Your palms are sweating. Your heart races every time you enter the office doors. The idea of walking around alone at the mall is vomit-inducing. Maybe you’re constantly fidgeting with your fingernails or you are consumed by worry when you get in the car. Maybe, you have anxiety… like many people do!
Anxiety impacts 15-20% of people at some point in their lives. While feeling anxious is a natural human response to stressful situations, suffering from a constantly anxious mindset is, excuse our French, but, hell on earth. Having anxiety is like having a roommate who never stops interrupting and takes over your space, making an effort to make everything about them. Anybody would feel like they’re losing their mind living like that.
Looking To Ease Your Anxious Thoughts? A Therapist Can Help!
Facing everyday life with anxiety feels a lot more like suffering than living. It can easily impact everything you do and every choice you make. While incredibly disruptive, it can also feel so consistent that you assume there’s no way out.
Counseling is your roadmap to taking control of your anxiety, and while it may be a road you’ve never traveled, speaking to a therapist is the most efficient route you can take! If you have anxiety, just the thought of going to talk about it likely makes your stomach turn. Here at the Spokane Counseling Hub, our therapists’ number 1 priority is to provide a safe space for you to open up.
Before we get into the benefits of seeking therapy for anxiety, we’ll briefly discuss the different ways anxiety can manifest so that you can better understand that what you are feeling is likely a reality for many people.
Anxiety: It’s a Bodily Experience…
The first thing you might notice is your body’s physical responses to anxiety. You might feel like you’re constantly burning up or find that your hands are almost always in a lovely state of clammy. Your body might also respond to anxiety by increasing your heart rate or making you feel out of breath. While sometimes these symptoms are a normal stress response, when this is your body’s constant, you will get burnt out quicker than ever.
Feeling completely drained is a result of your body being in overdrive and having to wrestle with anxious thoughts constantly. This type of exhaustion also contributes to your emotional regulation. You might notice more tears than normal or that you’re a lot quicker to anger. If your body is tired, you simply won’t be or feel like yourself.
… And, It’s a Mind Game
Considering there are so many physical symptoms of anxiety, it might be hard to believe it doesn’t stop there. As if it’s not already an exhausting heap of nerves, it’s also all in your head. It important to remember that while your anxiety may be most apparant in certain social situations or experiences, your brain is what is triggering your body to respond the way it does.
This is where a therapist is extremely helpful. While there are many things your counselor can suggest when it comes to coping with your physical symptoms, what they specialize in is the way your brain and emotions work together to make the anxious experience so exhausting.
Your anxiety may very well be related to an experience you had years ago, but it takes time and effort to peel back the emotional layers and really hone in on what is causing you to feel anxious. Understanding exactly what triggers this response is a crucial step forward in gaining control over your anxiety, and while it will take time, your therapist will be with you every step of the way.
Therapy won’t just help you learn how to take control of your anxiety. It will show you how to use it to your advantage.
If you go into counseling thinking that anxiety is something you will be “healed” from, there is an important distinction we would like to make. What you learn about yourself in anxiety counseling will not resolve you from anxious thoughts for the rest of your life. Instead, you will better understand why you feel the way you do in certain situations and feel more comfortable responding to them.
Anxiety Counseling As a Source of Empowerment
Clearly, too much anxiety is completely overwhelming. Too much of anything is! But psychologically speaking, anything that is balanced tends to be best. When it comes to anxiety, a moderate amount is typically what keeps you going throughout the day.
If you really think about it, when you are feeling anxious, it is typically because you care about the outcome of something. Counseling is all about tapping into that side of anxiety. The side that forces you to finish a paper you’ve been procrastinating or get up an hour earlier when you know you have a busy day ahead.
When you feel in control of your emotional state, you will feel far less anxious and that is exactly what therapy is here to help you accomplish. While the counseling journey will certainly include challenges and moments where you grow more than you ever have, it will be beyond beneficial and fulfilling in the long run.
If you give it a shot, you’ll find that counseling with a therapist will ease your anxiety, even if it makes you nervous at first. Schedule an appointment with one of our specialized therapists at the Spokane Counseling Hub and start your counseling journey today! The roadmap will be laid out for you, and we will be there to guide you as you follow it.