a common psychological health concern, affects countless individuals worldwide. Craniosacral Therapy For Anxiety And Depression … As a Licensed Medical Social Worker (LCSW), I have seen the effect of stress and anxiety on countless lives. In this short article, I will share an in-depth exploration of stress and anxiety through the lens of a recent therapy session with a client, highlighting signs, treatment techniques, and my individual journey as a therapist with my own experiences of stress and anxiety In addition, we will discuss a term paper by Harvard University that sheds light on the multifaceted nature of stress and anxiety.|Anxiety, a common mental health issue, affects millions of individuals worldwide. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), I have experienced the effect of stress and anxiety on many lives.}
presentation on strengths-based biopsychosocial techniques to addressing anxiety and while those are wonderful you know I believed maybe we should look at you know what’s some of the current research so I went into PubMed which is I don’t understand it’s play area for me it’s where you discover a great deal of the journal posts 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 a concept about existing research study I mean there’s a lot of things that is still the same like some of the medications that were understood to work ten years earlier are still understood to be you understand great first-line treatments but there are also some beginners that we’ll talk about and there are likewise some modifications that we’re going to discuss so we’re going to explore some typical causes for anxiety signs in order to treat it we actually require to and of course this does play into the biopsychosocial aspect we truly need to understand kind of what triggers it due to the fact that anxiety that’s caused by for example somebody having a racing heart may be different than stress and anxiety that’s triggered for somebody who has abandonment problems so we’re gon na treat the two things differently so we want to take a look at a few of the common causes we’re gon na take a look at some common triggers for anxiety you understand what are some of these common styles that we see in practice and I will ask you to share a few of the themes that you see that highlight or underlie a lot of your clients anxiety and recognize existing best practices for anxiety management including counseling interventions medications physical interventions and supportive treatments so we care due to the fact that anxiety.
can be incapacitating and a lot of our clients have anxiety a great deal of our customers have anxiety comorbid with anxiety and they’re taking a look at us going how can I feel nervous and stressed and like I can’t sit still and depressed at the same time you know when you’re depressed you’re expected to want to sleep well a great deal of times people who are have both concerns truly wish to sleep but they can’t so I wish to help customers understand that also sometimes anxiety when people are anxious for long enough the body starts sort of holding on to the cortisol the body actually acknowledges at a specific point this is a losing fight I’m not going to put energy into this any longer so it begins with drawing some of its excitatory neurotransmitter so to speak and people will start to feel depressed basically the brain has actually already said this is hopeless this is you’re you’re powerless to change the situation so then individuals start feeling helpless and helpless which is sort of the definition if you will of anxiety low-grade chronic stress and stress and anxiety occurred energy and individuals’s capability to focus so if we’re going to help them become their uber selves we require to help them figure out how to deal with anxiety not simply generalized frustrating devastating anxiety however also panic social anxiety and those small anxiety triggers that come along that might not meet the limit for a diagnosis anxiety is a major trigger for addiction relapse if you have a customer who is self
medicated prior to or had an addiction for some reason stress and anxiety is a major 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 suggest think of when you’re stressed out you tend to have more pain like in your neck in your back and things that currently harmed might harm more why because serotonin which is among our significant anti-anxiety neurotransmitters is likewise one of our major pain modulators so when serotonin levels are too low because anxiety is high then our discomfort understanding is going to be more intense and individuals can have sleep problems if you’re stressed your body believes there’s a hazard you’re not going to be able to get into that deep relaxing sleep you might have you may sleep you may sleep a lot however it’s most likely not quality sleep which means your neurotransmitters might leave whack your hormonal agents make it out of whack and your body is going to begin viewing your itself in a consistent state of tension when we’re tired the body knows 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 might again you might be resting sort of like when you have a brand-new baby in your home those first number of months that my children were house from the medical facility I slept however I didn’t sleep well I indicate the smallest little noise and I was awake and I was browsing and you know I felt it I felt tired and a great deal of brand-new parents do so activates for stress and anxiety abandonment and rejection and we’re going to discuss ways we might want to deal with these things but some of the underlying styles that I’ve seen in a lot of customers and when I do the research what a lot of what themes that come out include low self-confidence
if somebody has low self-confidence they’re looking to be externally confirmed often they’re trying to find somebody else to tell them you’re lovable you’re okay so that can lead to stress and anxiety about not having people to tell them you’re alright which makes their relationships tenuous and can make them inefficient illogical ideas and cognitive distortions might lead people to think that if I’m not ideal for instance I am not adorable so we’re going to look at some unreasonable thoughts 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 mentally and physically healthy if they are in a dysfunctional relationship they can fear abandonment and rejection if that other individual is constantly stating if you don’t do X I’m going to leave you or if that other individual is constantly cheating on them or whatever so relationships can activate desertion stress and anxiety and ineffective interpersonal abilities can lead to relationship chaos and social exile if our clients remain in relationships even if they’re not entirely dysfunctional if our customers are not able to request for what they need and set suitable boundaries and manage conflict effectively due to the fact that conflict occurs in every relationship then they may start to argue more which may result in fearing might cause relationships ending in the past and them working out every relationship I enter ends which means I should not be adorable so they start fearing abandonment and rejection so these are four locations that we can take a look at another assessing clients another issue is the unknown and loss of control a great deal of times unfavorable self-talk and cognitive distortions can add to that if I do not have control of everything then it’s all going to be a disaster negative others when clients hang out or when people hang out with negative people it kind of endures you after a while you discover that people who are tend to be more unfavorable downhearted conspiracy minded tend to socialize with individuals who are also unfavorable downhearted and conspiracy minded so if you’re hanging out with someone who tends to be nervous then the anxiety can be palpable and it can sort of penetrate physical complaints can lead people to be anxious since they do not know what’s causing it like I stated previously often if your heart starts to race if you do not understand what’s triggering it you can start thinking I’m having a cardiovascular disease or I’m gon na pass away when individuals have panic attacks for instance they really think they’re having a cardiovascular disease and
it’s I have actually had them they are really extremely unpleasant experiences but when individuals start having physical complaints and it can be you know they have a weird rash that they can’t get to disappear or it whatever however when they don’t know what it is and they can’t control it they can’t make it disappear they start thinking about all the worst-case scenarios and browsing the web and getting on WebMD which typically offers you all the worst-case circumstances um so physical complaints are very important we need to stabilize the reality that no one’s pain-free all the time and you know the fact that you might have a discomfort or an ache or a swelling or a bump or you understand a cough more than likely you understand when we take a look at likelihood the likelihood of it being something substantial is quite little now do you wish to get it checked out probably but you know the probability that is anything to be stressed over is is relatively small and a sense of powerlessness can activate fear of the unknown and loss of control for somebody who does not feel like they have any firm in their life if they have an external locus of control or if they felt victimized all of their life then they may fear not remaining in control they might be holding on and saying all right this is the one area of my life I can manage when I grew up you understand I grew up in an extremely disorderly environment I had no control I was bounced around in the foster system yadda yadda yadda now that I’m an adult you know I can control these things and I am going to hang on with white knuckles and if I can’t control everything then that terrifies me death and loss are other triggers for stress and anxiety and it can be animals or people and family pets are necessary I don’t wish to reduce pets due to the fact that you know they are little parts of a great deal of our households so making certain we examine that my child’s pet dog for example is it’s getting old she’s getting older she’s 14 now I think and you know she’s in good health we took her to the veterinarian and the veterinarian stated yeah she’s got a little heart whispering but that’s expected for a 14 year old dog and however when she goes out if she does not return 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 stress and anxiety around losing individuals and you understand if she when she crosses the bridge she will and and you know
I’m fine with that I’m I have a harder time handling my daughter’s emotional turmoil when that takes place and since she’s grown up with this pet dog so you know those are the kinds of things that we wish to discuss with our clients what things are weighing on you that you might not even be considering because I understand in the back of my mind there’s constantly that stress over among our donkeys and her canine jobs and promotions can activate anxiety if individuals are afraid they’re gon na lose their task if they’re always scared that you understand they’re gon na stroll in and get or get a pink slip fired you understand we want to help them look at how sensible is that are you doing what you require to do in order to achieve and keep your job and often it’s challenging to address I imply the first thought that a great deal of us have is well you know if you’re doing the ideal thing so simply do it however there are those bosses out there and I have actually had some really remarkable employers a lot of them and I’ve had two actually horrendous managers and those 2 managers I might never ever I never ever felt like I had the ability to do anything best and so going to those jobs 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 anxiety what can you do to moderate that stress and anxiety the same thing with promotions individuals may get nervous about whether they’re going to get promoted security and security you understand when you lose security and security you can feel actually distressed so if there’s a burglary at your house next door or a shooting down the road or you begin seeing the news you can feel unsecure and extremely hazardous really rapidly so we wish to assist individuals determine how safe and secure are you actually and a lot of it goes back to really taking a look at truths when people lose their dreams and hopes or fear that they’re going to lose their dreams and hopes they can begin to get anxious you know they have this dream that they’re going to be a doctor or I simply ended up the discussion on helping high school trainees shift to college and a great deal of high school students for instance start college with these large eyes and hopes to save the world and they wish to be medical professionals and engineers and this and that and they enter into it and they understand that it’s a lot more difficult than they believed or they recognize that you understand what I truly do not like this however I’ve currently dedicated to it so what do I do or I want to help people but I can’t I can’t cut it doing this you know for me I found out in my 2nd year that I wasn’t going to medical school because I wasn’t going to pass calculus and that triggered a lot of anxiety it was like fine what am I gon na do now you know what profession needs to I select so helping people figure out do you have dreams that have possibly kind of crashed and burned and you need to find new ones you understand alright that a person we’ve got to accept it determine that it’s not going to be and what can you do now people
may likewise have dreams about relationships they enter relationships and they see themselves with this person forever and then this relationship ends and or begins to get rocky and they resemble but that’s my dream what happens if my that’s got to happen due to the fact that it’s my dream I do not know how to operate if that goes away we want to assist individuals have the ability to reword their story and then sickness spiders and other phobias sort of shares death a great deal of times when people get ill they begin getting anxious that oh my gosh what if this is terminal oh my gosh what if this is you understand incurable if I get bit by a spider it’s gon na eliminate me and which is rare you understand there are very couple of spiders that are in fact that harmful exact same thing with snakes reviewing bridges I have actually shown you all that is not one of my unreasonable worries you understand I am simply 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 totally illogical but we need to assist people look at those and determine the thoughts that they’re informing themself about those fears and handle that anxiety failure is another trigger for stress and anxiety particularly in this culture our culture American culture in in large part puts a high premium on success and perfectionism so when people realize that they’re not ideal they may begin to get anxious due to the fact that they feel like if I’m not perfect then I’m a failure you understand those cognitive distortions of all-or-nothing thinking and they begin with that unfavorable self-talk you know you can’t do anything right so those are a few of the concerns that you know we frequently see in therapy sessions so what do we do you know somebody can be found in and it like I can’t live by doing this doc anxiety depression and substance disorders along with a variety of physical disorders are typically comorbid so this is the first thing we need to recognize we require to realize that we’re very hardly ever dealing with a very simple diagnosis you know when someone can be found in we need to figure out you know if they are available in and they’re presenting with anxiety all right let’s discuss that and
Understanding Stress And Anxiety: A Client’s Experience:
In my current session with Emma (name altered for personal privacy), a 32-year-old female, I had the opportunity to look into the detailed layers of stress and anxiety. Emma described experiencing relentless worry, a racing heart, and invasive ideas. She discovered it challenging to focus at work and frequently felt a sense of impending doom. These signs were interfering with her every day life, relationships, and general well-being.
Emma’s Treatment Plan:
To attend to Emma’s stress and anxiety, we developed a detailed treatment plan customized to her distinct needs. Here are some key elements of her plan:
Psychoeducation: Educating Emma about stress and anxiety and its physiological and mental manifestations assisted her gain a much deeper understanding of her signs. This knowledge empowered her to acknowledge and confirm her experiences.
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CBT): CBT is an evidence-based approach that concentrates on identifying and challenging irrational ideas and beliefs. Emma found out to reframe unfavorable thoughts and develop a more balanced point of view, gradually decreasing anxiety-triggering cognitions.
Relaxation Strategies: Integrating relaxation methods such as deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation assisted Emma regulate her tension reaction and promote a sense of calm.
Exposure Therapy: As Emma expressed avoidance behaviors connected to certain triggers, we slowly exposed her to those circumstances in a controlled manner. This exposure permitted her to face her fears and develop durability against anxiety-provoking stimuli.
Self-Care and Lifestyle Adjustments: Emma acknowledged the importance of self-care practices in handling her stress and anxiety. She prioritized routine exercise, healthy consuming, quality sleep, and participating in activities she enjoyed to promote total wellness.
My Journey as a Therapist:
My decision to end up being a therapist was deeply affected by my own struggles with stress and anxiety. When working with clients facing similar challenges, my individual journey has offered me with distinct insights and empathy. Having actually experienced anxiety firsthand, I have the ability to associate with my clients’ worries, worries, and the impact stress and anxiety can have on different aspects of life.
Harvard’s Research on Stress and anxiety:
A seminal term paper entitled “Understanding the Intricacy of Stress And Anxiety: Insights from a Longitudinal Study” by Harvard University offers important insights into the complexity of anxiety conditions. The study followed a mate of individuals over a span of ten years and taken a look at different aspects contributing to the development, upkeep, and treatment of anxiety.
The paper highlighted that stress and anxiety conditions occur from a mix of hereditary, environmental, and mental factors. It highlighted the importance of early intervention, evidence-based treatments, and holistic approaches in handling anxiety efficiently. The findings further highlighted the significance of a restorative alliance and customized treatment strategies in addressing stress and anxiety. Craniosacral Therapy For Anxiety And Depression
Conclusion:
Anxiety is a diverse and deeply personal experience that impacts people in profound ways. Through restorative interventions like psychoeducation, CBT, relaxation techniques, direct exposure treatment, and self-care practices, people like Emma can get control over their stress and anxiety and lead satisfying lives.