What makes you anxious?
Worry about something that has an uncertain outcome can be defined as Anxiety.
It is a natural response system to a stressful situation in life. Everyone will experience some sort of anxiety at some point in their life. This will generally happen when the future is unexpected or uncertain. A period of change. For example:
- Losing a job
- Going for an interview
- Changing jobs
- Getting married or attending a wedding
- Getting divorced
- Having a baby
- Being diagnosed with an illness
When your anxiety becomes uncontrollable, it is constant, goes on for some time and starts affecting how you function in life then it is time to get some help.
General anxiety disorder affects 5% of the UK population (1 in 20). And it affects women slightly more than men.
What are symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety can have physical and/or psychological symptoms and these will vary from person to person. Some people will experience anxiety in relation to certain events in their life and for others this might be an ongoing experience. The intensity will vary depending on surrounding circumstances.
Symptoms might include;
- nervousness
- increased heart rate
- dizziness
- restlessness - sleeping problems, pacing up and down, etc.
What causes anxiety?
Reasons for anxiety can vary from person to person. These can be:
- Past experiences that have been hurtful and/or traumatic
- Unresolved issues or unprocessed emotions from past events
- Inability to cope with current circumstances
- Hurtful feelings experienced in the present
- Genetic reasons
- Medical reasons
How I can help reduce your anxiety
There are two ways to work when someone is experiencing anxiety.
One is by working cognitively and/or rationally by documenting some of the experiences and working through them together to understand them, process them and develop better coping strategies.
The second one is through talking and exploring past and present experiences to understand the reason for the anxiety. An understanding of the past allows us to consciously interrupt the unconscious processes and develop a different pattern of behaviour. Linking the past and the present can be quite powerful and can help you develop better strategies to cope with the present.
My aim in therapy, while working with you, is to reduce the level of anxiety you experience. We cannot eliminate it completely because it is a part of the natural response system. Our goal is to reduce it and make it manageable.