DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY! - HELPING YOUR CLIENTS DEAL WITH ANXIETY

It has been some months since I heard Sarah Edelman speak at The Happiness Conference (which Martin Seligman would no doubt change to the Wellbeing Conference if he had his way as this is the new term he uses in preference to the one that conjures up happy, smiling faces). Since then I have been keen to pass on some of the very valuable content of her session because of its relevance and practicality to our work. Anxiety and worry are such household terms and common complaints that we cannot ignore their existence in today's world, nor can we leave them solely to the mental health workers. If we are to live up to our name and be true wellness coaches, we must become proficient and capable in both recognising anxiety when it can be alleviated by habitual practices, and when it is out of our sphere of control and referral is necessary.

I used to think that panic attacks were something that people experienced when they were really not mentally "well". I now think differently as I hear quite frequently, clients describing times when palpitations and feeling of shortness of breath, plus extreme anxiety can stop them in their tracks. It is a fact of life that our responsibilities and our expectations have increased and the complexity of our very existence has pushed many to the brink of occasional dysfunction due to perceived threats around them.

And this is where anxiety comes from - a perceived threat. How can we be threatened when we are standing in a shopping centre surrounded by people you might ask? Evolution has favoured anxiety as those who "watch their back" tend to survive longer. Anxiety produces a fight or flight response that galvanises us to action and helps us focus on the threat at hand. We are alert and can move quickly.

However, these days the threat is more often to our emotional safety then our physical safety and stress is caused by deadlines, pressure at work, demanding people, financial worry and the need to be in control! The flight or flight response is not useful at times like this as it activates the sympathetic nervous system which is all about defensiveness, increased pulse rate and breathing, guilt - and can lead to depression and of course anxiety. When this happens frequently, it becomes what is termed an "anxiety disorder" and can attack the very fabric of our well-being.

Generalised anxiety disorder is one of the more common disorders and is often called the "Worrying disorder". When we worry constantly we are paying frequent attention to possible threats and it can cause restlessness, lack of ability to concentrate, sleep disturbance and muscle tension. Many people live with it for years. A simple occurrence can set the worrier off on a, "What if… ?" tangent and they often catastrophise ambiguous events.

Responses to constant worrying can be negative thought patterns, any unpleasant physical symptoms including tiredness, avoidance of common situations that cause fear by drinking, eating, smoking or other addictive behaviours, or the need for excessive control.

Behavioural Strategies for AnxietyConfront your fears: avoiding them strengthens our fear over time and makes us less able to cope when we have to. Identify what you have been avoiding and expose yourself to the things you are afraid of gradually.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: releasing tension in this way can reduce anxiety as it is impossible to be physically relaxed and anxious at the same time. Becoming familiar with how our body is working and recognising tension can prevent it from building up.

Meditation: releasing our mind and therefore releasing stressful thoughts. Mindfulness has received much attention as it can be useful in managing various conditions. It involves bringing conscious awareness to our present experience - particularly sensory experience such as breathing and also non-judgmental awareness of our thoughts and bodily sensations. Observing them helps us to disengage with them!

Dealing with Worry:Challenging Catastrophic Thoughts: If we can realise that our thoughts may well be leading us astray, we can challenge their reality. Ask questions such as:
▪ What are the facts?
▪ How am I interpreting them?
▪ Is there any evidence to support this?
▪ What would someone (calmer, more rational) think?
▪ Are my thoughts based on facts or feigns?
▪ What is the worst think that can happen (realistically)?
▪ What is the best thing that can happen?

Common beliefs about the benefits of worry: this may sound strange but many people think that worrying somehow protects them and makes them less vulnerable. Here are some common beliefs:

Worrying prepares me for the worst? Does it? or does it simply cause us more heartache in the present when the event may never happen?

Worrying is a form of problem solving. Not for many. It is more likely to be represent pointless rumination that leads to no action. A big difference.

Worrying can prevent bad things from happening? Really??

Worrying is a positive personality trait - it means I'm caring. Hmm.. perhaps there are more productive ways to show that you care.

Identifying any beliefs like these can be the first step to testing the and changing them.

This is a complex area for us to deal with as health and fitness professionals.

How does the way we coach fit in?
I presented this week at the HPM congress on the results of Boyatzis research that shows that positive coaching actually causes the brain to light up in different ways and the Positive Emotional Attractors it arouses in our brain can activate the parasympathetic nervous system that causes the exact opposite effect to worrying! It opens up our focus and increases hope and optimism that in turn creates new possibilities. In short, it helps us prepare for and engage in sustained desired change.

How can coaching ever be undervalued? But positive coaching differs from coaching for compliance which is all about "fixing weaknesses" and directing the client to take the next step. There is a big difference. Let's help our clients become aware of the tendency to worry and help them realise how this an shut down their worlds and with our skill set open them up to an exciting future filled with a degree of uncertainty but loads of exciting possibilities!

Reference: Sarah Edelman, Change your thinking
Richard Boyatzis, Intentional Change Theory