ANXIETY

What is Anxiety?
Causes of Anxiety
Panic Attacks
Techniques for treating anxiety
Why I am right for you

What is Anxiety?

Some anxiety is a normal part of life, and it exists on a continuum from butterflies in the stomach to a full on panic attack. It’s a version of the body’s fight or flight mechanism switching on when it senses danger, and wants to be ready to protect itself or escape. For example, if you are hiking and you see a mountain lion, you want your fight or flight system to kick in! That’s the time for dilated pupils, increased heart rate and breathing, and a hefty dose of adrenalin! However, when the same response happens before giving a public talk, or before a first date (or worse, during!) then we call it anxiety, and we want to get rid of it, because we just can’t see the mountain lion, or the purpose the anxiety is serving.

Some symptoms of anxiety are:

Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Rapid heart rate
Sweating
Headaches

Difficulty sleeping
Excessive ongoing worry
Irritability
Difficulty concentrating

What is Causing My Anxiety?

Everyone is different, but here are some common reasons people struggle with anxiety:

Suppressed emotion

Trauma

Negative Self-Image

Addiction

Any Combination of 1-4

01. Suppressed emotion

Anxiety acts as a buffer emotion to keep other emotions such as grief, shame, anger, and remorse, that have built up over one’s lifetime, from being felt. Antidote: Feel the suppressed emotions.

02. Trauma

It’s virtually impossible to be a human being an not experience any trauma throughout one’s lifetime. Unresolved trauma wreaks havoc in all kinds of ways, including anxiety. Antidote: Clear the trauma.

03. Negative Self-Image

It’s hard to confidently navigate the world when your inner-critic is working overtime, parroting untrue yet convincing messages about your self worth. Antidote: Learn to identify and hear the voice of your True Self, vs. the voice of society, your parents, the education system, etc.

04. Addiction

This is a vicious cycle. Often people self medicate anxiety with their addiction of choice, only to have their anxiety spike when they don’t have access to whatever it is they are addicted to. Antidote: Get support to let go of addiction.

05. Any combination of the above. As you can imagine, the above often co-exist.

Panic Attacks

Sometimes, anxiety can lead to panic attacks. A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear where you may think you are having a heart attack or even dying. When people have panic attacks, they may not want to leave the house for fear of having a panic attack in public. Thus, the fear of the panic attack becomes more debilitating than the attacks themselves, and limits life activities.

Many people that suffer from anxiety also have low-self esteem and do not feel confident, which affects all aspects of their lives. It is very difficult after all, to meet the world with confidence if you are constantly managing the symptoms of anxiety.

The Good News

Anxiety is treatable!

You don’t have to continue to have your life controlled by anxiety. I use a variety of proven techniques such as mindfulness, relaxation, intarnaut journeys, and EMDR to help people learn how to accept and overcome their anxiety.

Why am I the right person to help you?

I have worked successfully with many people suffering from anxiety. You can see me free for an initial consultation to assess if I am the right therapist for you. Please see the testimonials of clients that have seen results from our work together.

If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.

Brené Brown