WHAT DOES YOUR WORRY SOUND LIKE?

• “I can’t get my thoughts to stop going round and around.”
• “I wake up with a feeling of dread and I don’t know why.”
• “I replay what I say to people in my head to make sure I didn’t sound stupid.”
• “I can’t get to sleep because I am thinking about everything I need to do.”

Do you have thoughts like these racing in your head? It is normal to experience anxiety and worry from time to time as everyone does. Anxiety is a built-in internal guide that warns us of potential danger or threats that may cause physical or emotional harm. However, for some of us, anxiety gets stuck on overdrive and we become confused overly perceiving situations as threatening or scary. This can lead to chronic worry and interfere with our ability to function well, relax or enjoy life.

Worry can cause us to become preoccupied with thoughts about negative events we fear will occur or sometimes about things we have done. We may regret what we have said in past conversations and become overly worried about what other people think of us. There are many reasons why people worry. Anxiety could be stemming from a past trauma, sadness over a loss, or a difficult transition. Maybe, we cannot remember a time when we were not anxious about something. Worrying can be a  way to keep ourselves feeling safe and in control.

CAN YOU RELATE?

• Do you feel tense or anxious all day long?
• Do you think about what might go wrong and how to prevent it?
• Are you often insecure or worried people are judging you?
• Is it difficult for you to relax and enjoy yourself?
• Do you ever feel like you cannot stop your thoughts are racing?
• Have you ever forgotten to worry and felt scared something bad was going to occur?
• Are decisions hard for you to make?
• Is it difficult for you to fall asleep or stay asleep because of worry?
• Do you wake up with a feeling of dread and don’t know why?
• Do you find yourself thinking the same thoughts over and over again?
• Do you experience irritability and mood swings?

HOW THERAPY FOR ANXIETY CAN HELP

There is hope for chronic worrying. Through therapy, you can find a way to live life where anxiety does not control you. You can learn to relax and find enter peace. Since there are many causes of worry and anxiety, there are also many approaches to managing it. Most importantly, we will figure out what your anxiety is rooted in and what keeps it running like an out of control train. You will learn to identify your fears and how they become magnified and irrational.

Anxiety is often a way of masking or avoiding other emotions and when these emotions are uncovered, you may feel less worried. This of course, involves processing and grieving what you have been avoiding, but you will realize there is a lot of peace in doing so. You will learn you can handle your emotions and will not break or fall apart. Often times, people judge their feelings and try to control them. It is critical to accept and experience our feelings and tolerate unpleasant emotions

This can also make you feel out of control so learning to accept our feelings is critical even when we don’t like them. Sometimes, therapy for anxiety is about processing traumas or wounded areas that have never before been dealt with. In revisiting trauma, you may feel scared, but, by doing so, it has less control over your life. Since anxiety often serves a purpose of keeping us safe, it is important to go slow so that the process does not overwhelm you or stall your growth.

We hope you will not wait to get help. You don’t have to go through this alone!

Therapist in Columbia, SC; Counselor in Columbia, SC; Anxiety, Depression, Grief, Postpartum, Trauma & PTSD, Couples and Marriage, Counseling in Columbia, Irmo, Chapin, and Lexington, SC.