anxiety Archives | HRIC Dubai

An Invitation to Refresh, Replenish, Rejuvenate and manage the stress in our daily lives- Nature Therapy

By Suzanne Radford

Feeling housebound and the effects of ‘cabin fever’?

One way to help manage stress and anxiety is to connect to nature as a way to quieten the mind and body. I work between the beauty of the sea and desert in the UAE and the forest and mountains where I live in Southern Portugal. Great if you can access natural spaces from your balcony, garden or walk on a beach or through trees but you can also gain benefits from connecting to nature from inside your home or office. I offer invitations on my forest bathing walks, to sit and feel the breeze on the skin, to notice sounds near and far, to smell the scent of leaves, bark and flowers and to taste the sweet freshness of the air. Water invitations are a lovely way to awaken all the senses and relax.

To observe water in a natural setting and listen to its sound can put our overloaded minds at rest. Whilst you are not required to actually swim, one of the most powerful elements of a forest bathing walk is being invited to sit or stand by the water and notice how it flows and what the sensations are that you feel when placing your hands or feet into the water. At home you could create a foot spa by using warm water with a drop of lavender or peppermint essential oil and soak your feet, close your eyes and notice how it feels.

Negative ions generated by waterfalls, ocean waves, and thunderstorms can give us a boost, negative ions in the atmosphere accelerate our ability to absorb oxygen, they can balance our mood and the stress hormone, serotonin. Negative ions can help rejuvenate the mind and improve our sense of wellbeing and even bring about a good night’s sleep.

So, as you sit with water notice its movement, the ripples or shapes that the water makes as you gently move your feet through it. As you sit with your eyes closed, notice the scent and breathe in, and breathe out. This could be done in the same way just soaking your hands in water. Imagine you are sitting by a river or waterfall and imagine the sound and sensations. If you are feeling any tension in the body gently stretch it out and slowly allow your body the time and space to just sit with the feeling of water and notice how it feels.

I invite you to sit with the waterfall and notice how the water flows. Follow the lines of the water as it falls. Watch the movement, the light and the shapes. Listen to the sound and breathe in, and breathe out…

Nature Therapy Waterfalls

Sipping on a refreshing juice or herbal tea or a chilled glass of water with a slice of cucumber or lemon and let the healing power of water wash over you leaving you feeling revitalized and rejuvenated.

Suzanne Radford is a Nature Therapy & Communication Coach, Forest Bathing Guide, Founder of The Nature Pod and International Consultant with the Human Relations Institute & Clinics. Contact us to find out more about our Nature Therapy for Stress Management 6 week online support group and series of workshops or our 1:1 coaching in nature therapy.

Be your own best friend – Fostering Self-Compassion

When we are having a difficult time, when we make mistakes, or when things go wrong, it’s familiar for most of us to fall into harsh self-talk and judgment. Statements like “I hate myself” or “Why can’t I ever get things right!” pop in our head, leaving us feeling worse than we already do, right?

Take a minute to think about how you would respond to a dear friend, close family member, or a loved one if they had these same concerns? Many of us would be quick to support them, acting immediately with kindness, understanding, and encouragement and using statements such as “You tried your best” or “It’s okay to feel the way you do.”

Now, imagine instead how it might feel to speak to yourself the way you speak to others. Directing these types of gentle responses internally, toward ourselves, is known as self-compassion. Described as “healing ourselves with kindness” by Dr. Kristin Neff, self-compassion encourages taking on a kinder, gentler approach in our most important relationship – the one we have with ourselves.

But why is it harder to be compassionate to ourselves? While being compassionate to others around us is attached to a positive connotation, expressing self-compassion has often been tied to a negative connotation. Common myths about self-compassion form some of the biggest blocks to developing a compassionate approach to the self. Of many, self-compassion has been conflated with narcissism, selfishness, and self-pity. It is important to recognize that these ideas are far from the truth. While self-compassion has a focus on the self, it’s more than just allowing ourselves to make mistakes, it’s about allowing ourselves to recover from these mistakes and move forward. Moreover, self-compassion helps us take care of ourselves, enabling us to take better care of those around us. It also gives us perspective and allows us to see our struggles in the larger context of shared humanity.

Just like the benefits of expressing compassion to others, there are also benefits to expressing compassion to ourselves. Research has reported an abundance of overall well-being benefits linked to self-compassion. That is, individuals who are more self-compassionate tend to have greater feelings of motivation, self-worth, happiness, and improved resilience that is needed to cope with stressful life events such as relationship breakups, job loss, and even retirement. Self-compassion can also reduce feelings of anxiety, depression, and rumination. Some of the physical health benefits include improved immune system functioning, digestive and cardiovascular health.

The three elements of self-compassion

According to Dr. Neff, there are three elements of self-compassion that are important to understand. Those that have higher levels of self-compassion demonstrate these three elements: Self-kindness, Common humanity, and Mindfulness.

Self-kindness (vs self-judgment): Self-kindness in the context of self-compassion is about approaching our shortcomings with kindness, warmth, and patience instead of judging or being critical with ourselves.
Common humanity (vs isolation): Recognizing that we are not alone in being imperfect or feeling hurt and that this experience is part of the collective human experience, rather than withdrawing or isolating ourselves from others.
Mindfulness (vs over-identification): Allowing oneself to be aware of our thoughts and emotions whilst finding a balance to recognize them without the need to suppress or exaggerate them. Mindfulness also fosters acceptance of our inner world in the present moment.

Practicing self-compassion

Practicing self-compassion can be difficult, especially at first. Fortunately, it is a skill that can be learned and enhanced. Here are 6 ways that can help you start:

Develop self-awareness through mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness is a useful way in identifying your thoughts, feelings, and needs. As self-compassion is deeply rooted in mindfulness, it allows us to pay attention to our inner world and fosters acceptance of what we are feeling or thinking in the present moment.

Ask yourself “How would I talk to my friend?”

Next time you catch yourself being self-critical, try to reflect on how you would approach the situation if your friend was the one facing it. What would you say to him/her, and in what tone of voice would you say it? What would you do? Thinking about this could be the first step in reflecting on where you lie with being compassionate with yourself.

Bust the self-compassion myths

Change the way you think about self-compassion by being aware of the self-compassion myths, such as the ones mentioned above, and adopting a more realistic, healthier view of self-compassion.

Use self-compassion affirmations

Affirmations are a useful way to practice replacing negative self-talk with a more empathetic, kinder approach to how we talk to ourselves. When you catch yourself blaming or criticizing yourself, try using some of the self-compassion affirmations mentioned below:

“My mistakes just show that I’m growing and learning.”
“It’s safe for me to show kindness to myself.”
“I forgive myself and accept my flaws because nobody is perfect.”
“It’s okay to make mistakes and forgive myself.”

Write a compassionate letter or note to yourself

Some people find it helpful to find their compassionate voice through writing a letter to themselves. Here are two suggested ways to foster self-compassion through writing:

Think of yourself as an imaginary friend who is unconditionally wise, loving, and compassionate, and write a letter to yourself from this perspective.
What would you say to a close friend if they were facing the same concerns as you? Write a letter as if you were talking to this friend.

Give yourself permission to be imperfect

Easier said than done, but it is important. More often than not, we find ourselves struggling to allow ourselves to be anything less than perfect. Adopting a mindset that allows for imperfection can lessen some of the pressure to be perfect and welcome mistakes in a much gentler and nurturing approach.

Trauma Response (The 4 F’s – Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn)

How does your body respond when you perceive danger or a threat? Often known as a trauma response, it is an initial reaction that is triggered when there is a perception of or an actual threat, like an oncoming car or a growling dog. Research has compiled evidence for different trauma responses that we tend to display in order to protect ourselves from the threat or perceived threat. The responses are usually referred to as the 4Fs – Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn and have evolved as a survival mechanism to help us react quickly to life-threatening situations. When our brain perceives a threat, we automatically react with one of these 4 trauma responses, depending on factors such as individual differences and past experiences of trauma.

In saying so, it is possible for some individuals to have an overactivation of their trauma responses. What this means is that even in non-threatening situations, their trauma responses could be activated. Research suggests that an overactivation of our trauma responses is associated with a decline in our physical and psychological health. That is, chronic stress may contribute to high blood pressure, burnout, decreased immunity, and an increase in anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and substance use problems.

In this blog, we’ll further explore what each response entails, along with the associated thoughts and behaviors, followed by some helpful ways to cope with overactive trauma responses.

Fight Response

Fight types protect themselves from threat through conflict.

Those that tend towards the fight response believe that if they establish power over the threat, it will result in security and control. This response may feel like an adrenaline rush, accompanied with a desire to defend oneself through fighting, yelling at, or controlling others. The thought behind this response is “I need to eliminate the threat before it eliminates me.” Behaviors that might indicate this trauma response are:

Crying
Hands in fists, desire to punch
Flexed/tight jaw, grinding teeth
Fight in eyes, glaring, fight in voice
Desire to stomp, kick, smash with legs, feet
Feelings of anger/rage
Knotted stomach/nausea, burning stomach

Flight Response

Flight types protect themselves from threat through escape.

Those that engage in this trauma response, cope with a threat by running from or fleeing the situation. People engaging in a flight response often report difficulties with relaxation and sitting still as they are constantly worrying, rushing, hiding, or panicking when they feel threatened. The thought behind the response is “I need to run from the situation before it can hurt me.” Behaviors that might indicate this trauma response are:

Restless legs, feet /numbness in legs
Anxiety/shallow breathing
Big/darting eyes
Leg/foot movement
Reported or observed fidgety-ness, restlessness, feeling trapped

Freeze Response

Freeze types protect themselves from threat through dissociation.

When faced with a threatening situation, those that tend towards this trauma response unconsciously detach from the situation by “freezing”, or spacing out. The body can feel rigid and become immobilized by the stress. This way of dealing with perceived danger may result in difficulty making decisions or getting motivated. The thought behind this response is “If I don’t do anything, the threat cannot hurt me.” Behaviors that might indicate this trauma response are:

Feeling stuck in some part of the body
Feeling cold/frozen, numb, pale skin
Sense of stiffness, heaviness
Holding breath/restricted breathing
Sense of dread, heart pounding
Decreased heart rate (can sometimes increase)

Fawn Response (newer to the field and not as researched)

Fawn types protect themselves from threat through placation.

Those that tend to the fawn response avoid or deal with conflict through “people-pleasing.” They also experience difficulties in saying no and are afraid to share what they really think or feel in fear of how others might perceive them. They also are so accommodating of other’s needs, that they tend to ignore their own. The thought behind this response is, “If I can appease this person, I can be safe from conflict or pain.” Behaviors that might indicate this trauma response are:

Over apologizing to others
Difficulty saying no
Excessive flattering the other person
Going out of the way to please others
Neglecting one’s own needs
Pretending to agree with others

As mentioned, when our trauma responses are overactive, we are more likely to feel threatened by non-threatening stressors. Fortunately, there are some ways to cope when trauma responses are overactive:

Learn relaxation techniques: Techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep abdominal breathing can help in counteracting the stress responses and allow the body to enter into a calmer state.
Engage in physical exercises: Engaging in physical activity is another way to promote calmness in the body. The benefits of regularly exercising have been long mentioned in the research such as increasing endorphins and decreasing stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.
Seek social support: Finding support from the people around you can help reduce psychological and physiological reactions to perceived threats. Research has found evidence for support by listing benefits such as providing a sense of safety and protection, which in turn helps you feel less stressed and fearful.
Gain awareness of triggers: When we are able to understand what triggers our trauma responses, it leaves us in a better position to understand our responses and create new, healthier coping strategies to deal with the threat or trigger.
Practice self-compassion: It is also important to not judge your trauma responses or feel ashamed of them. Recognize that these responses, at one point, served as your understanding of the best way to cope with a threat. With an open mind, gain an understanding that our trauma responses may not seem to always be useful in protecting us, the way they did in the past, in current non-threatening situations.

Do you recognize yourself in any of these trauma responses?

Respect in the Workplace

Similar to one’s personal life, an individual’s work-life exposes them to people with different personalities, dispositions, and temperaments. However, in a work setting, the option to disengage with someone with opposing values and/or opinions may not be available. If it is though, it may have consequences, impacting factors such as job performance, group dynamics, and organizational health as a whole. To ensure that organizations perform to their full potential and grow, navigating interpersonal relationships respectfully and productively is crucial.

Previously, organizations followed a conforming mindset in which they stayed within familiar operating methods. As a result, differences, in general, were largely viewed and reduced to potential sources of conflict and difficulty. However, recently, management has increasingly been coming to realize that when individual differences are encountered in an effective and considerate manner, they can be a source of significant innovation, collaboration, and long-term success. On an internal level, differences collide in daily interactions between people within organizations. Some apparent distinctions between people include age, gender, education, and ethnicity, while the more subtle differences may involve values, attitudes, behaviors, and personality types.

Characteristics of people that are difficult to manage when considered in a work setting include anger, indecisiveness, negativity, complaining, and competitiveness. If not managed sensitively and appropriately, these characteristics lead people to find themselves in tension-filled situations which often lead to conflict. In avoiding conflict, it is important to realize that these behaviors are not personal. In viewing people from this perspective, the chances of retaliation are minimized, allowing for constructive interventions to take place. For example, indecisive individuals tend to procrastinate, avoid making decisions and doubt themselves. Responding from a place of empathy and respect to someone like this would involve clarifying their options to help them make better decisions.

A disrespectful workplace often leads to unnecessary stress, anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, and low self-esteem. While removing conflict-inducing factors may seem like the obvious solution, research shows that this change is short-lived. Focusing on cultivating a more respectful culture, on the other hand, proves to be a more sustainable solution as it enhances how conflicts are handled when they arise. Companies that have medium to high levels of conflict while simultaneously maintaining a high level of interpersonal respect thrive more than those with different respect-conflict combinations. When people are very similar to each other there is room for long-term stagnation. In settings where people feel free to disagree and differ from the majority while knowing that they are still valued and respected, they tend to learn from each other’s differences, thus stimulating a thriving environment.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is defined as feelings of discomfort, such as worry or fear, that range from mild to severe. Some examples of anxiety symptoms include:

feeling nervous or on edge
increased heart rate
shortness of breath
trembling
sweating
thinking that something bad is going to happen

Difference between Anxiety and Stress

Although it may seem similar to stress, there is an acute difference between the two. Both anxiety and stress are emotional responses, but stress is usually coupled with an external trigger, which means that the feelings are relieved as the stressor is dismissed. Anxiety, on the other hand, refers more to the persistence of a worry or fear even when there may be no apparent external trigger.

Having to give a presentation or attending an important meeting, for example, may induce these feelings. In situations like these, experiencing anxiety and stress is natural and everyone encounters them in a variety of different settings. While a stressful response would include nervousness building up to the event, anxiety may involve worrying about what people may say, think, or do, the negative ways that one may be perceived, what might go wrong, etc.

Some people find it more difficult than others to relieve their anxiety, as it may be more invasive, thus hindering their daily functioning. Some common anxiety disorders include Phobic disorder, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and Social anxiety disorder. Contrary to widespread inaccurate and stigmatized views, symptoms of such disorders are not as simplistic as being shy at a social event or color-coding your belongings. These disorders present symptoms that make undertaking and maintaining roles and responsibilities related to work, school, and personal relationships very difficult.

Anxiety at Work

In the workplace, anxiety can create limitations to one’s own professional progress. Perfectionism and procrastination are two of the main ways in which anxiety manifests. Perfectionism involves the need to be or appear perfect and procrastination is the act of delaying a task, often due to a fear of failure. In the organizational context, these may present themselves in several aspects of work. Fear of failure along with constant feelings of dissatisfaction may lead people to treat themselves harshly when they perform below a certain expectation or make small mistakes. Some people may avoid collaborating with colleagues, office parties, staff lunches, and work events due to a fear of being in social situations or public speaking. Anxiety can also directly impact an individual’s ability to meet their deadlines and complete tasks. People may even turn down promotions and refuse assignments if it involves an activity related to their fear such as flying or traveling.

With managing anxiety, it is important to manage it when it is experienced. Identifying the thoughts that come up when feeling anxious is the first step to this. Initially, anxiety may only be apparent when it is felt. Separating thoughts from feelings can prove difficult at first because they may be very quick and automatic. With practice, however, thinking patterns can become clearer. Thoughts may present themselves as words or statements like “what if..” or “I can’t cope” or even as vivid images in one’s mind, both of which can cause high levels of anxiety.

Helpful Hints to Relieve Anxiety

Some questions that help identify thoughts are:

What does this say about me if this is true?
What would it mean if ‘x’ were to happen?
What does this mean about what other people think/feel about me?
What was going through my mind before I started to feel this way?

After having identified the anxious thoughts, the next step is to attempt to evaluate whether the thought is realistic and in proportion. This is useful because anxious thoughts are usually based on exaggerations and assumptions. Learning to develop alternative ways of thinking about the same situation helps break out of cycles of anxiety.

Some questions that help identify thoughts are:

What does this say about me if this is true?
What would it mean if ‘x’ were to happen?
What does this mean about what other people think/feel about me?
What was going through my mind before I started to feel this way?

If you are looking for anxiety disorder treatment in Dubai to help you overcome any symptoms of anxiety, the mental health counseling services offered by HRIC Dubai might be helpful to you. Human Relations Institute and Clinics is a psychology-based practice based in Dubai, UAE, providing mental health and psychological services to individuals and businesses around the globe.

The Most Common Stigmas Of Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, & OCD

In this week’s post, we’ll be looking the stigmas specific to the most common mental illnesses. This includes depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and bipolar disorder. Many of the stigmas associated with these mental illnesses work to dismiss the legitimacy and severity of the conditions.

Depression

This mood disorder is marked by a significant low mood and inactivity, which effects an individual’s behavior, attitude, thoughts, and feelings. The simplified, mnemonic version of the symptoms is S-sleep changes; I-Interest (loss of); G-Guilt or worthlessness; E-Energy (lack of); C-Cognition/concentration (lack of); A-Appetite (loss of or decreased); P-Psychomotor retardation or agitation; S-Suicidal ideation or thoughts.

Depression is just feelings of sadness
While sadness is a symptom of depression, it is not the only symptom. Individuals with depression often struggle with physical, emotional, and cognitive changes as well.

Depression is a sign of weakness
Having depression has nothing to do with the strength of an individual. Depression is a serious medical condition that is often triggered by traumatic life events or serious life experiences, which may be difficult to cope with. For example: divorce, deaths, abuse, etc.

Depression is only be treated by medication
While medication is a viable option for treatment, psychotherapeutic interventions, counseling, and changes in lifestyle and diet are all effective treatments. However, since the treatment is dependent on the individual’s case, medicinal and psychotherapeutic treatments may be combined to create a more effective and specialized treatment plan.

Depression is not a real medical illness
Depression, especially clinical depression, is a very serious medical condition and it impacts an individual’s physical state as well as their cognitive and emotional state. Depression also has genetic links and can often be a hereditary condition. Research has shown that individuals with depression have decreased activity in some parts of the brain and higher levels of stress hormones in their body.

Depression is always inherited
A family history of depression may mean an individual has a genetic predisposition to having the condition but that is in no way all conclusive. A genetic or familial link does not confirm that an individual will have depression.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness that results in severe fluctuations of moods, as well as other symptoms. On one end of the spectrum is a severely depressive mood and on the other end is a manic mood. The symptoms of the manic state are simplified as: D-Distractibility; I-Irresponsibility; G-Grandiosity; F-Flight of ideas; A-Activity (increased); S-Sleep (decreased); T-Talkativeness (increased). In between the depressive and manic state, an individual tends to feels normal.

Bipolar disorder and mood swings are the same
Just like depression cannot be limited to just being feelings of sadness, bipolar disorder cannot be limited to simply having mood swings. With bipolar disorder, the mood swings are significantly more erratic and severe, and usually interfere with an individuals day-to-day functioning. Bipolar mood swings are also long term; they can last up to a few weeks. During the manic state, an individual can make irrational and reckless decisions leading to conflicts with family, career, or friends. This leads to the next stigma…

Bipolar Disorder is limited to mood
As mentioned above, bipolar disorder has an impact on an individuals body physically, their emotions and moods, their cognition, as well as their decisions. While bipolar disorder is a mood disorder, individuals are affected in many different ways.

Individuals with bipolar disorder can’t hold positions of authority because they are unstable
With proper treatment and management, individuals are fully capable of holding positions of authority, without an impact on job performance.

Anxiety

While anxiety is a normal human emotion, an anxiety disorder is when this emotion begins to consume an individual and begins to interfere with their daily functioning and impacts their life. The symptoms can be briefly outlined as: W-Worry (excessive); A-Anxiety; T-Tension in muscles; C-Concentration difficulty; H-Hyperarousal (irritability); E-Energy loss; R-Restlessness; S-Sleep disturbances.

Individuals with anxiety should avoid stressful situations
Constantly avoiding stressful situations is impossible to do and can often lead to more anxiety. It is unhealthy and ineffective to treat yourself, if you have anxiety, or others with anxiety as fragile.

Anxiety can only be treated with medication
While medication is an effective treatment, there are also alternative treatments such as counseling. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is particularly effective for treatment of anxiety. Like depression, a combination of treatments may be the best options depending on the individual’s case.

A healthy lifestyle is the perfect cure for anxiety
Exercise, a healthy diet and lifestyle, and avoiding caffeine are excellent choices to make to manage anxiety. However, these choices are not a cure for anxiety and long-lasting treatment includes cognitive changes, habitual changes, and self-awareness.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is characterized by recurring thoughts, known as obsessions, and behaviors, known as compulsions. This disorder is long-term, chronic, and can interfere with an individual’s daily life. The symptoms can be briefly explained with the following: S-Stubborn; R-Rule-obsessed; I-Inflexibility; M-Miserly; P-Perfectionism; E-Excluding leisure to work; R-Reluctance to delegation.

OCD is only about cleanliness and everyone who cleans a lot has OCD
While a common sign of OCD is an obsession with cleanliness, it can also simply be a personal trait and not a symptom. However, constantly or excessively washing hands, showering, or disinfection the living space can be symptoms of OCD. Other fixations of OCD include checking and re-checking for errors, excessive worry or fear of incidents or accidents, and repeating routines to ensure nothing is wrong or missed.

Only women have OCD
There is no research to prove that only women, or even mostly women, have OCD. Women, men, children, and different racial, social, and ethnic groups are susceptible equally.

There is no treatment for OCD
As with anxiety and depression, the treatment for OCD can be psychotherapy, medicine, or a combination of both. The initial course of treatment usually entails exposure therapy that allows individuals to ‘face their fears’ and then learn to prevent themselves from responding how they would normally.