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    6Jun, 2023
    Post Pandemic, Are We Looking At An Anxiety Crisis Down the Line?

    The sad fact is that the pandemic played to fears that we all have, of death, disease, lack of control and infirmity. It also played to those who have lived with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). By pushing through the need for hand washing, distancing and the threat and fears of an airborne disease, these messages pressed the fears and insecurities of those with anxiety conditions. In other words, for some two years, the fears were potentially re-enforced in those enduring medium and long term anxiety, whether that be through social phobias, panic attacks, ruminations and health fears.

    What the impact will be, has yet to be measured, though it is telling that one of the highest search terms in the Counselling Directory is ‘anxiety’. Furthermore, what will the implications be for those young people who could not go to school and who had to endure stringent measures on safety and social distancing? Once again, we will only know in the coming decade. Or, how will they fare when they have life changing situations, such as going to university, growing into adulthood, and overcoming grief and traumatic situations in the future? Will these life events trigger fears and thoughts that developed through the pandemic? These are just some of the questions that come to mind around the long term impacts of Covid-19 on anxiety and mental health.

    Which is why it is essential to put into place some equilibrium on the work and life balance that young people have. Social media pressures, economic woes, the inability to pay for housing and other such living stressors are pushing young people into working longer hours and into more unstable financial working environments. What should be happening is the opposite – that young people should not be pushed to burn the candle at both ends, thereby raising long term stress impacts on their emotional, mental and physical well-being. In other words, the longer they stay in these positions of social stress, the greater the potential of them suffering a long term mental health issue.

    It is therefore essential that we all have the chance to ask those around us, how they are, how they feel and to give them a chance to authentically trust us and let us know what is on their minds. The relationship with anxiety can be reframed for many people, so that it does not become a heavy weight around their body. However, the start to healing comes from talking. That is why I am so passionate that we connect to each other.

    20Apr, 2023
    The Complexity of Anxiety with OCD and intrusive thoughts

    As someone from a family that was made homeless and stateless by Idi Amin in 1972, I have come to realise through painful experience, the multiple impacts of trauma on mental health, as well as on physical health.

    A lifelong journey of attempting to find some form of spiritual, mental and physical equilibrium finally led me, like many, to light bulb moments in therapy.

    This journey and my work with clients who endure chronic anxiety with or without OCD and intrusive thoughts, (sometimes with compulsions), demonstrates that there are a multitude of factors that lead people to be affected by these conditions. In the 1990’s when I studied Neuroscience, much was made in the science world around how science and genetics alone could unlock cures and thankfully, this argument has changed over time to take into the account the significant impact of life events which trigger these conditions. Thankfully, we are now starting to fully understand the impacts of severe traumatic shocks through life events that cause life changing mental and emotional health impacts.

    Furthermore, we are as therapists, are now taking a more holistic approach to well-being and I know that one thing that I repeatedly hear from many people who suffer from both anxiety and OCD, is that they feel that their immune system has been compromised in some way and that they are more susceptible to catch things such as viral infections. In fact, some clients tell me that there is a direct link between catching a cold, flu or another viral infection and a significant uptick in their obsessions, ruminations and/or compulsions. Thirty years ago when I did my degree, any such talk in the field of Neuroscience would have seen me laughed out of the lecture room, as thought I had totally lost any grasp of reality.

    Yet, we also know today that early Adverse Childhood Events (ACE’s) can lead to trauma that can lead to future clinical diagnoses of anxiety with OCD. This trauma becomes pervasive into the body functions of individuals, where it can be felt and determined through an immune system more prone to catching infections, gastro-intestinal issues and a hyper-active limbic system that creates the seat for anxiety and OCD to take root. Today, we also know that the brain is highly ‘plastic’ and that it has the possibility to heal itself through adaptive reconnections of neural pathways. Healing is therefore very possible, even in conditions deemed to be ‘serious’. We must never lose sight of that.

    Our work as therapists is based on facilitating a sense of personal exploration by clients, and in holding them in a place where they can feel that they have options and new ways of looking at their conditions. This is in turn, it is hoped, can give client’s hope and over time, encourage them to take actions that can develop new neuronal connections over time.

    As someone who has come into this field later in life, (and as a second career), I know that neither my ‘Neuroscience’ side or my ‘therapist’ side can fully explain mental health difficulties. By combining the two, connecting with clients and letting them navigate their wellbeing through the work, can I even try to address the outcomes that they are looking for.

    Fiyaz Mughal OBE FCMI MBACP has worked for over 25 years in communities and is a qualified therapist. He specialises in conditions such as generalised anxiety, social phobias, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorders), panic disorder and also works with clients to explore impacts  of geographical dislocation, faith, identity and intersectionality.

    20Apr, 2023
    After the Pandemic Many Want a Change in their Lives

    Much has changed in the last three years since the pandemic. People seem to want a better life balance, a form of rebalance and redress that was possibly coming for some time.

    Taking time for walks, exercise, yoga and meeting with friends and family have become more central to people’s lives. Cutting down on stress has become more relevant to personal discussions as has the desire to get out into nature.

    For far too long, many people have thought that the adrenaline and anxiety that fuels their life is just part of normal life. The morning cups of coffee, the school run with the traffic, the late working hours and the quick ‘take-away’ have all become activities that increase stress hormones and adrenaline in the body, resetting levels of activity that are unsustainable in the long term.

    Which is why a ‘reset’ in our stress levels is needed. One way is through self-reflection and counselling, and there are many other ways to try and ensure that we all maintain a level of disconnectedness from the online world which has become so pervasive.

    So, if you get a chance, take some time out, feel and see the beauty of nature, be mindful of the animals and birds that may be around you and just feel a sense of being alive and connected to nature. This is one of the best ways of overcoming stress and anxiety.