good thing as it may help us focus, concentrate more, and protect us. However for a lot of people anxiety can be a very negative experience and cause many unnecessary issues in their lives.

There are many different types of anxiety disorder and the degree to which it can affect us will vary considerably. It is the most common mental health condition, with around 25% of people experiencing what could be diagnosed as anxiety disorder during their lives, and many millions of people experiencing the condition in any given year.

As we will see, there are all kinds of effects and costs to individuals as a result of anxiety and furthermore, many others will also be directly or indirectly affected. This can include partners, family members, children, parents, work colleagues, employers, etc. Anxiety can really damage and affect our relationships, our friendships, our family, our health, and our happiness.

Additionally, there is a huge cost to society in increased healthcare costs, medication costs, reduced productivity, time off from work, costs to business, plus possible knock-on effects like alcohol, drug, and substance abuse issues. It is a major issue for individuals, families, communities, public health, and society as a whole and much more should be done to educate and inform people, so there is more understanding, which means it is more likely to be managed and overcome.

Some typical examples of when someone may experience increased levels of anxiety are shown below. Some level of anxiety is normal but if the feelings are higher than what is considered normal then issues can result and it is important to understand more about why you feel this way and the damaging effects it can have.

Sitting a test or an exam

Going to the dentist

Waiting on health test results

Going to hospital

Flying

Attending an interview

Starting a new job

Going on a date

Doing a presentation or group talk

Moving away from home

Having a baby

Being diagnosed with an illness

Paying bills and other money issues

Starting a new relationship

Deciding to get married or divorced

For people suffering with anxiety disorder, almost anything outside of their normal routines will create feelings of anxiety.

Give the next eight chapters everything you have and you will be able to overcome your anxiety and be able to lead a much happier life.

Chapter 1 What is Anxiety?

OBJECTIVES:

DURING THIS FIRST CHAPTER WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ANXIETY ACTUALLY IS, LOOKING AT THE SYMPTOMS AND THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANXIETY THERE ARE AND STARTING TO FOCUS ON YOUR OWN ANXIETY ISSUES.

What is Anxiety?

‘A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.’

Anxiety is the name that covers several disorders that can cause nervousness, apprehension, worry, and fear. These disorders affect our thinking, feelings, and behaviours and they can also cause physical symptoms. There is a wide spectrum of anxiety issues, from mild anxiety - which is still unpleasant and unsettling - through to severe anxiety - which can be extremely debilitating - having a very serious impact on daily life for the person and people around them.

How would you define anxiety and how would you explain and describe your anxiety? Please write your thoughts down in this box:

Table 1

At a general level, anxiety can be broken down into two areas:

Real-time anxiety and Anticipatory anxiety

Real-time anxiety is essentially the anxiety someone experiences physically, in real-time, when they are actually in an anxiety-causing situation or event. For example, when they are on a plane, or they see a spider, or are delivering a speech, or walking in the dark, or driving in heavy traffic, etc. It means the event is actually happening now and the anxiety is happening during the event. It happens there and then in the moment and there may not have been any build up, as the person may not have been expecting it.

Anticipatory anxiety is essentially the thinking, worrying, or brooding about certain expected events that the person views as stressful, dangerous, threatening, or challenging. For example, worrying about a flight they are taking next week, a dentist appointment next month, delivering a presentation at work in the near future, or driving a long journey at the weekend. They are anxious about a future event which they imagine will be difficult, scary and unpleasant and by thinking about it they are magnifying the fear and the thoughts, and the anxiety worsens.

There are several common examples of how people ‘think anxiously,’ which provide reasons for problems and also cause additional problems. Here are some of the main ones which may resonate with you:

Racing thoughts

Consistently thinking and over–thinking, with negative thoughts and worry, in an uncontrollable way. An inability to switch your mind off or relax, with all the racing thoughts going on.

Poor concentration

When you find yourself unable to concentrate on things or focus your thoughts. Your attention span is limited and your short-term memory may be affected.

Approval addiction

When you find yourself worrying about what other people think of you and needing their approval. The more anxious you are, the more likely this is to occur.

Worst case future

When you think about the future but focus on all the things that may go wrong and how things could turn out in a negative way, effectively looking at the worst case scenarios rather than reality.

Magnification

When you make more of things in a negative way than they actually are, which could be past events, current situations or future happenings. Magnifying their importance