Has Anxiety Taken Over Your Life?
Are you in a perpetually anxious state and feel engulfed by worry, fear or panic? Are racing and sometimes illogical thoughts affecting focus, concentration and keeping you from being present? Perhaps you feel like your life is out of your control or you worry that you’re one moment away from catastrophe striking. Or, maybe your anxiety is manifesting physically through a rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating, body aches or even panic attacks. Have your eating patterns changed or are you suffering from insomnia? Do you awake each day with knots in your stomach, fearful of what the day will bring? Do you wish you knew how to let go of fear and feel at peace again?
Living with anxiety symptoms can be a limiting, debilitating and frightening experience. Because anxiety affects thoughts, emotions and creates uncomfortable body sensations – which all fuel each other – once anxiety sets in, it can be hard to break free. Some people are prone to anxiety because of genetics or a highly anxious parent or spouse, while others suffer from anxiety during or following a trauma or major life transition, such as a divorce, career change or new baby. There is a wide spectrum of anxiety symptoms and severity. You may feel persistently nervous and uncomfortable, or your anxiety may have become severe, manifesting in anxiety attacks and affecting your ability to complete daily tasks or even leave your home.
Anxiety Is Very Common In Our Culture
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults (roughly 18 percent of the U.S. population), according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Our increasingly busy lives, the dominance of technology, and global stressors to the environment and economy can heighten worry and leave little time for proper self-care. Too often people do not give themselves time to recharge or connect meaningfully with others, making people today more prone to anxious thoughts, feelings and body sensations. While it’s common for many people to experience stress and worrisome thoughts, anxiety becomes a problem when it affects your ability to feel well and function normally. If anxiety is causing persistent problems in your life, such as affecting sleep, generating racing thoughts, keeping you consistently on edge or creating panic, seeking treatment with a skilled and experienced anxiety therapist may be critical to your wellbeing.
Anxiety Treatment Can Help You Shift From Chaos To Calm
With the right approach and the help of a supportive, experienced anxiety therapist, it is possible to experience relief from anxiety and learn how to help yourself in the moments when both internal and external stressors trigger heightened anxiety. In anxiety counseling sessions, we can identify, explore and address the thoughts that create your anxiety cycles. Thought patterns assert themselves quickly, therefore understanding thought triggers and learning how to calm and reframe negative thoughts before they shift into uncomfortable feelings and body sensations is key to managing anxiety. In anxiety counseling sessions, you can begin to develop a more realistic and useful self-talk practice, as well as learn calming and breathing techniques to help yourself at the onset of heightened anxiety. There are also many holistic and natural remedies for anxiety that we can explore as we figure out what works well for you.
As well as addressing internal, negative thoughts, we will also identify and address the external stressors that are triggering your anxiety. We can develop strategies to promote more balance and harmony in your life, as well as devise ways for you to improve self-care. In sessions, you can also learn how to set more realistic expectations for yourself, how to be more compassionate toward yourself, and how to maintain grounding and balance in the midst of stressful situations.
With help, support and the right anxiety treatment approach, it is very possible to manage and even overcome anxiety. While anxiety disorders are the most common mental health illnesses in the U.S., they are also one of the most commonly and successfully treated. There is a lot you can do to feel better and function well, and it is possible to create balance, harmony and regain control of your life
But, you may still have questions or concerns about treatment for anxiety…
I think that I need help managing anxiety, but I’ve heard that anxiety therapy can be costly.
I invite you to consider how much anxiety is negatively affecting your quality of life. Are you constantly fearful, consumed with worry, or letting your thoughts spiral out of control? If you are prone to anxiety and have suffered for some time, your symptoms are unlikely to go away on their own and will continue to negatively impact your mental, emotional and physical health. Alternatively, if your anxiety has been brought on by a recent trauma or a major life transition, getting support during this challenging time can be critical. Ongoing and persistently high levels of stress and anxiety can exact a great toll on your physical health, and impact your ability to function well in the workplace. Anxiety treatment is an important investment in your overall wellbeing, and experiencing relief from anxiety can be priceless.
I’m afraid that talking about my anxiety and related issues will make me feel worse.
While the idea of talking about difficult thoughts, feelings and issues can cause fear, most people experience anxiety relief once they take the first step and begin talking in an initial therapy session. Although it can be challenging and uncomfortable to work through issues, trying to repress thoughts and feelings will not make them go away – in fact, trying to ignore painful thoughts and feelings can further fuel your anxiety. In order to break free of the anxiety cycle, you need to really understand your anxiety, how it impacts your body and what is triggering it. In therapy, you will be provided with a safe and nonjudgmental space to identify and address triggers and stressors, develop effective strategies, and become more mindful about how you approach life.
I’ve felt so bad for so long. I’m not sure that anxiety counseling can help me.
Years of experience treating anxiety have shown me how possible it is for people to mitigate, manage and even overcome anxiety – even among people who have been suffering for years. There are many approaches and tools we can draw from in order to come up with a treatment strategy that is tailored to you and your specific needs. By building increased self-awareness, reframing thinking patterns and learning techniques to help you at the onset of heightened anxiety or panic, you can retrain your brain and nervous system and experienced sustained relief from anxiety.
If you’re in Louisville, CO or the surrounding area, I invite you to call me at 720-427-8222 for a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your specific needs and answer any questions you may have about anxiety therapy and my practice.