Let’s get one thing straight: nobody chooses anxiety. It’s not like anyone wakes up and thinks, “You know what would really spice up my Tuesday? A nice bout of chest-tightening dread and some overthinking until 3am.” Yet, despite our best efforts, anxiety can cling on tighter than a toddler to your leg on nursery drop-off day.
So, if you’ve been doing all the things and still feel like your brain is hosting its own internal episode of Doomwatch, it might be down to a few common habits that keep anxiety ticking over like a badly behaved boiler. Here are five mistakes that are surprisingly common—and what to do instead.
1. Trying to “think your way out of it”
If anxiety were logical, we’d all be cured by lunchtime. But it’s not. You can’t reason with a part of your brain that’s gone full gremlin. Anxiety comes from the emotional, reactive part of your mind—not the calm, rational, bit.
The fix: Instead of fighting thoughts with more thoughts, learn to feel your way out of it. This is where hypnotherapy comes in—by speaking directly to the subconscious, we can help it feel safe enough to stand down. Like giving a hypervigilant security guard a cuppa and telling him it’s OK to take the night off.
2. Googling your symptoms (again)
You know it’s true. One harmless headache and suddenly you’re three clicks away from a rare tropical parasite. While it may feel like you're “getting control,” Dr Google often sends your anxiety into overdrive.
The fix: Give your brain some boundaries. Notice the urge to check and pause—go for a walk, speak to a human, or listen to a calming audio instead. Redirect your brain's need for certainty into something productive. A therapist (hello!) can help with that.
3. Waiting for anxiety to disappear before doing the thing
This is like waiting for your house to be completely silent before starting a Zoom call—noble idea, but rarely realistic. Avoiding things “until I feel better” just reinforces the belief that you can’t cope with discomfort, which keeps the anxiety loop firmly locked.
The fix: Act with the anxiety. Tiny steps count. You don’t have to climb the mountain—you just have to put your walking boots on. The confidence comes after the doing, not before.
4. Taking shallow, panicky breaths like a Victorian fainting heroine
It’s not just dramatic—it’s unhelpful. Rapid, shallow breathing messes with your oxygen and carbon dioxide balance and convinces your body it’s under threat (again).
The fix: Learn proper belly breathing. It’s boringly simple, yet shockingly powerful. Just a few slow, steady breaths can send a clear “we’re safe now” signal to your nervous system. And again, it’s something we practise during hypnotherapy too.
5. Thinking anxiety is “just who you are”
Please no! Anxiety is something you're experiencing—not a permanent personality trait or life sentence. It’s a habit of thinking, feeling, and reacting that your mind has (very efficiently) practised over time. And like any habit, it can be changed.
The fix: Start separating you from your anxiety. Language matters. Instead of saying “I’m anxious,” try “I’m feeling anxious.” Small shift, big difference. Rewiring how you think and speak is part of the magic of therapeutic change.
Final thoughts (from someone who’s helped a lot of anxious brains chill out a bit):
Your anxiety is not a sign you’re broken. It’s your brain trying to protect you, just using outdated methods—like someone still relying on a fax machine in 2025. Hypnotherapy helps update the system, reduce the noise, and restore some much-needed calm.
If you’d like to find out more about how I work and whether I might be able to help, I offer a free 20-minute consultation—no pressure, no jargon, no swinging watches. Just a chat. And, theres no obligation to book anything afterwards (sometimes just a chat can help you to feel like you are on the right road to feeling better.
