Anxiety is a complex disorder, with the potential to lead one person to greatness, while another isn’t able to leave their home.
Anxiety can be the feeling that something terrible is about to happen, especially when you’re safe. This thought can then manifest as a physical response like sweating, heart racing, clenched jaw, toe tapping, and your stomach churning. It can also be cognitive, like negative thoughts that you can’t escape from, an inability to stop worrying, not being able to sleep, or problems concentrating.
Anxiety by design keeps us safe, and can sometimes be our ‘gut instinct’. Your stomach may be churning because you’re walking alone at night and you’re scared. This is a perfectly normal reaction. However, having the same feeling when you’re home or at work and safe, isn’t normal. When your body acts out with anxiety it can take away your happiness, and zest for life.
Some other symptoms of anxiety are;
- Irritability and a lack of self control
- Exhaustion and feeling drained
- Shallow breathing
- Feeling nervous, worried and scared a lot of the time
- Catastrophic thinking, that something bad is about to happen
- Nausea
- Nail biting, or biting your lips and cheeks
You may be feeling one or many of these symptoms.
Sometimes anxiety is helpful, and encourages us to drive the car a little safer, to keep the house tidy, or to study harder for an exam. However, when it begins to negatively impact your life, it’s time to get some support. There’s overwhelming evidence that exercise and meditation can ease your anxiety. And of course, counselling. Book in for a complimentary initial consult and we can investigate your anxiety and make a plan to get it under control.
