Anxiety

Do you find yourself worrying about things that haven’t happened?

Maybe your morning begins as you open your eyes with your heart racing, and overwhelming thoughts of dread consume you as you imagine the day ahead.

Perhaps your day really isn’t going to be that scary – and part of you knows that.

Yet, your mind starts creating the worst-case scenarios anyway.

Sometimes out-of-hand worries create anxiety.

While driving to work, the radio is playing soft music that’s meant to calm you and create a sense of peace. But you’re having trouble even listening, because suddenly you’re worried that you’re going to have a car accident.

You begin to picture ramming into another car, you’ve hurt another driver, and an ambulance is on the way. It takes lots of breaths to calm the rising fear.

You tell yourself, “Come on; it’s okay; just drive to work; you can do this.”

But a feeling of anxiety lingers, and you’re not so sure you CAN do this.

Anxiety impacts all aspects of one’s life.

Anxiety is often described as spiraling thoughts that spin us so far down that it’s hard to pull ourselves back up.

When anxious thoughts flood our brain, we are robbed of the ability to be present in any part of our life.

Anxiety affects relationships.

When our thoughts are causing deep distress, it’s hard to connect even with people we care about the most. And sometimes it’s so hard to relate to others that we isolate, which might feel easier, yet it leaves us alone with troubling thoughts.

And left alone, anxious thoughts can escalate until the feeling of losing control takes over.

Anxiety has physical consequences, too.

Anxiety can begin to show up in the body. It can cause feelings of restlessness, sweating, shortness of breath, panic, loss of concentration, difficulty sleeping, heart palpitations, tightness in the chest, and other symptoms.

People have been known to show up at the ER convinced they’re having a heart attack, only to be told they’re having an anxiety attack.

Trying to battle anxiety is exhausting.

Anxiety doesn’t have to ruin your life!

Coming to therapy and talking about your anxious thoughts is the beginning of getting back a sense of control.

Negative spiraling thoughts lose their power as they are brought into the light of day.

In therapy, we will explore the cause of your anxiety, what’s happening now, and what’s happened in the past. Some adults report that they’ve always tended to be anxious, but it’s never something about which they’ve talked.

When you begin to open up about what you’ve been holding inside and recognize how hard it is to live life through a filter of anxious thoughts, you can begin to have more compassion for yourself.

You can learn to manage anxiety.

We will focus on skills to help you manage your anxiety, so those troubling thoughts and distressing emotions stop feeling like they’re controlling your life.

As we create a safe space to do this work, you will learn to mindfully notice your body sensations and the thoughts you are having, rather than spending lots of energy battling them or trying to ignore them hoping they’ll go away.

Staying present to observe your thoughts and body sensations with a calm curiosity can reveal more clearly the fears that are driving this.

By understanding and dismantling the fears, there is less need for the anxiety to take over.

If you are struggling with anxiety, therapy can help you.

Call (847) 287-9267 today for a free 15-minute consultation.