Tim Maude Hypnotherapy

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How The Internet Increases Anxiety
The Internet and the widespread use of smart phones has changed society completely. A lot of our time is spent on our phones. Of course, there are many great reasons to spend time scrolling, but for a lot of people, scrolling becomes addictive starving your brain of the time it needs to rest, and inducing anxiety because of the distorted view of life that the Internet gives us.

Scrolling Can Become Addictive

Scrolling through posts, checking what your friends have posted, monitoring the likes on your own posts … spending hours every day on the Internet is an addictive behaviour. Like all addictions, you start to get anxious when you stop. The addiction simply compels you to keep going.

Every time you scroll on a bit further, your brain is looking for a little bit of pleasure that you get from finding something interesting. But the posts are so short and with very little meaning, that the pleasure is short-lived, so your brain go into overdrive looking for the next one, always hoping that there will be something really good to see in the next post.

If you find that it is really difficult to put your phone down, or not pick it up in the first place, then you have all the signs of addiction. Addiction will only increase your stress and anxiety.

Your Brain Needs A Rest

When it seems like you are on the Internet 24-7, your brain does not have time to rest. If you watch a video or read a post and then move straight onto the next thing, your brain does not have time to process what you have just taken in. It needs time to reflect.

Reflection on what you have seen on the Internet, or experienced in your day-to-day life can happen consciously (where you think things through) or unconsciously (where your brain works on it in the background). When you constantly bombard your brain with more Internet videos, memes, messages and the like, your brain has no time to reflect.

When you have a lot of stress and anxiety, the brain needs time to be quite in order to process the stress you are under. If it is constantly stimulated with new material on the Internet, it can’t do this properly and so stress and anxiety will continue.

Social Media Can Lower Self-Esteem

When your friends or other people you follow post, they generally post when they’re at their best. They post pictures of themselves when they are looking gorgeous; they post about their successes. They do not post videos of themselves when they have just got out of bed, or when they messed something up.

So you spend all day looking at people who are at their best, while you know that you are only at your best occasionally. So your brain unconsciously starts to build the impression that everyone else is better than you. You unconsciously build a pattern of low self-esteem.

And, of course, everyone else is doing the same as you.

Social media is also full of people criticising others. They may criticise you, your friends, or people you admire. This can also bring your down and this can increase your stress and anxiety

Does Your Scrolling Increase Your Anxiety?

Everyone will react differently, so take a step back. Examine your life. Examine the impact the Internet has on you. Ask yourself a few question:
- How much is Internet scrolling effecting your life?
- Do you scroll in order to avoid doing things that are boring?
- Do your scroll when you are bored?
- Do you scroll as a distraction from stress?
- Do you scroll while doing something else, like watching TV, eating lunch, or sitting on the toilet?
- Does the scrolling help you in any way?
And importantly: Does scrolling increase or decrease your stress anxiety?

Only you can tell how it effects you. I have seen many clients who, quite unprompted, come to realise that their lives would be much better if they cut down on their scrolling. Not to stop completely, but just cut back. So step back and think about how it effects you.

How To Escape Internet-Induced Anxiety

If you decide that you want to reduce your Internet usage, here are a few ideas to try:
- Make a new rule in your life not to use your phone when you are doing something else where your brain could take a break e.g. No phone use in bed, while on the toilet, while taking your kids to school.
- Limit the hours you allow yourself to look at the phone e.g. No looking at the phone after 8:00 pm. No looking at the phone before you are washed and had breakfast. No looking at the phone for non-work matters during working hours.
- Take a social media holiday – e.g. No social media for a month.
And Finally …

I offer ideas on how to ease your anxiety issues by yourself, but if you need help, I provide a hypnotherapy service that specialises in helping people with anxiety and depression. I see people in my clinic in Fleet, Hampshire, as well as online. If you Contact Me, I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Photo courtesy of Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels
June 9, 2026
The Anatomy of Procrastination
Procrastination leads to increased stress levels. Increased stress levels lead to increased chances of anxiety. If you are a habitual procrastinator, you need to do something about it if you want to ease the additional stress that you are creating for yourself.

What Is Procrastination?

Have you got stuff that needs doing that you have put off? That household job that you know needs doing, but could always be done next week. That medical test that you really should get done, but you don’t really want to know the result. That paperwork that needs seeing to, but is not that urgent.

This is procrastination – putting off doing something until it becomes urgent, even though putting it off adds to your stress. That stress can eventually turn into anxiety.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

When there is something that needs doing, but it’s boring or unpleasant, then it is always easier to find something else to do. That “something else” distracts you from thinking about the thing that needs doing. Scrolling on your phone distracts you from the nagging thought that you really ought to clear those out-of-date items at the back of your fridge.

It’s all about rewards and stresses. Scrolling on the phone give you a small sense of reward, whereas cleaning out the fridge does not. Leaving the fridge just another day does not add much stress. The reward you get from scrolling on the phone is enough to counteract the small bit of stress you get from not cleaning the fridge.

The problem is that the same thing will happen tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that … That small amount of stress is always there. And it’s not just the fridge, is it? There are all the other things that you put off, because it’s so easy to do something else more pleasurable.

What Do You Procrastinate About?

It is important to understand the difference between important tasks and urgent tasks.

Urgent tasks need to be done right away, or at least, very soon. If your rent is due today, then it is urgent that you pay it today. If the movie you have gone to see starts in 10 minutes, then it is urgent that you go in and sit down in the theatre.

Important tasks are tasks that are going to have a big impact on your life. It is important that you pay the rent, otherwise you might find yourself being evicted. It would be nice to get to see the movie on time, but, in the grand scheme of things, it is not that important.

Tasks like sorting out that pile of financial papers, booking that medical test that your doctor said you would need, and fixing that slow leak at the back of the sink are important, but they are not that urgent. You can always put them off until next week.

You will tend to procrastinate about tasks that are not urgent, particularly if they are boring or are somehow unpleasant to do. Problems tend to arise when you procrastinate about important tasks that are not urgent. They just get left and provide a constant source of stress while they are not getting done.

How Does Procrastination Impact Anxiety?

When you put things off, you often have that nagging thought, “I really need to get around to doing that.” This thought creates a little bit of stress. The longer you put it off, the more stress it generates.

The more stress you have in life, the more likely you are to develop anxiety. Procrastination itself does not generate anxiety, but the accumulation of the stresses of procrastination with other stresses of life will.

Is Procrastination A Problem For You?

Start by analysing your own behaviour, thoughts and feelings. What tasks are you procrastinating over right now? How much are those tasks creating those nagging thoughts? How does all this make you feel?

Now ask yourself, “What will it be like when those tasks are done?” Get a sense of how good you will feel when they are all out of the way and you can get on with life.

Now step back and evaluate yourself. Is procastination a problem for you? If it is, you should start doing something about it.

How Can You Get Over Procrastination?

If you are a habitual procrastinator, experiment with some of these ideas to find out which combination works best for you:
- Write a list of tasks – Listing tasks gives you a sense of control. Write a list of all the tasks that you are procrastinating about. Put this list somewhere where you will see it every day.
- Cross things off the list when you have done them – Creating a visible sign of progress gives a sense of accomplishment. When you have completed a task, cross it off your list using a thick pen or highlighter, or if it is an electronic list, highlight the task by making it bold, say.
- Do something, however small – Motivation arises when you start doing something. Make a deal with yourself to work at a task for, say, ten minutes. Once ten minutes are over, you can choose whether to continue or finish it later.
- Be proud of yourself when you done a task – A few seconds of pride in yourself when you have done something that you have been putting off will motivate you to do some more tasks at another time. Take a moment to step back and look at what you have done. It may not be much, but you can still be proud of achieving it.
- Break down big tasks into little tasks – You will feel more motivated to start a small task than a big one. That pile of financial papers that need sorting … divide it into, say, four smaller piles, and just sort one of them to start with.
- Reward yourself for doing a task – Promised rewards provide motivation. Make a deal with yourself – I will do something more enjoyable after completing one of the tasks. When you have done one task, reward yourself with half an hour of screen time, or your favourite meal.
- Do small tasks immediately – It is difficult to motivate yourself to start on a list of hundreds of tiny jobs. Estabish the “two minute rule” in your life. If you have a task that will take less than two minutes – do it immediately rather than adding it to your list.
- Get a friend to hold you accountable – You are more likely to do a task if have told someone else that you’ll do it. Tell your friend what you are going to do and when you plan to do it. Also, tell them when you have done it.
- Forgive yourself – Forgiving yourself for your past procrastination will help you do more tasks on your list. If you feel guilty about procrastination, then your list of tasks will only remind you of your guilt feelings, so you may avoid thinking about the tasks. So go easy on yourself.
- Book time in your calendar – When you know you have a fixed time to clear some of your backlog of tasks, you will be more likely to do them. Book time to work on them in your calendar, and when the time is up you can get on and do something more enjoyable.
And Finally

If procrastination is a problem for you, then it is a problem. It needs sorting out. Start small and build it up so that procrastination is no longer a habit. If it is not a problem for you, then you don’t need to fix it. Just remember that procrastination adds to your stress, and too much stress turns into anxiety.

If you need some help with any aspect of your anxiety or depression, you may like to give hypnotherapy a go. Contact Me for a free 15 minute consultation. I would be happy to talk your issues through with you and answer any questions you might have.

Credits

Photograph by Mizuno K on Pexels
Graphics generated by AI Google NotebookLM
April 21, 2026
The Masking Dilemma

Do you hide your anxiety from your colleagues? Your friends? Even your family? Do you put on a brave face, force a smile, and pretend to laugh at their jokes. You might even do this when you are desperate to tell someone how you feel and what is going on inside.

This is called “masking”. You may do it consciously or quite unconsciously, hiding your true feelings just to conform to social norms. Maybe you force yourself to make more eye contact than you really want to, or tell people around you, “I’m just fine”.

Masking is exhausting. You spend your day living a lie, pretending you’re something that you’re not. You do this in order to fit in, so that people around you don’t feel uncomfortable, so that they don’t start avoiding you, so that you are accepted. But at the end of the day, you feel shattered.

To Mask Or Not To Mask?

You will need to create a balance between when you mask, when you mask just a bit, and when you don’t mask at all. You need to have the balance between fitting in with social norms and avoiding feeling exhausted all the time.

When you are talking to someone important (say, going for a job interview), you probably want your full mask on. When talking with your family or friends who know the state of your mind, then you can go “half-masked” for a while. When you are talking with your therapist or you are on your own, you can go completely unmasked.

Only you know the relationship you have with people around you, so only you can judge how masked you need to be.

What To Do About The Masking Dilemma

The first thing to do is to recognise when you are masking. Many anxiety-ridden people mask automatically, without consciously thinking about it. Being aware of your masking habit is useful. Start to develop an awareness of the situations when you mask and the people you mask in front of most often. Become aware of the times where you can let go of the mask and drop any pretence.

Once you are aware of it, you can start to choose when you want to mask and when you don’t. You have more control over it. When you have more control over it, it can become less exhausting.

If you realise that you have long periods (say at work) when you are masking all the time, it can be helpful to schedule in breaks when you can be on your own, letting the mask drop for a few minutes.

If you find yourself avoiding company because masking is too exhausting, remember that positive interaction with other people is very good for counteracting anxiety, so consider scheduling in more time with friends.

Masking is all a balancing act. You have to find the best point on the scale for you.

And Finally …

I help people with anxiety, using hypnotherapy to help them to get back to normality and free themselves from the masking dilemma. You can Contact Me if you want to ask questions about how it all works. I work out of my clinic in Fleet, Hampshire as well as online.

Photo by Sean Nkomo on pexels

January 27, 2026
“It Happens” – How Do You React When Something Goes Wrong?

A bearded, long-haired man is running through a city street. A man runs up to him, wanting to talk. The bearded man, still running, steps on some dog excrement, but just keeps on running calmly on. The man expresses surprise that he remains so calm. The bearded man replies in a calm and neutral voice, “It happens!”

You may remember this scene from the film “Forrest Gump”.

Bad things happen to people all the time, things that are totally out of their control. Another car clips their wing mirror, the train they were planning to catch is cancelled, someone spills a cup of coffee on their clothes, or they tread on some dog excrement in the road … it happens. We know these things happen to us and to everyone else.

What effects our stress levels (and consequentially our anxiety) is not the bad thing that happens to us, it’s how we react to it. We can get angry or frustrated. We might be thinking, “Why does this happen to me?” We can allow the incident (which was entirely out of our control) stress us out.

But if you are like Forrest Gump, you can say to yourself calmly and resignedly, “It happens”, shrug your shoulders, and then simply get on with life. You have to deal with the consequences of whatever happened to you of course. You may have to get your wing mirror fixed, change your travel plans, get through the day with a coffee stain on your shirt, or clean the dog excrement off your shoe, but you don’t have to get upset by it. It happened … so deal with the consequences and move on.

You see, you have a lot more control over your emotions than you might think. You really do not have to angry and frustrated by the cancelled train if you don’t want to. If you are used to getting angry when things go wrong, then it may be difficult to start. But you can do it. And when you do do it, you will find yourself a lot less stressed in life.

And Finally …

If you find yourself getting too stressed and angry by the things that have happened to you in your life, and if anxiety starts to take over, you may like to consider hypnotherapy. If you do consider it, then Contact Me and I will be happy to answer your questions. I work from my clinic in Fleet, Hampshire as well as online.

January 22, 2026
Are You SAD? Understanding Seasonal Affective Disorder
As the days grow shorter and the skies turn grey, many of us feel a natural shift in mood. But for some, this seasonal change is more than just the “winter blues”—it’s a condition known (somewhat ironically) as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). SAD is a type of depression, typically recurring each year, starting in the late autumn or early winter and remitting during the spring and throughout the summer.

What Exactly is SAD?

SAD is formally recognised as a major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern. While less common, some people experience a reverse pattern, with depressive episodes occurring during the spring and summer. The most common form, however, is the winter-pattern SAD.

The Science Behind the Seasonal Shift

The cause of SAD is strongly linked to the decrease in sunlight during the winter. Experts believe this reduction in light can disrupt the body’s internal biological clock, or circadian rhythm, leading to a misalignment.
- Melatonin Levels: The body produces the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin at higher levels in the dark. The increased darkness in winter can lead to an overproduction of melatonin, making you feel excessively sleepy and lethargic.
- Serotonin Imbalance: Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects mood, may be imbalanced. Reduced sunlight can cause a drop in serotonin levels, triggering depressive symptoms.
- Vitamin D Deficiency: Sunlight is essential for the production of Vitamin D, which plays a role in serotonin activity. Lower levels of Vitamin D in winter may also contribute to SAD.
Key Symptoms of Winter-Pattern SAD

SAD symptoms tend to mimic those of major depression.
- Mood: Feeling depressed, hopeless, or worthless nearly every day
- Energy: Low energy (lethargy), feeling sluggish, and increased fatigue
- Sleep: Oversleeping (hypersomnia), difficulty waking up
- Appetite: Increased appetite and carbohydrate cravings
- Social: Loss of interest in activities; social withdrawal
What Do You Do To Manage SAD?

Lifestyle Adjustments
- Simple changes to your routine can help mitigate symptoms:
- Maximise Sunlight Exposure: Take walks outside, especially in the morning.
- Exercise Regularly: Any physical activity helps improve your mood.
- Eat well: Focus on a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.
- Prioritise Sleep Hygiene: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule to help maintain your circadian rhythm.
Light Therapy (Phototherapy)

Light therapy involves sitting a set distance from a special device called a light box, which emits a bright, full-spectrum light for about 20–30 minutes each morning. The bright light mimics natural outdoor light, helping to regulate your circadian rhythm. It has to be a light box specifically designed for full-spectrum light – Don’t use a normal indoor lamp or a sunlamp.

Medication

If your doctor diagnoses you with SAD, they may prescribe antidepressants that you start taking from Autumn until the Spring. It is thought that these medications work by balancing serotonin levels in the brain.

Therapy

Although there is a physical cause of SAD, talking therapies can help. Hypnotherapy and CBT can both be used to help clients with SAD.

And Finally …

SAD is a real condition. You can get a diagnosis for SAD if you want help from your doctor. However, large numbers of people develop SAD-like symptoms but are not bad enough to received a diagnosis.

Whether or not you have been diagnosed with SAD – hypnotherapy can help. I operate my hypnotherapy clinic in Fleet, Hampshire. If you would like to Contact Me, I would be happy to talk to you about what hypnotherapy can do for you.

Photo by David Kanigan on Pexels
December 2, 2025
Motorway Driving Dread: Welcome to Amaxophobia

Does driving on motorways fill you with dread? Do you take an alternative route just to avoid those busy, multi-lane roads? Do you avoid travelling just because it would mean driving on a motorway? Welcome to Amaxophobia!

How Common is Amaxophobia?

A lot of people are nervous about driving, but around one in ten drivers are so anxious that doctors would diagnose Amaxophobia – a fear of driving in certain circumstances, such as motorway driving, or being a passenger while someone else is driving.

Where Does Amaxophobia Come From?

How is it that someone who has been driving happily for years gradually begins to develop massive anxiety about motorway driving? Or maybe they have never been comfortable with it. Where it comes from is different for everybody.

For some, it arises from a specific incident, like an accident, that happened to them when driving. For others, it could just be a near miss that started the worry. For many, however, there is nothing specific that you can nail down to attribute to being the cause. It could be a combination of many things. It doesn’t really matter where it came from – what matters is how you get over it.

How Do You Get Over Amaxophobia?

It can be very inconvenient to be scared of motorway driving. You may have to drive on slower roads. You may have to be constantly giving excuses to friends or family as to why you can’t visit them. You may try to suck it up, go through the shear terror of it all, and arrive a nervous wreck.

You can do something about it. Most doctors will send you off for some CBT sessions, but there are alternatives.

I have helped quite a few people get over their fear of driving using hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is a way to access the subconscious fear that your brain creates. It is not a miracle cure where I just snap my fingers and you change. It takes time, as it is a complex phobia. This is particularly the case if it has been there for a long time.

What Happens When the Fear of Driving is Gone?

Once the fear of driving is gone, life opens up again. You are able to make those long trips without the worry about them. Some of my clients are very surprised; they tell me that it is an odd feeling when it is so easy to drive on motorways again.

If you want help getting over that dread of driving on motorways, you might want to consider hypnotherapy. I work out of my office in Fleet, Hampshire as well as Online. You can Contact Me if you want to talk about the possibilities that hypnotherapy can offer.

Further Reading

What Is Amaxophobia? – Fear of Driving or Riding in a Car

https://www.verywellmind.com/fear-of-being-a-passenger-2671535

Why thousands of midlife women are too afraid to drive on the motorway

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/features/midlife-women-amaxophobia-terrified-of-driving-motorway/

Photo courtesy of Mike Bird on Pexels

October 20, 2025