a common mental health issue, affects millions of people worldwide. Therapists Near Me Anxiety And Depression … As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), I have witnessed the impact of stress and anxiety on numerous lives. In this post, I will share a thorough exploration of anxiety through the lens of a recent therapy session with a client, highlighting symptoms, treatment techniques, and my personal journey as a therapist with my own experiences of anxiety In addition, we will go over a research paper by Harvard University that clarifies the diverse nature of anxiety.|Anxiety, a common mental health issue, affects millions of people worldwide. As a Certified Medical Social Worker (LCSW), I have actually experienced the impact of stress and anxiety on numerous lives.}
presentation on strengths-based biopsychosocial techniques to addressing stress and anxiety and while those are terrific you understand I thought possibly we ought to take a look at you understand what’s some of the existing research so I went into PubMed which is I don’t understand it’s play area for me it’s where you find a lot of the journal posts and you can sort and I sorted by articles that were done and meta-analyses that were done within the past five years so that provides us an idea about present research I imply there’s a great deal of stuff that is still the same like a few of the medications that were understood to work ten years earlier are still known to be you know good first-line treatments but there are also some beginners that we’ll speak about and there are also some modifications that we’re going to speak about so we’re going to explore some common causes for anxiety signs in order to treat it we truly require to and obviously this does play into the biopsychosocial element we truly need to comprehend type of what triggers it since anxiety that’s brought on by for example somebody having a racing heart might be different than anxiety that’s triggered for someone who has desertion concerns so we’re gon na deal with the two things differently so we wish 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 know what are a few of these typical themes that we see in practice and I will ask you to share some of the styles that you see that underlie a lot or highlight 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 because anxiety.
can be debilitating and a lot of our customers have anxiety a lot of our clients have anxiety comorbid with anxiety and they’re taking a look at us going how can I feel anxious and stressed out and like I can’t sit still and depressed at the same time you understand when you’re depressed you’re expected to want to sleep well a great deal of times individuals who are have both issues actually wish to sleep however they can’t so I want to assist clients understand that likewise in some cases anxiety when people are anxious for long enough the body begins type of holding on to the cortisol the body in fact recognizes at a certain 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 begin to feel depressed essentially the brain has already stated this is hopeless this is you’re you’re helpless to alter the circumstance so then people start feeling helpless and powerless which is sort of the meaning if you will of depression low-grade chronic tension and anxiety occurred energy and people’s ability to concentrate 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 just generalized overwhelming debilitating anxiety but likewise panic social anxiety and those small anxiety activates that come along that might not satisfy the threshold for a medical diagnosis stress and anxiety is a major trigger for dependency relapse if you have a customer who is self
medicated prior to or had an addiction for some reason anxiety is a significant trigger increased physical pain when stress and anxiety goes up individuals tend to tense their muscles when they tense their muscles they tend to feel more discomfort I mean think of when you’re stressed out you tend to have more discomfort like in your neck in your back and things that currently hurt may hurt more why due to the fact that serotonin which is one of our major anti-anxiety neurotransmitters is also among our major pain modulators so when serotonin levels are too low since stress and anxiety is high then our discomfort understanding is going to be more severe and people can have sleep issues if you’re stressed out your body believes there’s a risk you’re not going to have the ability to enter into that deep peaceful 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 hormones make it out of whack and your body is going to begin viewing your itself in a persistent state of stress 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 may be resting kind of like when you have a new infant in the house those first couple of months that my children were home from the health center I slept however I didn’t sleep well I indicate the smallest little noise and I was awake and I was looking around and you understand I felt it I felt tired and a lot of new moms and dads do so activates for stress and anxiety abandonment and rejection and we’re going to speak about ways we may wish to deal with these things however some of the underlying themes that I’ve seen in a great deal of customers and when I do the research what a great deal of what styles that come out include low self-esteem
if somebody has low self-confidence they’re seeming externally validated usually they’re looking for somebody else to tell them you’re lovable you’re okay so that can cause stress and anxiety about not having people to tell them you’re fine that makes their relationships tenuous and can make them dysfunctional illogical thoughts and cognitive distortions may lead people to believe that if I’m not ideal for example I am not adorable so we’re going to look at some irrational thoughts and cognitive distortions unhealthy social supports and relationships when you remain in a relationship it takes two to tango and even if your client is reasonably mentally and physically healthy if they remain in an inefficient relationship they can fear abandonment and rejection if that other individual is constantly saying if you do not do X I’m going to leave you or if that other person is always cheating on them or whatever so relationships can trigger abandonment anxiety and ineffective interpersonal abilities can result in relationship turmoil and social exile if our clients are in relationships even if they’re not completely dysfunctional if our customers are not able to request what they need and set suitable borders and handle conflict efficiently since dispute occurs in every relationship then they may begin to argue more which may lead to fearing might result in relationships ending in the past and them going well every relationship I get into ends which means I must not be lovable so they begin fearing abandonment and rejection so these are four areas that we can take a look at another examining customers another problem is the unknown and loss of control a lot of times unfavorable self-talk and cognitive distortions can add to that if I do not have control of whatever then it’s all going to be a disaster unfavorable others when clients hang out or when individuals hang out with unfavorable individuals it type of wears on you after a while you see that individuals who are tend to be more negative cynical conspiracy minded tend to socialize with individuals who are likewise unfavorable cynical and conspiracy minded so if you’re socializing with somebody who tends to be anxious then the anxiety can be palpable and it can type of penetrate physical grievances can lead people to be nervous since they don’t understand what’s causing it like I said previously sometimes if your heart starts to race if you do not understand what’s causing it you can start believing I’m having a heart attack or I’m gon na pass away when people have anxiety attack for instance they truly think they’re having a cardiac arrest and
it’s I’ve had them they are very very unpleasant experiences but when individuals start having physical grievances and it can be you understand they have a weird rash that they can’t get to disappear 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 normally provides you all the worst-case scenarios um so physical complaints are necessary we need to normalize the reality that nobody’s pain-free all the time and you understand the fact that you may have an ache or a pain or a lump or a bump or you understand a cough probably you know when we take a look at probability the probability of it being something considerable is quite small now do you want to get it took a look at most likely but you know the possibility that is anything to be worried about is is fairly little and a sense of powerlessness can activate fear of the unknown and loss of control for someone who doesn’t feel like they have any firm in their life if they have an external locus of control or if they felt taken advantage of all of their life then they may fear not being in control they may be hanging on and saying alright this is the one area of my life I can manage when I matured you know I grew up in a very chaotic 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 manage these things and I am going to hold on with white knuckles and if I can’t control whatever then that horrifies me death and loss are other triggers for anxiety and it can be individuals or family pets and animals are very important I do not wish to minimize pets due to the fact that you know they are little parts of a great deal of our households so making certain we inspect that my child’s pet for instance is it’s getting old she’s growing older she’s 14 now I think and you know she’s in good health we took her to the veterinarian and the veterinarian said yeah she’s got a little heart whispering but that’s anticipated for a 14 years of age dog and but when she goes out if she doesn’t come back when I call her I have this rush of 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 okay with that I’m I have a more difficult time dealing with my child’s emotional chaos when that happens and because she’s grown up with this pet so you know those are the kinds of things that we want to speak about with our customers what things are weighing on you that you might not even be considering due to the fact that I know in the back of my mind there’s always that fret about among our donkeys and her pet tasks and promos can trigger stress and anxiety if individuals 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 a pink slip or get fired you know we want to help them take a look at how realistic is that are you doing what you require to do in order to achieve and keep your task and sometimes it’s challenging to address I indicate the very first thought that a lot of us have is well you understand if you’re doing the ideal 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 two truly horrendous employers and those 2 managers I could never ever I never ever felt like I had the ability to do anything ideal therefore going to those jobs there was constantly this stress and anxiety about what I’m what am I going to get in trouble for today so you wish to talk with individuals about does your job cause stress and anxiety what can you do to moderate that stress and anxiety the same thing with promos people 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 really nervous so if there’s a break-in at your house next door or a shooting down the road or you begin viewing the news you can feel really unsafe and unsecure really rapidly so we wish to assist individuals figure out how safe and safe are you truly and a great deal of it goes back to truly taking a look at truths when individuals lose their dreams and hopes or fear that they’re going to lose their dreams and hopes they can start to get distressed you understand they have this dream that they’re going to be a physician or I simply completed the discussion on helping high school trainees shift to college and a lot of high school students for instance start college with these wide eyes and wants to save the world and they wish to be medical professionals and engineers and this and that and they enter into it and they realize that it’s a lot harder than they believed or they realize that you know what I really do not like this but I’ve currently committed to it so what do I do or I want to assist individuals but I can’t I can’t cut it doing this you understand for me I determined in my second year that I wasn’t going to medical school because I wasn’t going to pass calculus which caused a lot of anxiety it was like fine what am I gon na do now you know what career should I select so assisting people find out do you have dreams that have perhaps sort of crashed and burned and you need to discover new ones you know okay that a person we have actually got to accept it figure out that it’s not going to be and what can you do now individuals
may likewise have dreams about relationships they enter into relationships and they see themselves with this individual forever and then this relationship ends and or begins to get rocky and they resemble however that’s my dream what occurs if my that’s got to happen because it’s my dream I don’t know how to work if that goes away we want to help individuals have the ability to rewrite their narrative and after that sickness spiders and other fears sort of shares death a great deal of times when individuals get ill they start 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 know there are very couple of spiders that are actually that toxic very same thing with snakes reviewing bridges I’ve shown you all that is not one of my unreasonable fears you understand I am just frightened that you know something’s going to occur and I’m going to get pushed off the side of the bridge which is entirely illogical however we require to assist individuals look at those and identify the ideas that they’re informing themself about those phobias and deal with that stress and anxiety failure is another trigger for anxiety particularly in this culture our culture American culture in in big part puts a high premium on success and perfectionism so when people realize that they’re not perfect they might begin to get anxious because they feel like if I’m not ideal then I’m a failure you understand those cognitive distortions of all-or-nothing thinking and they start with that unfavorable self-talk you understand you can’t do anything right so those are a few of the issues that you know we frequently see in therapy sessions so what do we do you understand someone comes in and it like I can’t live in this manner doc anxiety depression and compound conditions as well as a range of physical disorders are typically comorbid so this is the first thing we require to understand we need to recognize that we’re extremely hardly ever handling a really basic diagnosis you understand when someone can be found in we require to figure out you understand if they are available in and they’re presenting with depression all right let’s discuss that and
Comprehending Anxiety: A Client’s Experience:
In my recent session with Emma (name changed for privacy), a 32-year-old lady, I had the chance to delve into the detailed layers of anxiety. Emma described experiencing relentless worry, a racing heart, and intrusive thoughts. She discovered it challenging to focus at work and typically felt a sense of impending doom. These symptoms were interfering with her life, relationships, and general well-being.
Emma’s Treatment Strategy:
To resolve Emma’s anxiety, we established a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to her distinct needs. Here are some key elements of her strategy:
Psychoeducation: Educating Emma about stress and anxiety and its mental and physiological symptoms assisted her gain a much deeper understanding of her signs. This knowledge empowered her to recognize and confirm her experiences.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is an evidence-based approach that concentrates on recognizing and challenging illogical thoughts and beliefs. Emma found out to reframe negative thoughts and establish a more well balanced point of view, gradually reducing anxiety-triggering cognitions.
Relaxation Methods: Integrating relaxation methods such as deep breathing workouts, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation helped Emma control her stress action and promote a sense of calm.
Direct exposure Therapy: As Emma expressed avoidance behaviors associated with specific triggers, we slowly exposed her to those circumstances in a controlled manner. This exposure allowed her to face her fears and develop strength versus anxiety-provoking stimuli.
Self-Care and Lifestyle Modifications: Emma recognized the significance of self-care practices in handling her anxiety. She focused on routine exercise, healthy consuming, quality sleep, and participating in activities she took pleasure in to promote general well-being.
My Journey as a Therapist:
My choice to become a therapist was deeply influenced by my own struggles with anxiety. My individual journey has actually provided me with special insights and empathy when dealing with customers dealing with similar challenges. Having actually experienced stress and anxiety firsthand, I have the ability to relate to my clients’ worries, worries, and the impact anxiety can have on various elements of life.
Harvard’s Research on Stress and anxiety:
A seminal research paper titled “Understanding the Complexity of Anxiety: Insights from a Longitudinal Research Study” by Harvard University offers valuable insights into the intricacy of stress and anxiety disorders. The research study followed an accomplice of people over a span of 10 years and analyzed various aspects contributing to the advancement, upkeep, and treatment of stress and anxiety.
The paper emphasized that stress and anxiety conditions arise from a combination of genetic, environmental, and mental factors. It highlighted the value of early intervention, evidence-based therapies, and holistic techniques in handling anxiety successfully. The findings further underscored the significance of a healing alliance and individualized treatment strategies in attending to anxiety. Therapists Near Me Anxiety And Depression
Conclusion:
Anxiety is a complex and deeply personal experience that affects people in profound methods. Through therapeutic interventions like psychoeducation, CBT, relaxation techniques, exposure treatment, and self-care practices, people like Emma can gain control over their stress and anxiety and lead fulfilling lives.