Occasional anxiety is part of life, and it is normal to worry and feel anxious about some things. It is perfectly normal to be a bit anxious about a work presentation, or waiting for news about a potential worrying health diagnosis, or maybe meeting your new partners parents for example. Perhaps you have an important exam coming up and it is causing you some concern. These worries and concerns are totally real and understandable and the anxiety usually settles when the event has passed.
However sometimes our anxieties feel overwhelmingly pervasive and we cannot connect it to one particular stressor. It can feel like it is derailing our day-to-day lives affecting our working life, our social life and our intimate relationships.
Anxiety can manifest in a myriad of ways. It may reflect in our thought processes or in our physicality, for example you may have a racing heart, a loss of appetite, sleeplessness, and a constant feeling of dread. We may feel like we are trapped in a permanent state of flight, fright or freeze and it can make us feel alone and frightened especially if the people around you have never experienced anxiety, or you feel you need to keep up appearances at work or in your social life when inside you are struggling.
What doesn’t work when trying to mange anxiety is being told to “just snap out if it” or to” just calm down”. Or, someone saying to you when you are in a state of overwhelm “you have nothing to worry about so get over it”.
Thankfully there are many ways to help manage anxiety and each person will respond in a different way to the many different therapies and approaches that are out there. Being able to talk about it in a space where you will not feel judged is an important step and from there we can explore the best way forward to help you manage your anxiety.
The good news is that you do not have to go it alone.
Ginette Lenham© 2018
