a widespread psychological health issue, affects countless individuals worldwide. Anxiety Therapy Red Deer … As a Licensed Scientific Social Worker (LCSW), I have experienced the impact of stress and anxiety on numerous lives. In this post, I will share an extensive exploration of anxiety through the lens of a recent therapy session with a client, highlighting signs, treatment methods, and my personal journey as a therapist with my own experiences of stress and anxiety Furthermore, we will discuss a research paper by Harvard University that clarifies the complex nature of anxiety.|Stress and anxiety, a widespread mental health concern, impacts millions of people worldwide. As a Licensed Medical Social Employee (LCSW), I have experienced the effect of anxiety on numerous lives.}
presentation on strengths-based biopsychosocial approaches to dealing with anxiety and while those are fantastic you understand I thought maybe we ought to take a look at you know what’s a few of the existing research study so I entered into PubMed which is I don’t understand it’s playground for me it’s where you discover a lot of the journal articles and you can arrange and I arranged by short articles that were done and meta-analyses that were done within the past 5 years so that gives us an idea about present research I indicate there’s a lot of things that is still the very same like some of the medications that were known to work ten years ago are still known to be you understand good first-line treatments but there are likewise some newcomers that we’ll speak about and there are likewise some changes that we’re going to speak about so we’re going to check out some common causes for anxiety signs in order to treat it we actually need to and of course this does play into the biopsychosocial aspect we actually require to understand type of what causes it since stress and anxiety that’s triggered by for instance someone having a racing heart might be various than anxiety that’s caused for someone who has abandonment problems so we’re gon na deal with the two things in a different way so we wish to take a look at some of the typical causes we’re gon na look at some common triggers for anxiety you know what are a few of these common themes that we see in practice and I will ask you to share some of the styles that you see that underline or underlie a lot of your clients stress and anxiety and determine existing finest practices for anxiety management consisting of therapy interventions medications physical interventions and helpful treatments so we care due to the fact that stress and anxiety.
can be crippling and a great deal of our customers have anxiety a lot of our customers have stress and anxiety comorbid with anxiety and they’re looking at us going how can I feel nervous and stressed and like I can’t sit still and depressed at the same time you understand when you’re depressed you’re supposed to want to sleep well a lot of times people who are have both problems actually want to sleep however they can’t so I want to help customers understand that likewise in some cases anxiety when individuals are anxious for long enough the body begins kind of hanging on to the cortisol the body actually recognizes at a particular point this is a losing battle I’m not going to put energy into this anymore so it starts with drawing some of its excitatory neurotransmitter so to speak and individuals will start to feel depressed essentially the brain has currently stated this is hopeless this is you’re you’re powerless to change the circumstance so then people begin feeling helpless and helpless which is sort of the definition if you will of anxiety low-grade persistent stress and anxiety developed energy and individuals’s capability to concentrate so if we’re going to help them become their uber selves we require to help them find out how to resolve anxiety not just generalized overwhelming incapacitating stress and anxiety however also panic social stress and anxiety and those minor anxiety sets off that occurred that may not meet the threshold for a medical diagnosis anxiety is a significant trigger for addiction regression if you have a customer who is self
medicated prior to or had a dependency for some reason anxiety is a significant trigger increased physical pain when anxiety goes up people tend to tense their muscles when they tense their muscles they tend to feel more discomfort I imply think about when you’re stressed out you tend to have more pain like in your neck in your back and things that currently injured might harm more why because serotonin which is among our significant anti-anxiety neurotransmitters is likewise among our major discomfort modulators so when serotonin levels are too low because stress and anxiety is high then our pain perception is going to be more acute and people can have sleep problems if you’re stressed your body believes there’s a hazard you’re not going to be able to enter that deep peaceful sleep you might have you may sleep you may sleep a lot but it’s most likely not quality sleep which implies your neurotransmitters may get out of whack your hormones make it out of whack and your body is going to begin viewing your itself in a persistent state of tension when we’re exhausted the body understands that we might be the weakest link in the herd so it continues to produce cortisol to keep keep you on alert a bit so you may again you might be resting type of like when you have a brand-new infant at home those very first couple of months that my children were house from the hospital I slept but I didn’t sleep well I imply the slightest little sound and I was awake and I was browsing and you understand I felt it I felt tired and a great deal of new moms and dads do so sets off for anxiety abandonment and rejection and we’re going to talk about methods we might want to deal with these things however a few of the underlying themes that I’ve seen in a lot of customers and when I do the research study what a lot of what themes that come out include low self-esteem
if someone has low self-esteem they’re seeming externally validated usually they’re looking for somebody else to tell them you’re lovable you’re alright so that can lead to stress and anxiety about not having people to tell them you’re okay that makes their relationships tenuous and can make them inefficient cognitive distortions and unreasonable thoughts may lead people to believe that if I’m not perfect for example I am not lovable so we’re going to take a look at some unreasonable ideas and cognitive distortions unhealthy social assistances and relationships when you’re in a relationship it takes two to tango and even if your customer is relatively psychologically and physically healthy if they are in a dysfunctional relationship they can fear abandonment and rejection if that other individual is always stating if you don’t do X I’m going to leave you or if that other person is constantly cheating on them or whatever so relationships can activate abandonment anxiety and inadequate social abilities can result in relationship turmoil and social exile if our clients are in relationships even if they’re not totally dysfunctional if our clients are unable to request for what they need and set proper borders and handle dispute effectively since dispute happens in every relationship then they might begin to argue more which may cause fearing may lead to relationships ending in the past and them going well every relationship I enter ends which suggests I need to not be lovable so they begin fearing abandonment and rejection so these are four areas that we can take a look at one more examining customers another concern is the unknown and loss of control a great deal of times negative self-talk and cognitive distortions can contribute to that if I don’t have control of whatever then it’s all going to be a catastrophe unfavorable others when clients hang out or when people socialize with negative people it sort of endures you after a while you notice that people who are tend to be more negative pessimistic conspiracy minded tend to hang out with people who are also unfavorable cynical and conspiracy minded so if you’re socializing with someone who tends to be anxious then the stress and anxiety can be palpable and it can sort of penetrate physical problems can lead people to be nervous because they do not know what’s triggering it like I said previously sometimes if your heart starts to race if you do not understand what’s triggering it you can begin believing I’m having a heart attack or I’m gon na die when people have panic attacks for example they truly think they’re having a heart attack and
it’s I have actually had them they are very extremely unpleasant experiences however when individuals begin having physical grievances and it can be you know they have an odd rash that they can’t get to go away or it whatever but when they don’t understand what it is and they can’t manage it they can’t make it disappear they begin thinking of all the worst-case situations and going on the internet and getting on WebMD which usually provides you all the worst-case scenarios um so physical grievances are very important we require to normalize the fact that no one’s pain-free all the time and you know the truth that you may have a discomfort or an ache or a lump or a bump or you know a cough probably you know when we take a look at probability the likelihood of it being something substantial is pretty little now do you wish to get it had a look at most likely but you understand the probability that is anything to be worried about is is reasonably small and a sense of powerlessness can set off worry of the unknown and loss of control for someone who does not seem like they have any agency in their life if they have an external locus of control or if they felt preyed on all of their life then they may fear not remaining in control they might be holding on and saying okay this is the one location of my life I can control when I matured you understand I matured in a very disorderly environment I had no control I was bounced around in the foster system yadda yadda yadda now that I’m an adult you understand I can control these things and I am going to hang on with white knuckles and if I can’t manage everything then that horrifies me death and loss are other triggers for stress and anxiety and it can be family pets or people and family pets are important I don’t want to reduce animals because you understand they are little parts of a lot of our households so making certain we examine that my daughter’s pet dog for example is it’s getting old she’s aging she’s 14 now I think and you know she’s in good health we took her to the vet and the vet said yeah she’s got a little heart whispering however that’s anticipated for a 14 year old pet and however when she goes out if she doesn’t come back when I call her I have this rush of stress and anxiety for a second oh my gosh I hope this wasn’t the day so anxiety around losing individuals and you know if she when she crosses the bridge she will and and you understand
I’m okay with that I’m I have a harder time dealing with my daughter’s psychological chaos when that happens and since she’s grown up with this pet dog so you understand those are the types of things that we wish to talk about with our clients what things are weighing on you that you may not even be thinking about because I understand in the back of my mind there’s always that worry about one of our donkeys and her pet dog jobs and promos can set off anxiety if people are afraid they’re gon na lose their job if they’re constantly scared that you understand they’re gon na walk in and get or get a pink slip fired you understand we wish to help them take a look at how practical is that are you doing what you need to do in order to achieve and keep your job and often it’s difficult to answer I imply the very first thought that a lot of us have is well you know if you’re doing the right thing so just do it however there are those employers out there and I have actually had some truly incredible bosses a great deal of them and I have actually had 2 actually horrendous managers and those two bosses I could never ever I never felt like I was able to do anything best therefore going to those tasks there was constantly this anxiety about what I’m what am I going to get in trouble for today so you wish to talk with people about does your job cause stress and anxiety what can you do to moderate that anxiety the very same thing with promos individuals may get anxious about whether they’re going to get promoted safety and security you understand when you lose safety and security you can feel really distressed so if there’s a break-in at the house next door or a shooting down the road or you begin viewing the news you can feel unsecure and extremely unsafe truly quickly so we wish to help individuals figure out how safe and secure are you truly and a lot of it returns to truly taking a look at realities when people lose their dreams and hopes or fear that they’re going to lose their dreams and hopes they can start to get nervous you understand they have this dream that they’re going to be a physician or I just ended up the discussion on helping high school students transition to college and a lot of high school students for example start college with these large eyes and intends to conserve the world and they wish to be physicians and engineers and this and that and they enter it and they understand that it’s a lot more difficult than they believed or they realize that you know what I really don’t like this however I have actually already devoted to it so what do I do or I want to assist people however I can’t I can’t cut it doing this you know for me I determined in my 2nd year that I wasn’t going to medical school since I wasn’t going to pass calculus and that triggered a lot of stress and anxiety it resembled okay what am I gon na do now you know what career ought to I choose so assisting people figure out do you have dreams that have perhaps sort of crashed and burned and you have to find brand-new ones you know fine that one we have actually got to accept it figure out that it’s not going to be and what can you do now people
might also have dreams about relationships they enter into relationships and they see themselves with this individual forever and then this relationship ends and or starts to get rocky and they resemble but that’s my dream what takes place if my that’s got to occur since it’s my dream I do not understand how to work if that disappears we want to help people be able to rewrite their narrative and after that sickness spiders and other phobias sort of shares death a lot of times when individuals get sick they begin getting nervous that oh my gosh what if this is terminal oh my gosh what if this is you know incurable if I get bit by a spider it’s gon na eliminate me and which is uncommon you know there are extremely couple of spiders that are really that dangerous same thing with snakes reviewing bridges I’ve shown you all that is not one of my unreasonable worries you understand I am just horrified that you understand something’s going to take place and I’m going to get pushed off the side of the bridge which is entirely illogical however we need to assist individuals take a look at those and identify the thoughts that they’re informing themself about those phobias and deal with that anxiety failure is another trigger for stress and anxiety specifically in this culture our culture American culture in in big part puts a high premium on success and perfectionism so when individuals understand that they’re not best they may begin to get anxious since they seem like if I’m not best then I’m a failure you understand those cognitive distortions of all-or-nothing thinking and they start with that negative self-talk you know you can’t do anything right so those are some of the problems that you understand we frequently see in counseling sessions so what do we do you know someone can be found in and it like I can’t live in this manner doc stress and anxiety depression and substance conditions along with a series of physical conditions are often comorbid so this is the first thing we need to understand we need to realize that we’re really rarely handling a very easy diagnosis you know when somebody can be found in we require to figure out you know if they are available in and they exist with depression all right let’s talk about that and
Comprehending Anxiety: A Patient’s Experience:
In my recent session with Emma (name changed for personal privacy), a 32-year-old lady, I had the chance to explore the complex layers of stress and anxiety. Emma described experiencing persistent worry, a racing heart, and invasive ideas. She found it challenging to focus at work and typically felt a sense of impending doom. These symptoms were disrupting her every day life, relationships, and general wellness.
Emma’s Treatment Strategy:
To resolve Emma’s anxiety, we developed a comprehensive treatment strategy customized to her special needs. Here are some crucial elements of her plan:
Psychoeducation: Educating Emma about anxiety and its psychological and physiological symptoms helped her gain a deeper understanding of her symptoms. This understanding empowered her to acknowledge and verify her experiences.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is an evidence-based approach that focuses on recognizing and challenging unreasonable thoughts and beliefs. Emma learned to reframe negative ideas and establish a more well balanced perspective, slowly minimizing anxiety-triggering cognitions.
Relaxation Strategies: Integrating relaxation strategies such as deep breathing workouts, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation helped Emma manage her stress response and promote a sense of calm.
Exposure Therapy: As Emma revealed avoidance behaviors related to specific triggers, we slowly exposed her to those scenarios in a controlled manner. This exposure permitted her to confront her fears and develop resilience versus anxiety-provoking stimuli.
Self-Care and Lifestyle Adjustments: Emma recognized the importance of self-care practices in managing her anxiety. She focused on routine exercise, healthy consuming, quality sleep, and engaging in activities she delighted in to promote general wellness.
My Journey as a Therapist:
My decision to become a therapist was deeply affected by my own struggles with stress and anxiety. My individual journey has actually supplied me with special insights and compassion when working with customers dealing with comparable obstacles. Having experienced anxiety firsthand, I am able to relate to my clients’ fears, concerns, and the impact stress and anxiety can have on numerous aspects of life.
Harvard’s Research on Stress and anxiety:
A seminal term paper titled “Understanding the Complexity of Stress And Anxiety: Insights from a Longitudinal Research Study” by Harvard University supplies important insights into the complexity of anxiety disorders. The study followed a mate of people over a span of 10 years and analyzed numerous factors adding to the development, upkeep, and treatment of anxiety.
The paper emphasized that anxiety conditions arise from a combination of hereditary, environmental, and psychological factors. It highlighted the value of early intervention, evidence-based treatments, and holistic techniques in handling stress and anxiety effectively. The findings further underscored the significance of a restorative alliance and individualized treatment strategies in dealing with stress and anxiety. Anxiety Therapy Red Deer
Conclusion:
Anxiety is a multifaceted and deeply individual experience that impacts people in extensive ways. Through restorative interventions like psychoeducation, CBT, relaxation methods, direct exposure treatment, and self-care practices, individuals like Emma can acquire control over their anxiety and lead satisfying lives.