anxiety disorder Archives - Khiron Clinics

Managing Academic Anxiety

Araminta — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 12:00:29 +0000

It is well known that school can be a significant source of stress and pressure for children and adolescents. Now that schools are back in session, it is vital to know how to support young adults’ mental health in a learning environment.

The Effect of Academic Stress on Mental Health

Many young people feel enormous pressure to perform well in school. Schools often emphasise the importance of exams, particularly GCSEs and A-Levels. While these exams are important, young people can be put under immense pressure to succeed. One study found that 96% of young people stated that their mental health affected their schoolwork, but 62% received no support.^[1]

Academic anxiety is becoming increasingly common in young people who are worried about exam performance and how it will affect their future. This anxiety can be so intense that young people can struggle with even attending school, despite wanting to do well in exams.

Some young people may refuse to go to school due to anxiety about their grades and schoolwork. Due to high pressure from parents and teachers as well as themselves, attending school can be a big source of concern. They may show their anxiety around attending by:

Being reluctant to get ready for school
Not going to school without the knowledge of their parents
Not doing homework or schoolwork
Acting out at home
Complaining of persistent headaches or stomach aches

Many schools are also not doing enough to support young people who are under enormous pressure. Research found that 25% of staff knew that a student was excluded from school due to their mental health, which contributes to mental health conditions such as anxiety. However, no actions were taken to help excluded students, and exclusion worsened the students feelings of isolation and depression.

Anxiety and Perfectionism

It is a good sign when children strive to do well at school. However, this can be a dangerous road to perfectionism, especially when children are already experiencing high levels of academic anxiety. Schools can be a considerable source of stress, as many students feel pressured to maintain or improve grades.

Young people may spend hours on schoolwork, trying to ensure it is perfect. Alternatively, they may not even attempt their work for fear of making mistakes or may even tear it up if they feel it isn’t good enough.

Perfectionism can also affect different areas of a young adult’s life, such as friendships or relationships with hygiene and health, and it can be exhausting.

The Consequences of Academic Stress

Many consequences can arise because of academic stress in young people, such as:

Anxiety
Depression
Poor sleep quality, potentially leading to unhealthy coping strategies such as smoking or taking substances to concentrate or sleep
Burnout

These consequences can worsen academic performance and damage mental health, causing young people to become even more anxious about their achievements in school. However, it is possible to help young people who are stressed and anxious about their grades.

Coping With Academic Anxiety

There are several things that parents and carers can do to help young people who are anxious about school, grades, and exams:

Encourage balance – mental health and well-being should be a priority. Encouraging young adults to make time for their favourite hobbies and friends alongside school, can help to ease some of the pressure they might be feeling.
Find healthy ways to cope – young people struggling with anxiety may turn to unhealthy ways to cope, such as substance use or self-harm. They may also react badly to perceived failure or a stressful day at school. Finding alternative, healthy ways to process emotions can help young people improve their emotional regulation and aid with stress relief, too. Techniques such as journaling, exercising, and meditating are healthier ways to manage the stress and anxiety of academic pressure.
Avoid praising outcomes – although this might sound counterintuitive, focusing on the efforts rather than the outcomes of exams, projects, and homework can encourage young people to have a healthier attitude to school. Even if they don’t get the desired results, praising their effort can help them focus on their hard work and demonstrate that scores are not the most important thing.
Create some goals – setting healthy, achievable goals can help young people to learn what is realistic and unrealistic, as well as how to plan to achieve them. It is also a great tool to help them understand that there are things they can and cannot control and that this can influence their plans.

For young people struggling to attend school, it can still be useful to mirror a school routine, even if they do not attend. Encouraging them to get up at the same time as they would for school and stop for lunch at the same time can help them get back into the school rhythms and reduce some anxiety.

These strategies can take some time to work, so allow children to get used to them and see if they help before moving on. In some cases, these techniques may not be enough, and young people can still struggle with intense academic anxiety. Do not hesitate to seek professional help if a young person you know is suffering from anxiety and mental health difficulties.

It is normal for young people to be stressed about school. However, it crosses a line when it affects all areas of their life, and they are so anxious that they cannot even attend lessons. This anxiety can be rooted in the pressure put upon young people and can be worrying to see as a parent. There are many ways to help them cope, but professional help is recommended if necessary to help children and young adults thrive both in and out of school.

If you have a client or know of someone struggling with trauma, reach out to us at Khiron Clinics. We believe that we can improve therapeutic outcomes and avoid misdiagnosis by providing an effective residential programme and outpatient therapies addressing underlying psychological trauma. Allow us to help you find the path to realistic, long-lasting recovery. For more information, call us today. UK: 020 3811 2575 (24 hours). USA: (866) 801 6184 (24 hours).

Sources:

^[1] Mind.Org.Uk, 2022, https://www.mind.org.uk/media/8852/not-making-the-grade.pdf.

The post Managing Academic Anxiety appeared first on Khiron Clinics.

Equine Therapy

Araminta — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 04:27:48 +0000

Equine therapy (or Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy) is an approach to healing from mental health issues, using horses as therapeutic partners. Horses have been found to be powerful partners in healing, because they seem to act as a mirror for the internal world of the client. They help clients on the road to recovery by encouraging the development of useful skills, such as emotional regulation, confidence, responsibility and vulnerability.

Equine therapy involves the use of horses, used in treatment by rehab centres, veteran’s therapy groups, and trauma recovery centres, and is always led by a licensed professional.

Equine therapy offers benefits to those suffering from a wide range of psychological health issues, including^[1]:

Substance addiction.
Eating disorders.
Grief.
Trauma and PTSD.
Depression.
Anxiety.
Mood disorders.

For a long time, horses have been great partners in the development of human society. They have allowed us to farm, travel, and hunt effectively. More recently, research has found they can also help us to heal from our trauma-induced wounds.

How do horses help?

Coping with feelings is a difficult challenge faced by those of us who have experienced a trauma and are suffering from mental health issues or struggling with addiction. Feelings and thoughts can be so powerful and upsetting that those suffering may turn to destructive, avoidant behaviours to distract themselves or find relief from these feelings. Accessing these feelings intellectually can be hard because very often they are buried underneath layers of denial or blame. In equine therapy, the focus is not on intellectualisation of one’s feelings, but on being honest and authentic enough about them to be in connection with the horse.

Horses often demonstrate an emotional attunement and sensitivity, a skill developed over their evolution as prey animals. The horse often reflects our inner environment. Therefore, by observing and paying attention to the horse, we can gain insight into our own state of being.

Horses teach us honesty and vulnerability is more effective than authority and distance.

How does Equine Therapy help us to be vulnerable?

Horses read our non-verbal communication and they react to it. They know if you are arrogant or aggressive, pregnant, or sick, and provide clear feedback to the client’s emotional state.

When we have experienced trauma – either a single experience or as a series of events – it can be extremely difficult to talk about it. This is one of the challenges faced in traditional talk therapies. Equine therapy offers a unique opportunity for clients to think about and process their difficult feelings.

Simply watching a horse, and how it behaves around other horses in a given situation, can allow clients to relate to a horse’s experience. Three horses might play in an arena with two behaving aggressively, while the other shies away timidly. Upon seeing this, a client might be able to relate the experience of the shy horse to their own experience -among violence in the family, for example. This provides a safe, non-threatening opportunity to process one’s feelings.

Benefits of Equine Therapy

Anxiety

For those suffering from anxiety disorders – such as Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, or Social Anxiety Disorder – worries and fears about the past or the potential future can be overwhelming and disrupt daily life.^[2] Horses can help those suffering from anxiety by requiring them to ‘stay present and focused on the task at hand’^[3], as explained by anxiety expert, Dr. Robin Zasio.

PTSD

Equine therapy is seeing an increase in popularity in assisting treatment of PTSD in combat veterans.^[4] PTSD significantly impacts a person’s ability to form strong connections with others, as it is often accompanied by a lack of trust and an inability to be open and vulnerable. In working with horses, many veterans with PTSD have found the ability to bond and connect with another is still within them, as it had been invited to the surface in relationship with the horse as a therapeutic partner.^[5]

Autism Spectrum Disorders

In assisting therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders, equine therapy was found to^[6]:

Improve self-esteem.
Increase self-confidence.
Create a sense of empowerment.
Create a sense of presence.
Provide feelings of freedom.
Provide a sense of independence and competency.

Addiction

Addiction treatment typically involves treating co-occurring disorders, like depression and anxiety^[7]. Equine therapy is linked to a reduction in both. Those struggling with addiction also regularly deal with challenges in interpersonal relationships. Equine therapy cultivates and encourages trust, vulnerability and honest communication, improving a client’s abilities in those areas.

A Complementary Approach to Healing

Equine Therapy is an effective complementary therapy when used in conjunction with traditional psychodynamic psychotherapies. It promotes authenticity of self and encourages open and honest communication as when these attributes are lacking, a relationship with the horse cannot be properly formed.

Throughout history, horses have been prey animals so they are familiar with anxiety. Their vigilance and keen eye for threat gives them a sense of understanding and awareness. Anxiety is comorbid with an extensive list of other conditions, and those who suffer with it often find a mutual understanding of anxiety between themselves and their therapeutic partner horse.

Overall, equine therapy provides an opportunity to heal where traditional approaches often miss the mark.

Get in touch

If you have a client, or know of someone who is suffering with mental health issues, and who could benefit from equine therapy, reach out to us at Khiron Clinics. We believe that we can improve therapeutic outcomes and avoid misdiagnosis by providing an effective residential program and out-patient therapies addressing underlying psychological trauma. Allow us to help you find the path to realistic, long lasting recovery. For information, call us today. UK: 020 3811 2575 (24 hours). USA: (866) 801 6184 (24 hours).

Sources:

^[1] Goodtherapy.org. 2017. Equine–Assisted Therapy. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 August 2020].

^[2] US National Library of Medicine. General anxiety disorder. Updated March 2018.

^[3] Clarke, J., n.d. Equine Therapy As Mental Health Treatment: How It’s Used. [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: [Accessed 7 August 2020].

^[4] Shelef A, Brafman D, Rosing T, Weizman A, Stryjer R, Barak Y. Equine assisted therapy for patients with post traumatic stress disorder: A case series study. Mil Med. 2019;184(9-10):394-399. doi:10.1093/milmed/usz036.

^[5] Clarke, J., n.d. Equine Therapy As Mental Health Treatment: How It’s Used. [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: [Accessed 7 August 2020].

^[6] Tan, V.‐X.‐L. , & Simmonds, J. G. (2018). Parent perceptions of psychosocial outcomes of equine‐assisted interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(3), 759–769. 10.1007/s10803-017-3399-3.

^[7] Quello, Susan B et al. “Mood disorders and substance use disorder: a complex comorbidity.” Science & practice perspectives vol. 3,1 (2005): 13-21. doi:10.1151/spp053113.

The post Equine Therapy appeared first on Khiron Clinics.

What Types of Anxiety Disorders Are Out There?

steve — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 14:29:23 +0000

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), nearly 40 million adults in the United States experience anxiety disorders – although highly treatable, reports show that only 36.9% of individuals actually seek treatment. Anxiety disorders can significantly affect a person’s daily life, including their school, work, family life, social encounters and friendships, finances, and more. If you have an anxiety disorder, you may experience anything from obsessions and compulsions to fear of being around others. There are many different causes that can lead to the development of an anxiety disorder, including genetics and biological factors (family genes, personality, chemical changes in the brain, etc.), environmental factors (stress, traumatic life events, etc.), and more.

There are several diverse types of anxiety disorders:

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) – chronic anxiety and intense worry and tension, even when there are no plausible reasons for this to occur.
Social anxiety – overwhelming anxiety in daily situations; a person with this disorder may fear speaking, eating, or drinking in front of others, or may even feel intense anxiety just around people in general.
Phobias – intense and dreaded fear of running into something that severely scares a person; could be a person, place, thing, situation, etc.
Panic disorder – often is the fear of experiencing more panic attacks, including heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, etc. In turn, this can sometimes perpetuate the very fear the individual is trying to avoid.
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) – recurring thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (rituals), often done to provide “temporary relief”, although many times this often increases anxiety
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – anxiety that develops after being exposed to a traumatic event; this could include flashbacks, nightmares, paranoia, hallucinations, agitation, depression, and more.

Despite the fact that many people do not seek help, anxiety disorders are 100% treatable. Most disorder treatment involves medication and psychotherapy, often at the individual and group settings. If you haven’t already, speak with a professional from a reputable treatment center today to learn more about customizable treatment options to best suit your needs. Recovery is possible.

Learning to be is part of the process of trauma recovery. Stop the cycle of merry-go-round treatment and find the solution you’re looking for in trauma treatment. Through effective residential treatment, Khiron House helps you find the path you need toward health and wellness in recovery. For information, call us today. UK: 020 3811 2575 (24 hours). USA: (866) 801 6184 (24 hours).

The post What Types of Anxiety Disorders Are Out There? appeared first on Khiron Clinics.