Anxiety disorders are the world’s most common mental health issue. And women are twice as likely to be diagnosed than men. Most anxiety has an onset during childhood or adolescence, but there’s no rules. Anxiety can be caused by stress, grief, illness or trauma at any time. It doesn’t have to limit you or your life choices.
Jules Allen is a social scientist and an anxiety treatment expert who believes that people can not only manage their anxiety, that if given the right tools, they can live a life free of it.
‘Anxiety is a fear of the unknown. A feeling of worry, nervousness or unease about something with an uncertain outcome’ says Jules.
‘It is learnt. It starts as a natural fear response to a perceived or real threat.’ Jules developed her Anxiety Hack toolkit because of her own lived experience.
‘About 15 years ago I was crippled by anxiety. With tools at that time failing me, I made it my mission to find a way to tackle and overcome the symptoms of anxiety. Furthermore, having worked with people in crisis for 28 years I have seen a phenomenal rise in those suffering anxiety. I believe that many of the management strategies suggested are not only ineffective but can actually exacerbate the symptoms of anxiety.’
One of the key triggers for anxiety is trauma. Trauma and anxiety are closely linked. Traumatic experiences can keep your brain hovering in survival mode, always on alert and anticipating.
Jules believes the response to trauma is initially a coping mechanism which can become locked in the body and brain as anxiety.
‘Essentially trauma sets the brain on high alert’ says Jules, ‘making a person more attuned and reactive to perceived threat. The problem is, the threat may not be real, but the brain, then body believe that it is and respond in kind.’
There’s a lot of myths around anxiety and how to treat it that Jules believes needs busting. For her, the two that she would like to dispel are that
‘1. Anxiety starts in the brain, not the body. 2. Identifying triggers does not help you overcome anxiety, it has the potential to make you worse.’
In an attempt to manage an emotional overwhelm that makes normal everyday events impossible, many anxiety sufferers make a few key mistakes that end up making their condition worse. Jules Allen believes that the key mistakes are:
- Focusing and obsessing about triggers.
- Body checking to see if they are anxious.
- Talking persistently about being anxious. 4. Being essentially problem focussed and not solution focused.
Being solution focused is what the Anxiety Hack Toolkit is all about. Being solution focused is understanding anxiety from a neuroscience perspective and that it’s imperative to break behaviour or patterns that continue to lead you to an anxiety response. So can people really overcome anxiety?
So can people really overcome anxiety?
‘Yes’, says Jules.
‘There will always be times in life that will cause us to be fearful or stressed. This is normal. Anxiety, especially chronic anxiety, has no beneficial place and can absolutely be overcome.’
In her two hour masterclass, Jules Allen delivers the Anxiety Hack Toolkit where she delivers an effective and simple approach that actually works.
‘You will learn about anxiety and how and why it affects you in a very different way than you may have in the past. Understanding your role in this is crucial. You will be taught a simple, fun toolkit that you can apply daily, at your own pace. It’s simple. If you follow the steps suggested, you will be on your way to living a life free from anxiety.’
Jules Allen will be presenting The Anxiety Hack: The Toolkit, at the Marvell Hall in Byron Bay on Tuesday, June 17 from 7–9pm. To book, visit www.julesallen.com.au.
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