Counselling for Anxiety

What is Anxiety? 

Most people will experience moments of feeling worried, frightened or anxious throughout their lifetime, which is usually related to the fear of something or even the fear of the unknown. This may relate to a specific event, the anticipation of an event or a difficulty in life that a person may be going though where they may have an uncertainty of what the outcome will mean for them. However, anxiety disorders are different as they are persistent.  

Types of Anxiety

There are different types of anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety, panic disorder and phobia related disorders. 

GAD relates to feeling anxious about many things, social anxiety relates to being anxious about social situations,  panic disorder relates to sudden and intense panic attacks and phobia related disorders are a type of anxiety were a person experiences an extreme or an irrational fear of a particular object or situation. According to Anxious Minds (2025) millions of people worldwide suffer anxiety disorders, where it is reported as being in the top for mental health issue.

Neuroscience of anxiety

The limbic system is a part of the human brain which is made up of a complex system of networks and nerves. As well as other important areas, the limbic system includes the amygdala, hippocampus and the basal ganglia. The amygdala is critical in sensing fear, starting the fear response and influences how we process danger. The hippocampus makes memories of frightening situations and the basal ganglia is involved with motor control, reward processing and the formation of habits. The main responsibility of the limbic system is to generate survival responses to threat by processing and managing your emotions, behaviours and motivations. It is concerned with human instinct and mood and controls your basic emotions of fear, pleasure and anger. 

Symptoms: The symptoms of anxiety can vary between the type of anxiety and from person to person. They can include feelings of dread, fear, being unable to relax, feeling tense or nervous, an inability to stop worrying about things, thinking that the worst things are going to happen or being worried that others are upset with you. A person with an anxiety disorder may feel low mood or depression or disassociation. Disassociation can be depersonalisation, where you may feel like a character rather than feeling connected through your mind and body or derealisation, where you may feel disconnected from the world and what is going on around you. In cases of panic disorders, there can be a sudden onset of intense fear that can be so overwhelming it can cause sweating, heart racing, trembling or shaking, chest pains or nausea and can affect breathing and balance. 

Treatment for Anxiety

Research into the neuroscience behind anxiety suggests it is a good place to start if we are able to regulate the fear centre of the brain better by slowing down the fear response. We are not always aware of what may be causing our anxiety, therefore integrative counselling can be very useful at integrating several approaches to counselling that work together to manage specific elements to your anxiety. For example, talking therapy, cognitive and behavioural therapy, exposure therapy and learning skills and techniques that can help to develop better and healthier responses to manage and reduce your anxiety. Doctors may prescribe a combination of antidepressants, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which work by increasing serotonin levels in the brain, along side counselling or psychotherapy rather than relying on medication alone.