Anxiety can be overwhelming and debilitating at times when it goes untreated for a short or long period of time. Some of the symptoms that an individual may experience include obsessive thoughts, unrelenting worry, catastrophic thinking, negativity loops, panic attacks, overwhelming fear, and incapacitating phobias. It’s important to understand that it might feel like there is no hope, but you don’t have to live life with constant fear and anxiety. Many people often first turn to medication as the answer to reducing their anxiety and that can be helpful temporarily, but it doesn’t treat the root of where the anxiety is stemming from. This is where therapy becomes an important component in treating more than just the symptoms but the getting to the problems that the anxiety stems from. Therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help individuals uncover underlying causes or irrational beliefs of fear and worries. Then help individuals to learn skills to help them relax, reframe their belief patterns, reduce fears, and develop healthier coping skills for problem solving. Here are 5 signs that therapy could be your ideal treatment for anxiety to consider when struggling.
- Intrusive or Obsessive Thoughts. It may be difficult for an individual with anxiety to concentrate and they might often feel confused. This can be extremely challenging as intrusive thoughts can be very negative and discouraging regarding an individual’s current life or potentially negative future thoughts. It can also negatively impact an individual’s ability to work or attend social activities.
- Frequent Fatigue. Anxiety often causes the body to become tense or be in a state of hypervigilance (constant feeling of fight or flight), which is exhausting. Essentially the body is in a constant state of hyperarousal trying to state alert to potential danger to protect itself. It leaves an individual feeling constantly stressed and fatigued as all their energy is going to protect against danger that isn’t necessarily present.
- Self-Isolating. Individuals with anxiety often feel tremendous discomfort in social situations as they are constantly worrying about making mistakes, how they are being perceived, or if their anxiety is being noticed by others. This often leads to individuals declining to see friends or attend gatherings leaving them cutoff from others and feeling alone. This also leads to increased discomfort and anxiety.
- Self-Medicating. Abusing alcohol or other substances as a way of reducing or numbing the anxiety is a clear induction that an individual should seek out therapy or treatment for their anxiety. This can lead to worsening the anxiety symptoms as they come back with more intensity once the substance wears off leading to addictive behaviors.
- Panic Attacks. Individuals with overwhelming anxiety can experience physical symptoms that feel like a heart attack, or they are suffocating. This feeds into the anxiety and often completely overwhelms an individual to the point that they need assistance in calming down. Therapy can help individuals develop tools and skills to do this on their own or reach out for help before it reaches the state of a full-blown panic attack.
Serenity Trauma Healing Center offers multiple therapeutic modalities that can address anxiety and identify the root causes that need to be addressed for the deepest level of healing.