What is Anxiety?

 

Have you ever experienced worry? Has that worry been hard to control? Worry is a behavior most people engage in when they are trying to figure out what is happening around them. Sometimes worry can help solve the problems you are facing, but most of the time, it is likely keeping you “stuck” in one place, and preventing you from being able to control that worry behavior. It’s possible that this worry is taking up much of your time and mental capacity, so much so, that you might feel exhausted or overwhelmed by the end of your day. 

 

Worry is actually one of the main symptoms of anxiety. You feel symptoms of anxiety when there are “unknowns” in the world. Not knowing what is going to happen in your future, especially when it comes to your grades, career, relationships, marriage, health, children, or other big life domains, may bring up feelings of anxiety. You may also experience other symptoms including restlessness, concentration issues, or even panic. If any of these symptoms are coming up for you, you may be experiencing symptoms of anxiety. 

 

Is There More than One Kind of Anxiety?

 

Anxiety usually comes up in different forms. Sometimes, anxiety is “generalized” to many different worries and concerns in our lives. This could include anxiety about our work and careers, our grades in school, the outcome of our relationships, and whether or not we will be able to move to a new home, etc. Other times, anxiety is more “specified” and it could be related to one particular area of our lives such as fear of being in an elevator, fear of spiders or fear or public speaking. At times, people might experience fear so intensely that they begin to panic. Experiencing fear through panic could be a scary experience for many people, but it is treatable.

 

You may be experiencing some of these symptoms of anxiety or maybe a combination of several different symptoms. Sometimes, anxiety even starts from one thing such as anxiety about health issues, and leads to anxiety about many different things including doctor's visits, being near a hospital, or watching news about health concerns. If your anxiety has reached this point, you may benefit from psychotherapy to work through these issues and understand where your anxiety is coming from, and what you can do to manage it more effectively.

 

What can I do to Get Help for my Anxiety?

 

At Couch Conversations Psychotherapy and Counseling, we work in collaboration with our clients to reduce worry behaviors and getting you back on track to focus on the things in your life that are most important to you. Symptoms of anxiety are typically treated by examining your thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Through the process of psychotherapy, you can identify what role your thoughts are serving, and whether they are helpful or unhelpful for your anxiety. Identifying unhelpful thoughts can help in multiple ways including building awareness, understanding the power of thoughts, and by giving you a choice to make other decisions about challenging your thoughts. 

 

Don’t let your anxiety get in the way of another minute of your life. You can overcome the fear associated with anxiety by linking up with one of our Couch Conversations therapists by CONTACTING US below.

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