Are You 1 of the 1 in 4…?

One in four of us suffer from anxiety and/or depression says the latest mental health research.  I don’t think it is that surprising given the pressures of life generally, family and work or the absence of each or all of them.  Perhaps we are just becoming more accustomed to noticing how we feel, perhaps we are more prepared to be honest with ourselves, perhaps our expectations (or the expectations to which we believe we are entitled) create the right environment for anxiety and depression to thrive.

On the other hand I don’t believe that we should be looking at statistics in isolation: consider the divorce statistics over the past 30 years with 1 in 3 marriages ending in family break up.  Consider too the impact on children who become the adults that now might be the one in the one in four.

Psychological theory, certainly the ones that I subscribe to, emphasises the importance of, and consequences of not having, a stable family and home environment from birth onwards.  Struggling parental relationships create uncertainty in the family home; raised voices cause worry and fear among children.; separating parents can lead to self-doubt and blame/shame to the children caught up as unwitting victims.

So much of who we are now and how we are able to cope with our lives in the present is bound up with the security and personal self confidence derived from our past experiences.  Where this has been uncertain and fear-full this usually presents itself in the form of anxiety and depression as we struggle to make the most of our lives without the internal tools to do so.

In my counselling I seek to repair those experiences and to work to rewire the neural pathways by helping those suffering from anxiety and depression to discover the person they feel most comfortable being.

For more information visit my website: https://www.cheltenhamcounsellor.co.uk.