a common mental health concern, impacts millions of people worldwide. Anxiety Therapy Journal … As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), I have seen the effect of anxiety on numerous lives. In this article, I will share an extensive exploration of stress and anxiety through the lens of a recent therapy session with a client, highlighting signs, treatment techniques, and my personal journey as a therapist with my own experiences of anxiety Additionally, we will talk about a research paper by Harvard University that clarifies the diverse nature of anxiety.|Anxiety, a common mental health issue, impacts millions of individuals worldwide. As an Accredited Medical Social Employee (LCSW), I have actually experienced the impact of stress and anxiety on many lives.}
presentation on strengths-based biopsychosocial methods to attending to stress and anxiety and while those are fantastic you know I believed possibly we should look at you know what’s a few of the current research study so I went into PubMed which is I do not understand it’s play ground for me it’s where you discover a great deal of the journal short articles and you can sort and I arranged by short articles that were done and meta-analyses that were done within the past 5 years so that offers us an idea about current research study I indicate there’s a great deal of stuff that is still the very same like some of the medications that were known to work 10 years back are still known to be you know good first-line treatments but there are likewise some newbies that we’ll speak about and there are likewise some modifications that we’re going to talk about so we’re going to explore some typical causes for anxiety symptoms in order to treat it we actually need to and naturally this does play into the biopsychosocial aspect we truly need to understand sort of what causes it since stress and anxiety that’s triggered by for instance somebody having a racing heart might be different than stress and anxiety that’s caused for somebody who has desertion concerns so we’re gon na deal with the two things in a different way so we wish to look at a few of the common causes we’re gon na take a look at some typical triggers for stress and anxiety you know what are a few of these typical themes that we see in practice and I will ask you to share a few of the styles that you see that underlie a lot or underline of your clients stress and anxiety and recognize current finest practices for stress and anxiety management consisting of counseling interventions medications physical interventions and supportive treatments so we care because anxiety.
can be crippling and a great deal of our customers have stress and anxiety a lot of our clients have anxiety comorbid with anxiety and they’re looking at us going how can I feel distressed and stressed and like I can’t sit still and depressed at the same time you understand when you’re depressed you’re supposed to want to sleep well a great deal of times people who are have both problems actually wish to sleep but they can’t so I wish to help clients understand that likewise often anxiety when people are anxious for long enough the body begins type of holding on to the cortisol the body actually acknowledges at a certain point this is a losing fight I’m not going to put energy into this any longer so it starts with drawing some of its excitatory neurotransmitter so to speak and individuals will start to feel depressed essentially the brain has currently stated this is hopeless this is you’re you’re defenseless to change the situation so then individuals begin feeling defenseless and helpless which is sort of the definition if you will of anxiety low-grade persistent tension and anxiety emerged energy and people’s ability to concentrate so if we’re going to help them become their uber selves we require to help them find out how to resolve stress and anxiety not simply generalized overwhelming devastating anxiety but also panic social anxiety and those minor anxiety activates that come along that may not meet the threshold for a diagnosis stress and anxiety is a significant trigger for addiction relapse if you have a client who is self
medicated before or had a dependency for some reason anxiety is a significant trigger increased physical discomfort when stress and anxiety goes up individuals tend to tense their muscles when they tense their muscles they tend to feel more pain I suggest think of when you’re stressed you tend to have more pain like in your neck in your back and things that currently harmed may hurt more why because serotonin which is among our major anti-anxiety neurotransmitters is also among our major pain modulators so when serotonin levels are too low because anxiety is high then our discomfort understanding is going to be more acute and individuals can have sleep issues if you’re stressed out your body believes there’s a risk you’re not going to be able to enter into that deep peaceful sleep you may have you might sleep you might sleep a lot but it’s most likely not quality sleep which means your neurotransmitters may leave whack your hormones make it out of whack and your body is going to begin viewing your itself in a relentless state of stress when we’re exhausted the body understands that we may be the weakest link in the herd so it continues to secrete cortisol to keep keep you on alert a little bit so you might again you might be resting type of like when you have a new child in your home those first number of months that my children were house from the health center I slept but I didn’t sleep well I suggest the tiniest little sound and I was awake and I was looking around and you understand I felt it I felt exhausted and a great deal of brand-new parents do so activates for stress and anxiety abandonment and rejection and we’re going to speak about ways we may want to handle these things however some of the underlying themes that I have actually seen in a great deal of customers and when I do the research what a great deal of what styles that come out consist of low self-confidence
if someone has low self-confidence they’re seeming externally verified frequently they’re looking for someone else to tell them you’re adorable you’re alright so that can result in stress and anxiety about not having people to tell them you’re all right which makes their relationships rare and can make them inefficient irrational ideas and cognitive distortions might lead people to think that if I’m not perfect for example I am not lovable so we’re going to take a look at some irrational ideas and cognitive distortions unhealthy social supports and relationships when you’re in a relationship it takes 2 to tango and even if your customer is fairly psychologically and physically healthy if they remain in a dysfunctional relationship they can fear desertion and rejection if that other person is constantly saying if you don’t do X I’m going to leave you or if that other individual is constantly cheating on them or whatever so relationships can activate abandonment stress and anxiety and inadequate interpersonal skills can result in relationship chaos and social exile if our clients remain in relationships even if they’re not completely dysfunctional if our customers are unable to request for what they require and set appropriate boundaries and handle conflict successfully since conflict occurs in every relationship then they may start to argue more which may lead to fearing may result in relationships ending in the past and them working out every relationship I get into ends which implies I should not be lovable so they begin fearing abandonment and rejection so these are four locations that we can take a look at another examining clients another concern is the unknown and loss of control a lot of times unfavorable self-talk and cognitive distortions can contribute to that if I do not have control of everything then it’s all going to be a catastrophe unfavorable others when clients hang out or when people socialize with negative people it kind of endures you after a while you notice that people who are tend to be more negative downhearted conspiracy minded tend to hang out with people who are also unfavorable cynical and conspiracy minded so if you’re hanging out with someone who tends to be anxious then the anxiety can be palpable and it can type of permeate physical grievances can lead individuals to be distressed since they don’t know what’s causing it like I said previously often if your heart begins to race if you don’t understand what’s causing it you can begin believing I’m having a heart attack or I’m gon na die when people have anxiety attack for example they really think they’re having a heart attack and
it’s I’ve had them they are very very unpleasant experiences however when individuals start having physical problems and it can be you understand they have a strange rash that they can’t get to disappear or it whatever however when they do not understand what it is and they can’t control it they can’t make it go away they begin considering all the worst-case situations and going on the internet and getting on WebMD which normally offers you all the worst-case situations um so physical complaints are necessary we need to stabilize the fact that nobody’s pain-free all the time and you know the truth that you might have a pains or a pain or a lump or a bump or you understand a cough most likely you understand when we look at possibility the likelihood of it being something substantial is quite little now do you want to get it had a look at most likely but you understand the possibility that is anything to be worried about is is fairly small and a sense of powerlessness can trigger worry of the unknown and loss of control for somebody who doesn’t feel like they have any company in their life if they have an external locus of control or if they felt victimized all of their life then they might fear not being in control they might be holding on and saying all right this is the one location of my life I can control when I grew up you know I grew up in an extremely chaotic environment I had no control I was bounced around in the foster system yadda yadda yadda now that I’m an adult you know I can control these things and I am going to hold on with white knuckles and if I can’t manage whatever then that frightens me death and loss are other triggers for anxiety and it can be individuals or family pets and animals are necessary I do not want to reduce animals since you understand they are little parts of a great deal of our families so making certain we inspect that my daughter’s pet for example is it’s getting old she’s aging she’s 14 now I think and you understand she’s in decent health we took her to the vet and the vet stated yeah she’s got a little heart whispering however that’s anticipated for a 14 years of age canine and however when she heads out if she doesn’t return 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 know if she when she crosses the bridge she will and and you understand
I’m alright with that I’m I have a harder time handling my child’s psychological chaos when that occurs and due to the fact that she’s matured with this dog so you know those are the types of things that we want to discuss with our clients what things are weighing on you that you may not even be thinking of due to the fact that I know in the back of my mind there’s always that stress over among our donkeys and her dog jobs and promos can set off stress and anxiety if people hesitate they’re gon na lose their task if they’re always afraid that you know they’re gon na walk in and get or get a pink slip fired you understand we want to help them look at how reasonable is that are you doing what you require to do in order to accomplish and keep your task and often it’s challenging to answer I imply the very first thought that a lot of us have is well you understand if you’re doing the ideal thing so simply do it however there are those managers out there and I’ve had some truly fantastic managers a great deal of them and I have actually had 2 truly horrendous managers and those 2 managers I might never I never ever felt like I had the ability to do anything right and so going to those tasks there was always this anxiety about what I’m what am I going to get in trouble for today so you wish to talk with people about does your job cause stress and anxiety what can you do to moderate that anxiety the very same thing with promotions people might get distressed about whether they’re going to get promoted safety and security you know when you lose safety and security you can feel actually anxious so if there’s a burglary at your home next door or a shooting down the road or you start viewing the news you can feel very unsafe and unsecure really quickly so we wish to help people figure out how safe and safe and secure are you truly and a great deal of it returns to actually looking at facts when people lose their dreams and hopes or fear that they’re going to lose their dreams and hopes they can begin to get distressed you know they have this dream that they’re going to be a medical professional or I simply completed the presentation on helping high school trainees transition to college and a lot of high school students for instance start college with these broad eyes and wants to save the world and they want 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 understand that you know what I really do not like this however 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 know for me I figured out in my 2nd year that I wasn’t going to medical school since I wasn’t going to pass calculus and that caused a great deal of stress and anxiety it resembled all right what am I gon na do now you understand what profession needs to I choose so assisting people figure out do you have dreams that have perhaps sort of crashed and burned and you need to find new ones you know alright that one we’ve 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 get into relationships and they see themselves with this individual forever and after that this relationship ends and or starts to get rocky and they resemble however that’s my dream what takes place if my that’s got to take place because it’s my dream I don’t understand how to operate if that goes away we want to help individuals be able to reword their story and then illness spiders and other fears sort of shares death a great deal of times when people get sick they begin getting distressed that oh my gosh what if this is terminal oh my gosh what if this is you know incurable if I get bit by a spider it’s gon na eliminate me and which is unusual you know there are really couple of spiders that are really that dangerous very same thing with snakes going over bridges I have actually shown you all that is not one of my illogical worries you know I am simply frightened that you understand something’s going to occur and I’m going to get pushed off the side of the bridge which is completely illogical however we require to help people look at those and recognize the thoughts that they’re telling themself about those fears and deal with that anxiety failure is another trigger for stress and 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 best they may start to get anxious because they seem like if I’m not perfect then I’m a failure you know those cognitive distortions of all-or-nothing thinking and they begin with that unfavorable self-talk you understand you can’t do anything right so those are a few of the concerns that you understand we often see in counseling sessions so what do we do you know somebody comes in and it like I can’t live by doing this doc stress and anxiety depression and substance conditions in addition to a range of physical conditions are frequently comorbid so this is the first thing we need to recognize we require to understand that we’re very rarely handling a very basic diagnosis you understand when somebody comes in we require to determine you know if they are available in and they’re presenting with anxiety all right let’s discuss that and
Comprehending Anxiety: A Patient’s Experience:
In my current session with Emma (name changed for personal privacy), a 32-year-old lady, I had the opportunity to look into the elaborate layers of anxiety. Emma described experiencing relentless concern, a racing heart, and intrusive ideas. She discovered it challenging to focus at work and often felt a sense of impending doom. These signs were hindering her life, relationships, and total wellness.
Emma’s Treatment Strategy:
To address Emma’s stress and anxiety, we developed a comprehensive treatment strategy customized to her unique needs. Here are some key elements of her strategy:
Psychoeducation: Educating Emma about anxiety and its physiological and psychological symptoms helped her gain a deeper understanding of her symptoms. This knowledge empowered her to recognize and verify her experiences.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is an evidence-based method that focuses on identifying and challenging unreasonable thoughts and beliefs. Emma found out to reframe unfavorable thoughts and develop a more well balanced perspective, slowly lowering anxiety-triggering cognitions.
Relaxation Strategies: Including relaxation strategies such as deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation helped Emma regulate her tension response and promote a sense of calm.
Direct exposure Therapy: As Emma expressed avoidance behaviors connected to specific triggers, we slowly exposed her to those scenarios in a controlled manner. This exposure permitted her to face her fears and establish strength versus anxiety-provoking stimuli.
Self-Care and Way Of Life Adjustments: Emma acknowledged the importance of self-care practices in handling her stress and anxiety. She focused on regular exercise, healthy consuming, quality sleep, and taking part in activities she enjoyed to promote total well-being.
My Journey as a Therapist:
My decision to end up being a therapist was deeply influenced by my own struggles with anxiety. My individual journey has actually supplied me with special insights and empathy when working with clients facing comparable difficulties. Having actually experienced stress and anxiety firsthand, I have the ability to connect to my patients’ worries, worries, and the impact stress and anxiety can have on numerous aspects of life.
Harvard’s Research study on Anxiety:
A critical research paper titled “Comprehending the Intricacy of Stress And Anxiety: Insights from a Longitudinal Study” by Harvard University provides valuable insights into the intricacy of stress and anxiety conditions. The study followed a friend of individuals over a span of ten years and taken a look at numerous elements adding to the advancement, maintenance, and treatment of stress and anxiety.
The paper emphasized that stress and anxiety conditions arise from a combination of hereditary, environmental, and psychological factors. It highlighted the importance of early intervention, evidence-based therapies, and holistic techniques in handling anxiety successfully. The findings further underscored the significance of a restorative alliance and individualized treatment plans in attending to stress and anxiety. Anxiety Therapy Journal
Conclusion:
Stress and anxiety is a deeply personal and diverse experience that affects individuals in profound ways. Through restorative interventions like psychoeducation, CBT, relaxation strategies, exposure treatment, and self-care practices, individuals like Emma can acquire control over their stress and anxiety and lead fulfilling lives.