Anxiety
The term “anxiety” is likely one you’re familiar with, as it has become more generalized and talked about in the mental health space. But what is it exactly and do you have it?
Anxiety is our mind and body’s reaction to any situation, stressor, or stimulus that feels uncomfortable, difficult, or stressful. Feeling anxious is a natural response from our body that can help us regulate decision-making and sense danger. However, uncontrollable worry and difficulty managing stressors can create anxiety, which is the intense feeling of discomfort that can impact our ability to function as we would like. The difference between “healthy” or “normal” amounts of anxiety or worry and “unhealthy” amounts lies within the severity of symptoms and the impact it’s having on your ability to live as you would like.
Psychotherapy for Women specializes in helping women cope with feeling of anxiousness and worry. There are many stressors and events in life that can naturally produce more worry than you are use to, including trying to become/finding out your pregnant, jobs and performance concerns, relationships, parenting, marriage, grief/loss, finances, and more. Have you ever wondered if you have anxiety? If so, consider the following questions:
- Do I often feel worried about things that others don’t?
- Do I struggle with coping with feelings of worry or feeling on edge?
- Do I often try to plan for or predict things that might or might not happen in the future?
- Do I go out of my way to avoid things that make me uncomfortable?
- Do feelings of worry or anxiousness impact my day in ways I don’t like/want it to?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, it may be helpful to take a closer look at your worry and explore any symptoms you may have. There are many ways that feelings and symptoms of anxiety can show up in our lives. While everyone’s anxiety is unique to them and their experiences and coping tools, research has shown commonalities amongst people who report feeling anxious. Here are some examples of what anxiety could look like:
- Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge
- Have difficulty controlling what you worry about and for how long
- Feeling easily irritated and overwhelmed
- Difficulty sleeping due to due worry
- Trouble focusing and poor concentration
- Physical symptoms including chest tightness, heart palpitations (racing), difficulty catching your breath/slowing down your breathing, and feeling tense
- Panic or anxiety attacks
- Feeling preoccupied in thought
- Difficulty completing tasks or doing things you would like to do
- Intense feelings that something awful might happen
With any number of the above symptoms, anxiety can quickly start to feel like it’s controlling our lives. It’s important to begin receiving support if you are struggling with anxiety. Unaddressed anxiety symptoms have been shown to increase and become more challenging to manage over time. Heightened anxiety symptoms can create additional challenges, such as:
- People pleasing behaviors
- Difficulty saying “no”
- Poor or no boundaries in relationships
- Use of avoidance to manage discomfort
- Social isolation
- Relationship challenges
- Difficulty functioning as you would like
- Problems performing at school or work
- Poor communication in relationships
To avoid additional stressors and challenges that unaddressed anxiety can produce, seeking support is essential. One of the most effective ways to treat anxiety and reducing symptoms is with psychotherapy. Psychotherapy for Women specializes in diagnosing and treating anxiety and other anxiety related disorders. If you are exhibiting anxiety symptoms, therapy can help by:
- Helping you explore and identify triggers
- Teaching you healthy proactive and reactive coping tools to manage stressors
- Decreasing use of avoidance to cope with triggers
- Teaching you how to reduce people pleasing behaviors
- Teaching you how to assertively communicate and set healthy boundaries
- Decreasing intrusive and unwanted thoughts contributing to continued symptoms
- Teaching you how to cope with the unexpected
If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms and feel it is challenging to manage day to day tasks as you would like, you may be struggling with symptoms of anxiety. Here at Psychotherapy for Women, we help women learn to manage anxious thoughts and feelings by helping them identify their triggers, increase time spent engaging in mindfulness practices, encourage use of anxiety reduction techniques and grounding exercises, learn how to identify and reframe thoughts about worry, and more.