What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural response to stress or apprehension about what's to come, characterized by feelings of unease, worry, or fear. It's a complex emotional state that manifests through various physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms, such as increased heart rate, racing thoughts, restlessness, and avoidance behaviors.
While some level of anxiety can be normal, excessive or persistent feelings of anxiety that interfere with daily life may indicate an anxiety disorder, a condition that can benefit from professional intervention and various therapeutic approaches for effective management and relief.
What is the Difference Between Anxiety and Stress?
Anxiety and stress are often intertwined but differ in their nature and duration. Stress is a response to external pressures or demands, typically triggered by specific events or situations. It's a natural reaction that activates the body's fight-or-flight response, often resulting in feelings of tension or pressure. On the other hand, anxiety encompasses a broader and more persistent sense of unease or worry that may not always have a clear trigger. It involves apprehension about potential future events, often accompanied by physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms.
While stress is usually short-term and tied to specific stressors, anxiety tends to linger, impacting daily life and sometimes occurring without an identifiable cause. Stress can motivate action, while anxiety may lead to avoidance behaviors. Understanding the distinction between the two is crucial for implementing appropriate coping strategies and seeking the right support when needed.
Types of Therapy for Anxiety and Stress Management
If you are struggling with anxiety and stress, it might be beneficial to seek guidance from a mental health professional who specializes in treating anxiety.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety focuses on identifying and altering the negative thought patterns and behaviors associated with anxiety. By teaching individuals coping mechanisms and restructuring their thinking, CBT helps individuals develop effective strategies to manage anxiety, gradually reducing its impact on their daily lives.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic approach that aims to alleviate anxiety and other distressing symptoms linked to past traumatic experiences. This method involves using bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or taps, to process distressing memories, reducing their emotional charge and enabling individuals to reprocess traumatic events, ultimately diminishing their anxiety-related effects. EMDR helps individuals develop new insights and perspectives, leading to decreased anxiety and a greater sense of emotional resolution.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing addresses anxiety by facilitating the release and resolution of trapped physical sensations associated with traumatic experiences, fostering the body's natural healing process and reducing anxiety-related symptoms, allowing individuals to regain a sense of safety and resilience.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) helps individuals manage anxiety by teaching coping skills, emotional regulation techniques, and mindfulness practices to enhance their ability to tolerate distressing situations and reduce anxiety-driven behaviors.
Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapies like art therapy, dance therapy, and yoga therapy offer alternative pathways for individuals to explore and express their emotions, reduce stress, and cultivate mindfulness, providing unique avenues to alleviate anxiety through creative and embodied experiences.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy treats anxiety by gradually exposing individuals to feared stimuli in a controlled setting, helping them confront and overcome their fears, ultimately reducing anxiety responses and promoting a sense of mastery over previously anxiety-inducing situations.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy addresses anxiety by exploring and harmonizing different parts of oneself, aiming to alleviate anxiety symptoms by understanding and integrating conflicting internal dynamics within an individual's psyche.
Signs You May Be Experiencing Anxiety
Physical Symptoms
Persistent and unexplained bodily tension, such as muscle aches or headaches
Difficulty sleeping or experiencing regular disturbances in sleep patterns
Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, or shortness of breath, even in non-stressful situations
Gastrointestinal issues like stomach aches, nausea, or digestive problems
Cognitive and Emotional Signs
Constant worry or excessive fear about everyday situations
Difficulty concentrating or experiencing racing thoughts
Irrational fears or intense feelings of dread
Heightened irritability or restlessness without a clear cause
Behavioral Changes
Avoidance of certain places, activities, or social situations due to fear or worry
Changes in appetite, leading to weight loss or gain
Engaging in compulsive behaviors or rituals as a way to manage anxiety
Who Can Therapy for Anxiety Help?
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How Can a Therapist Help Me Manage My Anxiety?
A therapist can assist you in managing anxiety by 1) helping you to understand the root causes and triggers of your anxiety, and 2) teaching you coping, distress tolerance, and mindfulness skills to help manage and reduce your anxiety symptoms.
At Repose, our therapists use evidence-based interventions to help you understand and reframe negative thought patterns associated with anxiety. They assist in developing practical skills to navigate overwhelming emotions and stressors, fostering resilience in facing challenging situations. Additionally, our therapists create a collaborative partnership, providing ongoing support and guidance as you progress toward managing anxiety, ultimately promoting a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.
Types of Anxiety and Anxiety-Related Disorders
Anxiety can manifest in a variety of ways, and it can look different person to person. A licensed therapist who specializes in anxiety can help identify the type(s) of anxiety you are experiencing and develop a tailored treatment plan to meet your specific needs.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD is characterized by excessive worry and anxiety about various aspects of life, including health, work, relationships, and daily responsibilities. Individuals with GAD often struggle with persistent, uncontrollable worry that can impair daily functioning.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety involves an intense fear of social situations and being negatively judged or scrutinized by others. Individuals with social anxiety often experience distress in everyday social interactions, leading to avoidance behaviors.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder involves recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, which are sudden episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling, and feelings of impending doom. These attacks can happen without any obvious triggers.
Specific Phobias
Specific phobias are intense and irrational fears of specific objects, situations, or activities. Common examples include fear of heights (acrophobia), flying (aviophobia), animals, blood, or enclosed spaces (claustrophobia).
Performance Anxiety
This type of anxiety manifests as intense fear or nervousness before or during public speaking, performances, or competitions, leading to physical symptoms like sweating or trembling. Therapy offers tailored techniques to manage these anxieties, helping individuals build confidence and cope effectively in high-pressure situations.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) aimed at reducing anxiety or preventing perceived harm. These compulsions can significantly interfere with daily life.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, which persist beyond the event itself.
Postpartum Anxiety
Postpartum anxiety involves intense worry, fear, or nervousness experienced by new mothers after childbirth. It can manifest in persistent, intrusive thoughts about the baby's well-being or general concerns, often accompanied by physical symptoms, impacting the mother's ability to function, requiring professional support and therapy for effective management.
Causes of Anxiety Disorders
While anxiety does not have one specific root cause, there are several interconnected factors that make the occurrence of anxiety more likely. These may include internal proclivities through genetic predispositions, or external factors such as race-based stress, cultural stressors, medical health issues, life transitions, interpersonal conflict, etc. Here are a few common causes:
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What is the Relationship Between Anxiety and Trauma?
Anxiety and trauma often share a complex relationship, where one can significantly influence the other. Traumatic experiences can frequently lead to the development of anxiety disorders, as the intense stress from the trauma can trigger persistent feelings of fear, unease, and hypervigilance. Conversely, pre-existing anxiety can exacerbate the impact of trauma, heightening the individual's vulnerability to distressing events and potentially amplifying the long-term effects of the trauma. Addressing both anxiety and trauma concurrently through therapy and appropriate interventions is crucial in promoting healing and managing symptoms effectively.
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With the support and guidance of a licensed therapist, you can learn to manage and reduce your symptoms of anxiety and stress. At Repose, we believe demonstrating empathy, compassion, and cultural humility are essential in providing sensitive and effective treatment. Our therapists are trauma-informed, somatically-oriented, and trained in evidence-based therapies such as EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Somatic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and experiential therapies.
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Learn an evidenced-based technique used in EMDR trauma therapy called, “Safe Place”. While being gently led through a simple visualization exercise, we invite you to create an internal emotional sanctuary. This safe, calm place is where you may go to rest, recover from stress, or mange overwhelming emotions.
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