You feel your heart racing. Your speedy thoughts outpace your heartbeat as they fly through your mind. The only thing you’re actually thinking about is worst case scenarios. On top of that, your chest is tightening and you feel as if you can’t breathe. And it hits without notice during any point in the day…does any of this sound familiar?
If it does, you probably have experienced a panic attack. If you’re like most people, you try everything to stop feeling this way. But mostly it seems like the only thing that works is to avoid places and activities where this feeling happens. Unfortunately, this is only temporary relief because your mind keeps worrying and overthinking every situation. This can cause panic attacks to occur in more and more places. Some people even get to the point where they barely venture out of the house anymore. It’s not the kind of life anyone imagined for themselves.
If you’re not experiencing the acute symptoms of a panic attack, you might feel a more general sense of worry and tension. You might find yourself constantly fearing for the safety of your loved ones, being overly concerned with your health, or replaying awkward social situations in your mind. Anxiety can often become so generalized that there’s no particular reason associated with it at all. This leaves your body feeling edgy, restless and easily distracted.
If you relate to any of this, it’s likely you’re struggling with anxiety. Although anxiety can feel complicated and confusing, the nature of it is somewhat simple. We have a “fight or flight” response built into our nervous system that gets activated when a threat is perceived. Our body releases adrenaline, which increases our heart rate, raises our blood pressure and causes changes in our breathing. This “fear response” gives us the boost we need to rise to the occasion and ward off a true threat. In a sense, fear allows us to survive by helping us recognize and avert danger.
But anxiety is different. Anxiety occurs when there is a chronic overactivation in your nervous system. It’s as if your mind and body are responding to a never-ending invisible threat. When this occurs, individuals experience excessive worry, fear and panic. This is one of the main reasons people tend to avoid situations and objects that trigger this response. This avoidance provides short-term relief, but it creates a vicious cycle. When we avoid situations that produce anxiety, we begin to lose confidence in our ability to cope. In turn, this reinforces our anxiety and starts the cycle all over again.
If you’re not experiencing the acute symptoms of a panic attack, you might feel a more general sense of worry and tension. You might find yourself constantly fearing for the safety of your loved ones, being overly concerned with your health, or replaying awkward social situations in your mind. Anxiety can often become so generalized that there’s no particular reason associated with it at all. This leaves your body feeling edgy, restless and easily distracted.
If you relate to any of this, it’s likely you’re struggling with anxiety. Although anxiety can feel complicated and confusing, the nature of it is somewhat simple. We have a “fight or flight” response built into our nervous system that gets activated when a threat is perceived. Our body releases adrenaline, which increases our heart rate, raises our blood pressure and causes changes in our breathing. This “fear response” gives us the boost we need to rise to the occasion and ward off a true threat. In a sense, fear allows us to survive by helping us recognize and avert danger.
But anxiety is different. Anxiety occurs when there is a chronic overactivation in your nervous system. It’s as if your mind and body are responding to a never-ending invisible threat. When this occurs, individuals experience excessive worry, fear and panic. This is one of the main reasons people tend to avoid situations and objects that trigger this response. This avoidance provides short-term relief, but it creates a vicious cycle. When we avoid situations that produce anxiety, we begin to lose confidence in our ability to cope. In turn, this reinforces our anxiety and starts the cycle all over again.
You can break the cycle of anxiety and find the life you have always wanted. The fact that you are reading this page means something inside of you wants to make a change. Reaching out to a professional can be the first step to finding a life full of peace and joy. Anxiety is not something you have to live with. There are proven treatments that effectively reduce the frequency of panic attacks, help you combat worrisome thinking, and relieve the stress anxiety puts on your body.
Step One - Learning a New Skill Set
The first step in reducing anxiety is learning how to train your body to go into a state of relaxation. Most people believe that relaxation is something that happens to you when you go to the beach or get a massage, but you don’t have to wait for circumstances outside of you to align in order to feel at peace. Just like learning to ride a bike, sing in pitch, or throw a baseball, you can learn to quiet your mind and teach your body to relax. This is accomplished through techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and mindfulness.
Step Two - Cognitive Remapping
Once you have some experience calming your body and nervous system, we will then begin to work on identifying the beliefs that lead to anxiety producing behaviors. For example, if you become highly anxious before a public speaking engagement you might think to yourself, “I’ll be a nervous wreck and won’t be able to get a single word out. This is going to be so awful.” Negative thoughts like this one often become self-fulfilling prophecies that sabotage your potential for success. In therapy, you will learn how to challenge and change these beliefs so you can chase your dreams without your mind holding you back.
Step Three - Exposure and Transformation
In many cases, people find ultimate relief from their anxiety when they intentionally break the cycle of avoidance. That is, they place themselves into the situations that give rise to their fears. To use the example above, if someone has a fear of public speaking, I work with them to find ways that they can challenge this fear. We start small, perhaps speaking to only a few close friends. Gradually, we increase the level of challenge until that person finds they can manage their anxiety even when speaking to a large crowd of strangers. Eventually, this allows the person to retrain their brain and rid themselves of anxiety.
Living with anxiety as your constant companion is not how you were meant to live. The Trinity Team truly believes that you are resilient and fully capable of learning how to overcome your anxiety. As therapists, we thrive on seeing people find freedom and pursue their dreams now that they are not held back by worry and fear. Imagine what’s possible when you are more fully engaged in your career, more present with your family, and can connect more readily with others. Take the first step toward this life today and reach out.
We look forward to hearing from you so we can begin the journey towards abundant life together.
~The Trinity Team
Hope starts here!
Call 816-425-1382 or email info@trinityprocounseling.com to set up your first appointment.
Call 816-425-1382 or email info@trinityprocounseling.com to set up your first appointment.