Imagine sitting at your GP’s desk, telling them that you can’t go to work because you have a broken arm and their response is, “Stop having a broken arm.”
Or you can’t drive because you had a welding incident that seriously affected your vision. How would, “Stop being blind” go down?
Yet they will interrogate us until we reluctantly admit that we are anxious or depressed about some or several issues. This feels like a major breakthrough, someone who understands. Then the considered diagnosis, “So, your stressed.” “Yeah, that’s it” you reply. The doctor rocks back in their chair, proud of their diagnosis and advises you to, “stop being stressed.”
Really?!
Your GP will happily put your broken arm in a splint or cast and let you know what you can and can’t do, for how long, and when to come back to have the stabilising device removed.
They will apply ointment to your eyes, provide a patch(es) and recommend a bathing regimen until you return for a checkup on a certain date.
What do you get when you’re anxious or depressed? The best you can hope for is a handful of glossy brochures, a couple of hand-written links to potentially relevant websites or the infinitely priceless healthy lifestyle advice.
A reactive GP may prescribe mind-altering antidepressant drugs while a proactive GP may refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist for a deep dive into your emotional instability. Unlike the broken arm or arc-eye, you leave the GP practice untreated.
Even if you proceed with specialist sessions the fact is that whatever is stressing you will always be there until you either make it go away or manage the stress.
This week I visited my cardiologist to discuss the cause for increasingly frequent Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) episodes. He reeled off a list of possible dietary and physical triggers including stress. I nodded enthusiastically when he mentioned stress. “Ah” he said, “Any stress will increase your risk of AF.” I gazed intensely at him waiting for some sage-like advice. The penny dropped and he offered, “Eliminate the cause of your stress, try meditation or Yoga, do deep breathing exercises, talk with a psychologist.” All these life-changing options, without taking a breath.
He quickly moved on to a program of monitoring my blood pressure for two weeks then discuss the results with my GP with the aim of a collaborated medication modification. That’s a good plan but what about the cause of the problem?
As I stated earlier, the cause of stress and anxiety may be constant but the symptoms can be managed. All the options above are valid and can work efficaciously for many individuals. However, it may be impractical or too expensive or time consuming to select an effective course of action from the list.
A competent life coach, especially with NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) experience could provide an effective, convenient and affordable solution.
A popular and effective NLP strategy for reducing anxiety is “anchoring” which works by redirecting the brain’s attention from a stressful or anxiety-inducing stimulus to a more neutral or calming state. This effectively interrupts the usual automatic link between the stimulus and the anxious response.
Anchoring involves choosing a specific action, thought, or physical sensation (like pressing two fingers together, deep breathing, or visualizing a safe place) that is consciously associated with calmness, safety, or control. This chosen anchor then acts as a "mental reset button."
Each time the anchor is used, it reinforces new neural connections that associate the previously stressful stimulus with a more controlled, relaxed response. Eventually, the brain's response to the stimulus may shift permanently, reducing anxiety.
Although possible, it is difficult to effectively apply an anchor to oneself. Even as a certified NLP practitioner, I will contact one of my peers to help me with my situation and am confident that I will soon have my anxiety under control and my heart behaving itself.