Anxiety & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
When you see us for help with your anxiety, we will find out together how anxiety affects you, and we plan your sessions to address the impact it has on your life.
Anxiety presents in many ways. You might experience continuous worries about various things, such as accidents occurring and your family’s health or safety, and you spend a lot of time on “what if…” scenarios (Generalised Anxiety Disorder). You might worry about your own health and find yourself checking for various illnesses (Health Anxiety). You might experience sudden and unexpected high levels of anxiety or panic (Panic Disorder). Or you might worry about how other people perceive you; you assume they don’t like you and will judge you negatively (Social Anxiety).
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Anxiety can also present as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is characterised by obsessive thoughts – unwanted thoughts or urges that are conflicting with a person’s self-image – and compulsive actions. Your obsessive thoughts might relate to a fear of contracting infections, a fear of involuntarily causing harm to others, or relate to sexual acts.
Compulsions might be about “neutralising” the obsessive thoughts or about creating a sense of safety. Compulsions can be ‘overt’, for instance repeatedly checking that the doors and windows are closed, or ‘covert’, for instance counting in your head.
Common for all forms of anxiety is persistent worrying or unwanted thoughts, a high level of emotional and physical discomfort, and a sense of loss of control. Anxiety will typically also impact your behaviour by you either avoiding situations that seem dangerous or make you feel fearful and uncomfortable, or by you seeking safety by excessively checking or seeking reassurance to achieve certainty.
When you see us for help with your anxiety, we will find out together how anxiety affects you, and we plan your sessions to address the impact it has on your life.