“The same pattern of thinking that has gotten us to where we are, will not get us to where we want to go”
-Anthony Robbins
Understanding Your Anxiety and How Counseling Can Help you
What is anxiety and how can therapy help you? Anxiety is a mental and physical reaction to perceived threats. Anxiety is a normal biological response and has helped to protect us from danger as we have evolved as human beings. Anxiety in small doses can help us focus our attention to solve problems. But unfortunately, this reaction can go into overdrive and dominate your day to day activities and become debilitating. Some common symptoms of anxiety are below.
- Uncontrollable worry that you can’t shake
- Excessive nervousness
- Sleep problems
- Upset stomach
- Ruminating thoughts
- Fear that something awful may happen
- Poor concentration
- Avoidance of fear
- Feeling restless or wound up
- Being irritable
- Muscle tension
Having some of these concerns occasionally is normal. However, feeling that your worry controls your life and restricts what you do is an indication that you may have an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental health disorders in the US, affecting 18-19.1% of the population in a given year. The prevalence appears to be higher for females (23.4%) than males(14.3), according to the National Institute of Health ( https://www.nimh.nih.gov/). The good news is, anxiety is highly treatable with psychotherapy, especially Cognitive Behavioral therapy with a trained therapist.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
– Wayne Dyer
There are several types of anxiety which include generalized anxiety, phobias, and panic disorders. Generalized anxiety covers worry or concern in several areas of your life, such as work, responsibilities, parenting, health, finances, or other minor concerns. Phobias are a specific fear or intense response to a situation or object, which is actually not a real threat, such as spiders, fear of public speaking or leaving your home, or elevators. Panic disorders encompass an extreme response to anxiety which includes physical manifestations such as a panic attack. This includes shortness of breath, tunnel vision, racing heart, and/or feelings that you may be having a heart attack. Often these symptoms are accompanied by the inability to think clearly and racing thoughts.
Anxiety continues to be perpetuated when people avoid the places or objects that scare them. It creates a negative loop. When they have temporary relief from avoiding the “scary” anxiety-provoking moment, it reinforces the idea that it is scary and needs to be avoided. This reaction, in turn, increases its’ potency. Parents of anxious kids often try to decrease anxiety in their children’s life by removing causes of anxiety, such as birthday parties, school events, and sleepovers. However, this simply reinforces the idea that these places are scary and the anxiety can become entrenched in the child’s mind, making it very hard to change the behavior.
“You cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that created the problem.”
-Albert Einstein
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ( CBT) has been shown to be very effective in treating anxiety disorders. CBT helps clients see patterns in their thinking and behavior that have been contributing to their anxiety. The client’s new insight into their own anxiety results in changes in how they feel. It is not the situation that causes distress or anxiety, but rather the way you perceive the situation. A benefit of CBT is that it tends to be relatively short term and can result in positive changes in clients with their anxiety. I am a trained Cognitive Behavioral Therapist and can work with you to get help with your anxiety. Reach out today!
