What Your Anxiety May Be Trying To Tell You - And Why It's Important To Listen

Is your Anxiety Trying to Tell You Something Important?

It could be that anxiety is more than a symptom to be managed. Instead, it can be a signal to our bodies to seek healing and to connect with the parts of ourselves we have neglected or suppressed. Here is an example of my recent work as a Psychotherapist. It illustrates how anxiety can sometimes act as a https://herbalsonlineshopee.co.uk/barnet/ messenger, inviting us to heal our psycho-emotional wounds from childhood and adolescence if we are willing to listen and tune in.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is often thought to be an automatic, innate response to perceived threats. It is also known as our 'fight/flight arousal' or species' fight or flight response. It stands to reason that anxiety disorders can develop in children who have experienced a chaotic and possibly traumatizing childhood. It is important that psychiatrists and physicians who treat anxiety disorders that interfere with daily life and quality of living recommend anti-anxiety medication. However, they may not always recommend that patients see a qualified Mental Health professional to examine the root cause of anxiety. For example, if the patient has suffered from unresolved trauma in their early childhood, this is the focus of this article. They can also suggest alternative or non-prescription treatments.

Anxiety Signs and Symptoms

Anxiety can come in many forms. However, these are the most common signs and symptoms of this behavioral disorder.

• Overwhelming Worry

• Irritability

• Sleep Disturbance

• Poor Concentration

• Restlessness

• Muscle Tension

• Fatigue

Psychotherapy as A Method Of Successfully Treating Chronic Anxiety

It could be that anxiety is not something we should avoid or medicate away but something we can be curious about. My clients are invited to explore this possibility by asking them to pay attention to their thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations next time they feel anxious. What's happening in that moment? Is there an underlying trigger that could have triggered the anxiety? This simple exercise can reveal valuable information about anxiety signals, as the Case Study below shows.

A Case Study on Anxiety

One time, I had a client (whom we will call Jeremy - not his real name) tell me that he felt extremely anxious when he entered a lobby at a hotel on a business trip. He thought it was due to a 'Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), which he had been diagnosed years earlier by a psychiatrist before he began his psychotherapeutic work. I suggested that he start keeping an "Awareness Journal" and write in it whenever he experiences anxiety symptoms. Jeremy experienced extreme anxiety symptoms during a business trip. He realized this while writing in his journal. Jeremy realized, after further reflection in his Awareness journal, that the retro-style couch was almost identical in style and color to the couch he used in his childhood home's living room. This gave us a lot to discuss in the next sessions. Jeremy began to recall and share traumas from his childhood that he had not yet shared.

Jeremy's chronic anxiety, which he'd suffered from for many years, began to diminish as he worked diligently in psychotherapy to regain the wounded and 'lost parts of his self that he had lost during childhood. He grew up in a chaotic, unstable, and alcoholic family. Under the guidance of a doctor, he decided to stop taking anti-anxiety medications. He is now able to manage his anxiety symptoms through deep breathing exercises, Mindfulness Meditation practices, and Somatic-Psychology techniques. (For more information about the effectiveness and use of Somatic Psychology in the treatment or healing of trauma, refer to Bessel van der Kolk’s book Body Keeps the Score: Brain and Mind in the Healing Trauma). Jeremy continues to reflect in his Awareness Journal. This journal has been a crucial part of his ongoing psycho-emotional growth and healing. (Note - Details about specific client cases have been altered to protect privacy.

Anxiety and Psychtropic Medication

While taking anti-anxiety medication to minimize anxiety symptoms is a personal choice, and in some cases is medically advisable, there are other effective interventions that a person suffering from anxiety can pursue, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; keeping an Awareness Journal as part of ongoing Psychotherapeutic-based Intrapsychic / Family Systems work (as discussed in the above Case Study); engaging in deep breathing exercises; yoga; daily physical exercise; and homeopathic remedies as prescribed by a Naturopathic doctor.