Anxiety
Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life.
We can feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or making a major decision.
But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear.
For a person with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time.
The feelings interfere with daily activities, such as job performance, school work, and relationships.
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and social anxiety disorder.
You may experience generalized anxiety.
“My hands sweat, and my heart starts to pound. Sometimes, I just cry.”
Often managing this is a simple matter of helping you gain a greater sense of self-confidence.
We use any number of non-judgmental interventions to promote your sense of worth and value. Sometimes ask clients to create a timeline of accomplishments or a treasure trove of talent. Often, these activities uncover myriad strengths and abilities. Once that happens anxiety is lessened because a sense of worth is increase.
Then, there’s social anxiety.
“I can’t breathe. Get me out of here.”
This is that closed in, can’t breathe kind of feeling when you’re in a crowd. It’s the inability to interact with others, even as simple as telling someone your name.
Interestingly, to jump start the process of overcoming social anxiety, I read the poem originally copyrighted in 1948 “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann. I use this poem because it speaks to the core negative belief persons social anxiety have – “I’m not as good as…” There is a line in the poem that admonished to reading to avoid comparing themselves to others because there will always be individuals both better than and less than oneself. Rather, be content with whom you are.
Perhaps you’re so anxious, you can’t leave home.
“The thought of leaving my house makes me feel like I’m suffocating.”
This is agoraphobia, and we use interventions, such as exposure therapy, to help you get rid of the dread that overwhelms you. Exposure therapy involves facing your fear little by little. If you can’t leave home, maybe you can go to the front door and put your hand on the knob. Next time, perhaps you would be able to step one foot outside the door until eventually you will accomplish the goal of leaving home.