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    A Guide to Wellbeing: Practical Skills to Ease Stress, Anxiety and Low Mood
    A Guide to Wellbeing: Practical Skills to Ease Stress, Anxiety and Low Mood
    A Guide to Wellbeing: Practical Skills to Ease Stress, Anxiety and Low Mood
    Ebook112 pages3 hours

    A Guide to Wellbeing: Practical Skills to Ease Stress, Anxiety and Low Mood

    By Graeme Davy-Watts

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    About this ebook

    Are you struggling with stress, anxiety or low mood? Would you like to know about the best techniques currently available? Written in a warm conversational style, this practical guide to restoring emotional wellbeing is based upon decades of the highest quality scientific research. After reading this guide you will have learnt why millions of us experience problems with stress, how to apply the most effective methods to feel better, as well as various ways to receive further support and guidance.

    Each chapter includes a brief summary, a detailed description, and further information about any underlying research. After reading the first part of this guide you will have gained a greater understanding of different emotions, how our body responds to stressful situations, and how our brain creates feelings of anxiety and low mood.

    At the heart of this guide you will find four of the best self-help techniques, as endorsed by the worlds top experts. By the end of this section you will have learnt how you can improve stressful situations, gradually feel more relaxed, increase your motivation and think more optimistically.

    Finally, you will find out how to get the best out of each method alongside further support. You will discover where you can access help which takes into account your own beliefs, who to contact in your local healthcare service, as well as how to create your own support network.

    By putting the techniques in this guide into practice, most people find that they feel more confident and in control, and ultimately a better sense of emotional wellbeing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGraeme Davy-Watts
    Release dateFeb 22, 2015
    ISBN9781310603099
    A Guide to Wellbeing: Practical Skills to Ease Stress, Anxiety and Low Mood
    Author

    Graeme Davy-Watts

    Graeme Davy-Watts has long been committed to improving the wellbeing of those with common problems such as stress, sleep and addiction. Originally trained as a counsellor, his calm and empathic manner now underpin his expertise in cognitive-behavioural therapy, his therapy of choice due to it's strong evidence-base.Now living with his family in Australia, he gained his postgraduate qualification as a psychological therapist in the United Kingdom, and has almost twenty years of experience of treating common emotional difficulties. During his career he has provided leadership, supervision and training within some of the best therapy teams in the UK, both for the NHS, the world’s largest healthcare provider, and The Priory Group, the UK’s leading independent provider of mental healthcare.With a strong belief in conveying a positive message to a global audience, he is a staunch advocate of working alongside local communities, healthcare services, and traditional medicine. He has many years of experience as a speaker, and also runs his own website providing free factsheets, audio and video guides, available at www.anotamedia.com

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      Book preview

      A Guide to Wellbeing - Graeme Davy-Watts

      A GUIDE TO WELLBEING

      Practical skills to relieve stress, anxiety and low mood

      Graeme Davy-Watts

      ANOTA

      ANOTA

      www.anotamedia.com

      Copyright © 2014 Anota Media

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise. Material in A Guide to Wellbeing may not be reproduced without prior permission of the copyright owner.

      Acknowledgements

      Firstly this book would not of happened if it wasn't for all of the hard work of countless participants, researchers and clinicians. Behind the scenes they have helped to revolutionise our understanding of the brain, developed highly effective therapy and have endeavoured to increase the availability of these interventions to those most in need. Professionally, I would like to thank Dave Richards and Paul Farrand from the University of Exeter, colleagues from the Devon Anxiety & Depression Service, TalkPLUS in Northeast Hampshire & Farnham, and the South Central PWP Leads Network. On a personal note this book could not have not been written without the support of my wife Yasmin and our children Josephine & Aaron, who kept the home fires burning while I spent long evenings immersed in the latest research, attempting to translate clinical knowledge and experience into everyday language.

      Contents

      Introduction

      PART ONE: EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

      Chapter 1: The Nature of Emotion

      Chapter 2: The Stress Response

      Chapter 3: A Bundle of Nerves

      PART TWO: SELF-HELP TECHNIQUES

      Chapter 4: Resolving Problems

      Chapter 5: Step by Step

      Chapter 6: Getting Active

      Chapter 7: Thinking Realistically

      PART THREE: SUPPORT NETWORKS

      Chapter 8: In Our Community

      Chapter 9: Professional Support

      Chapter 10: Global Wellbeing

      Summary

      Useful Contacts

      Further Reading

      About the Author

      Introduction

      When we feel overwhelmed with stress, anxiety or low mood many of us just want to know what we can do to feel better. But with so much information available, how do we tell the difference between advice based upon personal opinion, and trusted information based on well-researched facts? Fortunately, many of the world’s leading experts have already developed a wide range of effective techniques. Supported by decades of scientific research, many of these techniques are now widely available in self-help books and on the internet. The aim of this book is to provide a complete guide to applying these skills.

      Sometimes it can be hard to understand why we feel the way we do, so in the first part of this guide we will start by learning about the nature of our emotions and common reactions to stress. We will also explore how our brain contributes to the different stages of stress, particularly when we feel overwhelmed by anxiety and low mood. As we will see, learning about the exact nature of our distress is key to deciding which technique to focus on.

      The second part of this guide introduces the main self-help techniques that have been shown to improve anxiety and low mood. As all of these techniques were developed independently, we will also discuss how to decide which technique will be the most helpful. By applying one technique on a specific problem we will usually find that the other symptoms of stress improve as well.

      It is strongly advised to seek additional support to get the best from this guide, so the final part of this guide looks at the different types of support available. If we have limited access to healthcare we may need to seek support closer to home or on the internet. On the other hand we may have access to a therapist who has received training in using the techniques in this guide, and there are a growing number of organisations across the world that can help.

      How To Use This Guide

      It can be much harder to remember things when we feel stressed, so a good starting point is to read the chapter summaries and focus on the sections that are most relevant to us personally. We can always read the rest of the guide once our concentration has improved. For those of us who would like more information, each section ends with a brief description of supporting research, as well as suggested reading. Throughout the guide you will also find quotes which are very typical of other people's experience and can help us to realise we are not alone.

      In The Beginning

      During the late nineties I became fascinated with how science was using brain imaging to reveal the secrets of the mind. Convinced this was going to revolutionise psychological therapy, I started by enrolling on a local counselling course. At the end of my studies I was fortunate enough to be offered a trainee therapist position with the main provider of private psychiatric care in the United Kingdom, The Priory Group.

      Looking back, I was very privileged to be working alongside some of the nation’s leading healthcare professionals, and even more importantly being part of so many people making positive changes to their lives. Eventually I was entrusted to lead a team of therapists, and took the opportunity to complete a part-time psychology degree while receiving regular supervision from a qualified cognitive-behavioural therapist.

      After a very rewarding career with The Priory Group I completed additional postgraduate training, and eventually became a senior therapist within the world's largest healthcare provider, the United Kingdom's National Health Service. At the cutting edge of increasing the availability of evidence-based therapy our local service created a series of self-help leaflets for our patients. Due to the positive outcomes for so many of our patients, it is my hope that you too will benefit from the knowledge and skills contained in this guide.

      Graeme Davy-Watts BSc (Hons) Psych PGCert

      Wellbeing Consultant

      PART ONE: EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

      "Whenever I feel stressed it's usually a sign that I'm letting things get on top of me, but,by tackling one problem at a time I feel much more in control.

      Emotions are crucial for balancing our own needs with the demands of the outside world. If we face too much pressure, or focus too much on negative situations, we can find ourselves experiencing problems with stress. The most common difficulties we can face include chronic anxiety, overwhelming fear, panic attacks and persistent low mood.

      back to the contents

      Chapter 1: The Nature of Emotion

      "I remember the first time our baby smiled at us. We have would have done anything to protect our little bundle of joy.

      As soon as we are born we are able to express our emotions. Emotional expressions helped our ancestors to communicate and survive as a group. Even in the animal kingdom emotional reactions are essential for survival.

      back to the contents

      Face-to-face

      Our faces have an amazing ability to express how we feel. Try watching other people without listening to what they say or watching the television with the sound off. Just the slightest change of expression can convey everything from stomach-churning fear to the dizzy heights of euphoria. A simple smile or tear, and others can tell whether we are bursting with joy or in the depths of despair. As any actor will

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