Anxiety is a feeling of dread, worry, and uneasiness. It is a normal reaction when you are in a situation that causes stress. However, it can affect your mental health when you feel anxious every day, even when there is no actual threat. When this happens, it can feel overwhelming to the point that it interferes with your routine and quality of life. Fortunately, its symptoms are manageable. Use this guide to learn more about dealing with this condition.
What Causes Anxiety?
Anxiety happens when your body feels it is in danger and results in a fight or flight response. It is an automatic reaction that releases hormones like adrenaline to make you more alert. Chemicals designed to relax you and calm you down are triggered once the threat is gone, but this tends not to happen with anxiety. Because of this, you read situations as if they are dangerous even when they are not. Other factors that may cause it are stress, brain biology and chemistry, genetics, and your environment.
How Do I Know If I Am Dealing with Anxiety?
There are several signs to watch out for to know that you are dealing with anxiety. Some physical indicators are dizziness, sleeplessness, an increased heart rate, muscle tension, and hyperventilating. You might also experience having jelly legs or butterflies in your stomach. All of these are caused by the hormones released by your fight or flight response.
How Do I Overcome Anxiety?
Each person reacts differently to unique circumstances. For example, you may get anxious when you have to pick up a phone call, but another person may not be bothered by it. If you tend to obsess over minor details and excessively worry about them, now is the best time to assess what is causing your anxiety.
Take a good look at the cycle of negative thoughts that make you anxious, and learn how to break out of it. You may also have to confirm whether what makes you feel this way is a fact or something you just imagined.
Other methods to manage your symptoms are breathing exercises and mindfulness techniques like meditation. They can relax your mind and ease your thoughts. Another option is to treat anxiety with anti-anxiety medicines and antidepressants. Before taking any medication for your condition, consult your doctor to identify which one is best for you.
To get the support you need, consider booking an online therapy to discuss what you are going through and why you feel the way you do with a counsellor.
How Can Counselling Help with Anxiety?
The best way to explore your unhelpful thinking patterns and the cause of your negative feelings is to understand them through counselling sessions. With help from a counsellor, you can find techniques that best work for you to deal with the situations you are going through and steer away from the anxiety response.
Conclusion
Overcoming anxiety might seem next to impossible, but achieving this can be done with meditation, medicines, and breathing exercises. Best of all, getting much-needed help and support through counselling can be the most effective way to deal with this condition. Just make sure you consult with a trusted counsellor like us who have your best interests at heart.
If you need anxiety counselling in the Sunshine Coast, reach out to Halcyon Counselling. We offer counselling sessions for individuals, couples, and families via in-person, phone, and video. Schedule an appointment today!
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