As a Holistic energy practitioner I have had an awareness of the many clients and friends I have seen with ‘anxiety’ in many forms and recently I have been working on a ‘free’ anxiety program’ to allow those with ‘anxiety to take back control of their lives. I will be offering a series of short ‘blog’ posts on the differing identified areas or types of anxieties prior to the release of this program called The 7 Steps to Freedom so that if you or someone you love suffers from this often debilitating condition then you know that help is at hand

Is it Anxiety? My family have always been excessive worriers; maybe that’s what’s wrong with me?

Anxiety can be either a short term or a long term state of being. It may present as a concern or a worry about a specific circumstance in your life for example, a job interview, a test or an exam, or simply doing something with which you are not familiar.

In the long term anxiety can have a much more profound effect on your body and the symptoms or the frequency of the symptoms that you experience may be much more profound, and in these instances it can literally take over a person’s life due to its frequency or the debilitating effects that it produces.

I am going to talk about the different types of anxieties in this series of short blog posts and share with you some of the symptoms that are associated with the differing forms of anxieties and related ‘phobias’.

Anxiety can be classified as a disorder when the symptoms of anxiety become longstanding or ‘chronic’ and have an effect on our daily lives and our ability to function in our everyday life

Fear of Failure

Many people express a fear of failure and yet over the years I have found a larger number actually have a fear of succeeding which may present as a fear of failure’, and as such create a significant psychological threat their as their motivation to avoid failure exceeds their motivation to succeed.

This fear of failure can cause them to unconsciously sabotage their chances of success, in a variety of ways.

For many people the fear of failing or of not ‘doing well enough’ in examinations can lead to a lesser performance and end result than if that person did not have a ‘fear of failure, or the shame of failure in many instances.

Fear of failing can bring up many feelings such as:

• Stress
• Tension
• Nervousness
• Frustration
• Sadness
• Confusion
• Regret
• Disappointment
• Guilt
• Pressure to perform or to perform to the expected standards of another
• Self sabotage

Some of the symptoms of Fear of Failure in Examinations are:

• Worrying what others will think of you
• Will you be judged
• Will you be able to follow the future you desire or have planned for yourself based on your performance
• You may be seen as lesser or not ‘smart’
• Are you going to disappoint people that you care about
• Not being able to imagine yourself succeeding
• Not being deserving
• Peer pressure
• Self sabotage in not ‘studying or of being distracted ’ as you have told yourself that you are going to ‘fail anyway’
• Becoming overwrought or experiencing last-minute headaches, stomach aches, or other physical symptoms that prevent you from completing your preparation
• Procrastination

.. Many Fear of Exams anxiety sufferers will often report the following symptoms:

• Muscle tension especially in the head and shoulders and back
• Feeling ‘frozen’
• Poor memory or poor short term memory and a ‘blankness’ when you go to access the facts you have studied
• Sweaty hands or breaking out into a sweat
• Feeling dizzy or faint
• Fear or confusion, these can be either one or both and may fluctuate
• Inability to relax this can relate to being constantly tense or on edge
• Constant worrying even when you know that you have learnt your subject
• Shortness of breath or feeling as if you cannot take a deep breath
• Palpitations or feelings of your heart fluttering which may be accompanied by shortness of breath
• Upset stomach as in feeling heavy or nauseous in the stomach, and may lead to reflux or vomiting
• Poor concentration or an inability to quieten the mind

These symptoms may range from mild to severe and  be upsetting enough to make the individual feel uncomfortable, out of control and helpless.

*If in doubt that your symptoms are more than ‘anxiety’ please seek the appropriate medical advice.

Anxieties and anxiety disorders fall into a series of separate categories or diagnoses depending on the individual symptoms and the severity of the levels of anxiety the person is experiencing. The broad overview of the types of anxiety disorders I will be discussing in this series on anxieties includes.

1 Anxieties

2 Worrying

3 OCD- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

4 Social Anxieties

5 Anxieties and phobias

6 Fear of flying’

7 Fears of things that walk crawl run or fly e.g. Birds, Moths, Spiders, and Cats.

8 Separation anxiety

9 Performance anxiety

10 Fear of Failure exams

11 Fear of Failure Business

12 Fear of death or dying

13 GAD general anxiety disorder

14 Post Natal Depression

15 Panic attacks

16 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

In support of the ‘Free’ 7 Steps to Freedom program I have started a FB Community called Anxiety Need Not Be A Life Sentence at the link below. If this resonates with you I would invite you to please join us and be a part of this supportive community or to share the information with those to whom it may be of assistance

Peace Love and Light

Sheila

http://www.the7stepstofreedom.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/anxietyneednotbealifesentence/