Everybody experiences anxiety every now and then. It is a natural response, and actually helps us avoid dangerous situations. Sometimes stress and anxiety can even motivate us. However, it is meant to be temporary.
Anxiety becomes a problem when it is more severe, lasts a long time and starts to interfere with day to day life affecting things like your work and relationships.
So how do you know if your anxiety levels are too high?
The following quiz should help, it is based on the Goldberg Anxiety Scale. It doesn't replace professional medical advice but can give a helpful guide to assess how much anxiety is affecting your life.
For each question consider how you have been feeling in the past month. The answers should simply be YES or NO.
1) Have you felt on edge?
2) Have you been worrying a lot?
3) Have you been irritable?
4) Have you had difficulty relaxing or switching off?
5) Have you been sleeping poorly?
6) Have you had any headaches or neck aches?
7) Have you experienced any of the following; trembling, dizzy spells, sweating, urinary frequency, diarrhea?
8) Have you been worried about your health?
9) Have you had difficulty falling asleep?
Interpreting your results.
Score 1 point for each "YES" and add up your total. Remembering that most people will experience some of these symptoms at one point or another (the average score is 4). The higher the score the more likely it is that the person is experiencing disruption in their daily life. If your score is 6 or more you may want to consider making some adjustments. Around 12% of adults will score over 8, if this is you it may mean you're experiencing anxiety and you might want to consider seeking some support from your GP or a professional.
0-4 = Average score reflecting the natural ups and downs of life
5-6 = Consider making some tweaks
7-9 = likely experiencing anxiety consider seeking some support.
Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool to counter anxiety in the long term as well as providing that much needed source of relaxation in the short term. If you would like to explore more what it could do for you please drop me a line.
Liz x