Anxiety is a common experience which very often makes complete sense in the context of our complicated and stressful lives. But sometimes anxiety can feel overwhelming or out of control, taking a serious toll on our quality of life.
A huge range of life events can lead us to feel increasingly anxious, such as work stress, relationship issues, financial pressure, illness, changes in circumstance, increased responsibility, parenting, traumatic experiences or bereavement.
Symptoms
Anxiety is experienced in many different ways, but typically it involves emotional and physical distress. This can be attached to a particular issue, such as a relationship or a job, or it can be a general feeling of distress.
Our bodies give us signals when we are anxious. Nervousness can upset our stomachs, give us itchy feet or make us sweat. These are all signs that our ‘fight or flight’ responses have been activated.
This response is evolutionary and is intended to keep us safe from dangers, but for some people these responses have become severe and out of proportion with their environment.
Other physical symptoms of anxiety include:
dizziness
tiredness
a noticeably strong, fast or irregular heartbeat
muscle aches and tension
trembling or shaking
dry mouth
excessive sweating
shortness of breath
stomach ache
feeling sick
headache
pins and needles
difficulty falling or staying asleep
Anxiety also often leads to psychological symptoms, including:
restlessness
fear
a sense of dread
feeling on edge
difficulty concentrating
irritability
Counselling and Psychotherapy for Anxiety
Counselling and psychotherapy is a great option to support you to cope with stress, and to work towards reducing your anxiety. This can be done in a range of ways, and the key is to find the approach which works for you. Support in counselling can include:
1. Exploring the meaning of anxiety
Discussing anxiety openly with someone objective who is outside of your life can bring great relief. Exploring triggers for anxiety, and the meaning behind them, can help you to self-soothe your anxiety.
By recognising the root of anxiety and the meaning behind it, you can also catch any unhelpful patterns earlier and approach your worries with a clear frame of mind.
2. Reflecting on medication
More people than ever are now prescribed antidepressants in the UK. From 2021-2022, 8.3 million adults were prescribed antidepressants.
Many people find medication to be helpful in managing the symptoms of anxiety. But it’s also common for people prescribed antidepressants to feel unsure about how they are being impacted by the drugs and how long they want to take them .
Therapy can be a great place to reflect on the use of any medication, consider its pros and cons and review how your prescription is impacting you on an ongoing basis.
It’s also important to stay in contact with your GP to discuss any side effects and to speak to them before changing anything. Your doctor could also potentially diagnose a particular type of anxiety, such as:
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Panic Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Social Anxiety Disorder
Phobias
Health anxiety
It’s important to bear in mind that you should be offered a talking treatment before being prescribed any medication, in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines (NICE).
3. Look at the big picture
Anxiety can be a completely normal reaction to difficult life events and situations. Whether it’s work stress, parenting, bereavement or relationship issues, anxiety can appear suddenly or gradually build.
When life feels unmanageable, therapy can lighten the burden by having a supportive figure to speak to, and break your concerns down into more manageable chunks.
When we feel ‘stuck’ in anxiety, therapy can help to zoom out and look at the big picture of your life. This can help to assess what’s working, what isn’t working and what you might like to change.
4. Life history
Our unique life experiences have a huge impact on how we respond to stressful situations. While one incident, person or environment may feel relatively neutral to one person, another may experience intense stress or fear.
This can be hugely influenced by our life history. An extreme example of this would be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), where a sight, sound or smell could trigger an intense response from a PTSD sufferer’s fight or flight response.
But this phenomenon works on a spectrum. If a particular person at work triggers your anxiety, it could be that their behaviour reminds you of someone from your past. Or, if moving home is particularly stressful, this may remind you of a time in your life where you felt unsupported or helpless.
Building our awareness of how our life histories impact us in the present can bring great relief from anxiety. That way, you can separate the past from the present and act with greater clarity.
5. Lifestyle
Anxiety is closely linked with our lifestyle. When a problem arises with one, the other can follow suit. For example, alcohol, drugs or food can be used to relieve anxiety in the short term, but can lead to further anxiety down the line.
Therapy can be a helpful place to reflect on lifestyle habits, and develop tools and new coping strategies for anxiety. It can also allow you to explore the root of difficult feelings, which can help you to soothe the pain without the use of potentially unhealthy outlets.
6. Relationships
Troubled relationships are one of the most common triggers for anxiety. When it comes to our most important relationships, it can be hard to find the right time, place or person to talk to about our difficulties.
The counselling relationship is the perfect place to offload and be listened to. You can also take a step back from your day-to-day life and reflect on your relationship patterns, which can help you to take more ownership in future.
7. Relaxation
Finding ways to promote relaxation is a huge part of breaking the cycle of anxiety.
You might benefit from assessing the structure of your average week - your food and sleep patterns, how much down time you have, time with friends, with family, or at work.
It might also be time to experiment with relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, particularly when intense anxiety or panic sets in. Or it could be important to prioritise activities that relax the mind, such as walking, listening to music, reading - or whatever works for you.
Get support
Anxiety can be hard to deal with alone. If you are interested in counselling for anxiety, I offer a free initial phone consultation to discuss your needs. I work both online and in person in Brighton & Hove, UK. Contact me on olihamiltontherapy@gmail.com or 07751722008.