Coping With Anxiety
Anxiety is that feeling of apprehension and dread that comes with the perception that something bad might happen. This can be accompanied by physical symptoms such as increased heartbeat, rapid breathing, tightness in the chest, muscle tension, nausea and sweating.
This is an inbuilt survival response to any potentially threatening situation. It makes us alert, sharpens our senses and increases our energy and focus in order to deal with the perceived threat. Anxiety should subside once the threat passes
Anxiety therefore is a defensive mechanism against external threat. However our individual susceptibility to it can be influenced by our genetic makeup, the type of environment we have grown up in; and traumatic events experienced through out our life.
Also this natural process can become distorted by unhelpful ways of thinking and feeling that greatly exaggerate real threats or create non-existent ones. So instead of being a short term response to a real external threat, it becomes a chronic experience, ranging from background anxiousness to acute panic attacks.
It is also strongly influenced by our own self-beliefs; our levels of self-esteem and self-confidence and the way these shape how we are with other people. Our relationships with others and their potential for conflict are perhaps the biggest single source of anxiety. (See Relationship Counselling)
Anxiety is often accompanied by other strongly negative feelings, such as depression and self-doubt and can help feed destructive habits such as alcohol & drug abuse, comfort eating and some obsessive disorders.
Counselling can reduce anxiety by helping you to:
- understand its nature and source;
- learn more positive and constructive ways of thinking;
- develop strategies for identifying and managing situations that cause anxiety;
- acquire tools to help you cope more effectively with anxiety that is unavoidable;
- develop new perspectives about yourself and the world you live in;
- embark on a process of positive personal development in a safe and supportive environment.