Feeling Anxious?

02 May Feeling Anxious?

With the pressures of the world and the need to survive in a competitive society, many people experience stress. At times, do you feel stressed with finances or lack thereof? Are you feeling anxious about the competitiveness of your job? Have you worried about planning for the future? Have you experienced health issues that are a cause for concern? Are you the caregiver of a loved one and have your own personal stressors? In fact, there are many things that can cause one to feel anxious.

Stress can be in the form of depression and anxiety. The stress can manifest in anxiety symptoms such as excessive worry/fear, increased heart rate/palpitations, shortness of breath, feeling overwhelmed, intrusive thoughts, fatigue and sleep disturbances just to name a few. These symptoms can interfere with daily life and cause disruptions.  Feeling anxious can be difficult to control and interrupt daily living. Pre-occupation with an assumed fear can eventually cause health issues if not immediately addressed. Quite frankly, a certainly level of stress is expected and can lead to positive motivation. But that’s not the stress we’re discussing at this time. This references that stress you cannot shake, the stress that changes your outlook on life and causes health concerns that can be debilitating if not properly managed. This stress if assessed by a clinician is diagnosable as mental illness.

So, what can you do? First, start by acknowledging the stress symptoms you are experiencing. Oftentimes our bodies experience many different symptoms that are indicators of an existing problem. You can then monitor the occurrence and actual symptoms to differentiate if the symptom is a one-time occurrence or something that needs to be explored. Also, it is important to note when the symptoms occur. For example, what types of activities are you engaging and what kind of stressors/worries are you currently contemplating. Completing this mini self-assessment helps to narrow the focus on the real issue. The Anxiety. Fear. Worry.

How do you cope with fear/excessive worry? One can start by identifying appropriate coping strategies to assist in dealing with anxiety. A coping skill can be any “healthy” strategy the individual choses that assist in alleviating or minimizing the amount of stress/worry one sustains during severe stressful periods. There is an emphasis on healthy due to the possibility of utilizing a maladaptive behavior that consists of self-medicating (substance abuse), self-injurious (cutting/body mutilation) or any other negative behaviors.  Healthy coping skills can be as simple as reading a book, listening to music, exercising, “taking a nap”, watching a movie, prayer, meditation, yoga or my personal favorite…hence the website theme, THE BEACH! Coping skills should be utilized frequently as a type of Self-Care/Preservation regularly to prevent feeling overwhelmed. Stress is inevitable but with adequate self-care one could minimize the effects of anxiety.

If there is further need for assessment and treatment, Positive Therapy is available to provide therapeutic services. Please contact (305) 981-1700 or schedule@positivetherapy.co to schedule an appointment.

Peace & Blessings,

Your Favorite Therapist