Hello, In addition to the very good advice offered up already here, some very basic elements can help you too: 1. Social interaction: The charity MIND offer numerous groups in a lot of local areas for you to meet with other people and be able to interact and talk. Your GP may well be able to advise ...

Hello lilicauk can you recommend literature or websites for progressive relaxation? I often refer to and recommend ' The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook ', now in it's sixth edition, to those wishing to learn a variety of tools for this purpose - progressive relaxation methods are covered w...

Hello Sarah, In addition tot he great points made already in reply.... I am overweight because I use food to cope with anxiety, anger and frustration, and I am a very anxious person! There are other ways to reduce negative emotions than to eat: 1. Mindfulness. A very common, accessible and evidence-...

Hello John, In addition to that which has been written by others here.... I want to lose some weight but feel insecure and self conscious in the gym at my current weight. Firstly, this is very common. The irony being that a gym is supposed to be a place that people can go to achieve health, not get ...

Hello Linda, Believing to yourself with conviction that the mere sight of a chocolate bar makes things 'go to pot' is going to make will power crumble :-) Learning to realise that you are very capable of making different choices is a first step. Therefore encouraging yourself the same way you'd enco...

Hello Caroline, Finding alternative means of relaxing can assist you too and will provide support during the initial phases as you cease drinking as often. There are a variety of mindfulness exercises, progressive relaxation processes and self-hypnosis strategies that can all help you to calm yourse...

Hello again, It has really got to the point now where I’m aware that I’m avoiding a lot of situations because of this phobia or getting myself worked up about it, but didn’t know what to do about it. Then it sounds like now is a great time to take some measured action. :) Would treatment for this be...

In addition to the excellent advice given here, you might also like to read some of the related points made in another thread (about a specific phobia) that I have made:

viewtopic.php?f=689&t=6892

Hello Seashell84, I hope you don’t mind me posting this here as although this does affect work, this is only a small part of it. It is also going to take a bit of explaining so I’m sorry about that. There is no need at all for any kind of apology. These clinics are designed for you to be able to ask...

Additionally, you might find it useful to have a read of another post of mine in this related section, which I think is relevant here:

viewtopic.php?f=690&t=6860&p=19582#p19582