Anxiety Archives - Heather Hayes & Associates https://heatherhayes.com/tag/anxiety/ Interventions & Treatment Consulting Thu, 28 May 2026 13:51:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://heatherhayes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-HH_logo-32x32.png Anxiety Archives - Heather Hayes & Associates https://heatherhayes.com/tag/anxiety/ 32 32 Benzodiazepine Addiction: The Quiet Epidemic Hidden Inside Modern Anxiety Treatment https://heatherhayes.com/benzodiazepine-addiction-the-quiet-epidemic-hidden-inside-modern-anxiety-treatment/ Fri, 29 May 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7595 By the 1960s, medicine believed it had found a safer answer to anxiety. The era of barbiturates, which carried high overdose risks and profound sedation, appeared to be ending. In their place came a new class of medications that promised calm, sleep, and emotional relief with far less danger: benzodiazepines. What began as a pharmaceutical […]

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]]> Why Multidisciplinary Approaches Matter in Complex Mental Health Cases https://heatherhayes.com/why-multidisciplinary-approaches-matter-in-complex-mental-health-cases/ Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:40:12 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=7299 Every individual’s path to healing is different, particularly when complex mental health challenges are involved. What appears to be anxiety or depression may be layered with trauma, dysfunctional family dynamics, medical conditions, substance use, and ongoing social stressors. While two people can share the same diagnosis, they can have entirely different histories, triggers, coping strategies, […]

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]]> Challenges of Adolescence: Coping with the Pressure to Be Perfect https://heatherhayes.com/challenges-of-adolescence-coping-with-the-pressure-to-be-perfect/ Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:45:16 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=6741 The teen years can be extremely challenging. We tend to romanticise adolescence once we have left it behind, remembering it as a time when we were carefree and had many paths open to us. In reality, the years between thirteen and nineteen are fraught for many young people as friendships emerge and erode, academic pressures […]

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]]> The Link Between Psychological Homelessness and Addiction https://heatherhayes.com/the-link-between-psychological-homelessness-and-addiction/ Thu, 25 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/difficult-months-raising-awareness-around-seasonal-affective-disorder-copy/ Recovering from addiction requires a great deal of inner work. It is a lifelong process and not merely a matter of stopping the problematic behavior that characterizes addiction. It entails healing from the trauma that so often lies at its center. But, how do we begin this process of healing which is so critical to […]

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]]> How Is TRE Effective in the Trauma Space? https://heatherhayes.com/how-is-tre-effective-in-the-trauma-space/ Fri, 16 Jun 2023 22:00:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=5741 “All humans have an innate capacity to heal from traumatic experiences. As a species we are genetically encoded with the capacity to heal ourselves.” – Dr David Berceli Trauma release exercises (TRE) are somatic practices for people with anxiety, trauma, or PTSD that are gaining popularity and recognition around the world.  TRE is designed to […]

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]]> The Disease to Please: Hypervigilance Around Others’ Needs https://heatherhayes.com/the-disease-to-please/ Sun, 13 Mar 2022 05:05:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4814 People-pleasing, known as sociotropy in the field of psychology, is defined by the APA as, “the tendency to place an inordinate value on relationships over personal independence (…) in response to the loss of relationships or conflict.”[1] People-pleasers, or those with sociotropic tendencies, wish to make other people happy, often at the sake of their […]

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]]> Are You Triggered by Abandonment? https://heatherhayes.com/are-you-triggered-by-abandonment/ Sun, 09 Jan 2022 05:05:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4734 “If you feel safe and loved, your brain becomes specialized in exploration, play, and cooperation; if you are frightened and unwanted, it specializes in managing feelings of fear and abandonment.” – Bessel A. van der Kolk All humans will experience some form of abandonment anxiety because the fear of abandonment is universal to our experience […]

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]]> The Codependent Teen https://heatherhayes.com/the-codependent-teen/ Sun, 05 Dec 2021 05:05:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4707 “A codependent person is one who has let another person’s behavior affect him or her, and who is obsessed with controlling that person’s behavior.” ― Melody Beattie Teenagers can often struggle with codependent relationships without their families noticing. Often, it is under the guise of an intense friendship or romantic relationship, which masks the fact that […]

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]]> Signs of Social Anxiety in Children https://heatherhayes.com/signs-of-social-anxiety-in-children/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 10:57:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4699 Social anxiety involves feelings of intense panic or fear during social interactions with others. It is one of the most common mental health disorders, with approximately 15 million Americans suffering from it.[1] The fear experienced is disproportionate to the situations and can significantly impact someone’s wellbeing and enjoyment of life.  The average age for social […]

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]]> Overcoming the Drama Triangle https://heatherhayes.com/overcoming-the-drama-triangle/ Sun, 06 Jun 2021 04:05:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4203 “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” ~ Henri Bergson The Drama Triangle was first described in the 1960s by Dr. Stephen Karpman to explain the different roles people assume in interpersonal relationships, particularly within areas of dispute, conflict, or “drama.”[1] The three […]

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]]> Understanding Eco-Anxiety https://heatherhayes.com/understanding-eco-anxiety/ Sun, 09 May 2021 04:01:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4183 “Empowering action is the antidote to these horrific, overwhelming emotions (of climate change)” – Lise van Susteren We are all familiar with the potential impacts of climate change due to the rise in reporting of extreme weather events, droughts, the ice caps melting, flooding, and impacts on agriculture and infrastructure. However, we may not be […]

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]]> Understanding Dissociation https://heatherhayes.com/understanding-dissociation/ Sun, 14 Mar 2021 05:01:00 +0000 https://heatherhayes.com/?p=4107 “People have a range of capacities to deal with overwhelming experience. Some people, some kids particularly, are able to disappear into a fantasy world, to dissociate, to pretend like it isn’t happening, and are able to go on with their lives. And sometimes it comes back to haunt them.”  – Bessel van der Kolk Dissociation […]

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