a widespread psychological health issue, affects countless people worldwide. How To Treat Anxiety In Therapy … As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), I have actually seen the impact of stress and anxiety on countless lives. In this short article, I will share an extensive exploration of stress and anxiety through the lens of a recent therapy session with a patient, highlighting symptoms, treatment strategies, and my individual journey as a therapist with my own experiences of stress and anxiety Furthermore, we will talk about a research paper by Harvard University that sheds light on the complex nature of stress and anxiety.|Stress and anxiety, a prevalent mental health issue, impacts millions of individuals worldwide. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), I have experienced the effect of stress and anxiety on many lives.}
discussion on strengths-based biopsychosocial approaches to attending to stress and anxiety and while those are wonderful you know I believed perhaps we should take a look at you know what’s some of the existing research so I went into PubMed which is I do not understand it’s play ground for me it’s where you find a lot of the journal short articles and you can sort and I arranged by articles that were done and meta-analyses that were done within the past 5 years so that provides us a concept about existing research I suggest there’s a great deal of stuff that is still the very same like a few of the medications that were understood to work ten years earlier are still understood to be you know great first-line treatments however there are also some newcomers that we’ll discuss and there are also some changes that we’re going to discuss so we’re going to explore some typical causes for stress and anxiety signs in order to treat it we truly need to and obviously this does play into the biopsychosocial element we actually need to understand type of what triggers it since anxiety that’s triggered by for example someone having a racing heart may be various than anxiety that’s caused for someone who has desertion concerns so we’re gon na treat the two things differently so we wish to take a look at some of the common causes we’re gon na take a look at some typical triggers for 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 themes that you see that underlie a lot or underline of your customers anxiety and determine present best practices for anxiety management including therapy interventions medications physical interventions and helpful treatments so we care since anxiety.
can be incapacitating and a great deal of our customers have stress and anxiety a great deal of our customers have stress and anxiety comorbid with anxiety and they’re looking at us going how can I feel anxious and stressed and like I can’t sit still and depressed at the same time you understand when you’re depressed you’re expected to want to sleep well a great deal of times people who are have both issues actually want to sleep however they can’t so I want to help customers understand that also often anxiety when individuals are anxious for enough time the body begins type of hanging on to the cortisol the body in fact recognizes at a particular point this is a losing fight I’m not going to put energy into this anymore so it starts with drawing a few of its excitatory neurotransmitter so to speak and individuals will start to feel depressed basically the brain has actually already said this is hopeless this is you’re you’re helpless to change the circumstance so then people start feeling helpless and hopeless which is sort of the meaning if you will of anxiety low-grade persistent tension and anxiety developed energy and individuals’s ability to concentrate so if we’re going to help them become their uber selves we need to help them figure out how to resolve anxiety not simply generalized frustrating incapacitating anxiety but likewise panic social stress and anxiety and those minor anxiety sets off that come along that might not fulfill the limit for a diagnosis anxiety is a significant trigger for dependency regression if you have a customer who is self
medicated prior to or had a dependency for some reason stress and anxiety is a major 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 discomfort I suggest consider when you’re stressed you tend to have more pain like in your neck in your back and things that already injured might hurt more why since serotonin which is one of our significant anti-anxiety neurotransmitters is also one of our major pain modulators so when serotonin levels are too low due to the fact that anxiety is high then our discomfort understanding is going to be more intense and people can have sleep problems if you’re stressed out your body believes there’s a danger you’re not going to be able to enter that deep relaxing sleep you might have you might sleep you might sleep a lot but it’s probably not quality sleep which means your neurotransmitters might leave whack your hormonal agents make it out of whack and your body is going to begin viewing your itself in a persistent state of stress when we’re tired the body knows that we may be the weakest link in the herd so it continues to secrete cortisol to keep keep you on alert a bit so you may again you might be resting kind of like when you have a brand-new infant in your home those very first couple of months that my kids were home from the health center I slept but I didn’t sleep well I indicate the slightest little sound and I was awake and I was browsing and you know I felt it I felt tired and a lot of brand-new parents do so activates for anxiety abandonment and rejection and we’re going to talk about methods we might want to handle these things but a few of the underlying styles that I’ve seen in a lot of clients and when I do the research what a lot of what styles that come out consist of low self-confidence
if somebody has low self-esteem they’re looking to be externally verified often they’re trying to find someone else to tell them you’re adorable you’re fine so that can result in anxiety about not having individuals to tell them you’re fine that makes their relationships tenuous and can make them inefficient irrational ideas and cognitive distortions might lead individuals to believe that if I’m not best for example I am not lovable so we’re going to take a look at some unreasonable thoughts and cognitive distortions unhealthy social supports and relationships when you remain in a relationship it takes 2 to tango and even if your client is reasonably psychologically and physically healthy if they remain in a dysfunctional relationship they can fear desertion and rejection if that other individual is constantly saying if you do not do X I’m going to leave you or if that other person is constantly cheating on them or whatever so relationships can activate desertion anxiety and inadequate social skills can cause relationship chaos and social exile if our customers are in relationships even if they’re not completely dysfunctional if our customers are unable to request what they require and set proper limits and handle dispute efficiently due to the fact that conflict happens in every relationship then they might begin to argue more which might lead to fearing might lead to relationships ending in the past and them working out every relationship I enter ends which means I must not be adorable so they begin fearing abandonment and rejection so these are four locations that we can take a look at one more evaluating clients another concern is the unknown and loss of control a great deal of times unfavorable self-talk and cognitive distortions can contribute to that if I don’t have control of whatever then it’s all going to be a disaster negative others when customers hang out or when individuals hang out with negative people it kind of endures you after a while you observe that people who are tend to be more unfavorable downhearted conspiracy minded tend to hang out with people who are likewise unfavorable cynical and conspiracy minded so if you’re hanging out with somebody who tends to be anxious then the anxiety can be palpable and it can kind of permeate physical complaints can lead people to be nervous due to the fact that they do not know what’s causing it like I said previously sometimes if your heart starts to race if you don’t understand what’s causing it you can begin thinking I’m having a heart attack or I’m gon na die when individuals have panic attacks for instance they really believe they’re having a heart attack and
it’s I’ve had them they are really really unpleasant experiences but when people begin having physical complaints and it can be you understand they have a weird rash that they can’t get to go away or it whatever but when they don’t know what it is and they can’t manage it they can’t make it disappear they start thinking of all the worst-case circumstances and going on the internet and getting on WebMD which generally provides you all the worst-case situations um so physical problems are very important we need to normalize the fact that no one’s pain-free all the time and you know the reality that you may have a discomfort or a pains or a lump or a bump or you understand a cough most likely you understand when we look at likelihood the possibility of it being something substantial is quite small now do you want to get it checked out most likely but you understand the likelihood that is anything to be fretted about is is fairly little and a sense of powerlessness can set off worry of the unknown and loss of control for someone who does not feel like they have any agency in their life if they have an external locus of control or if they felt preyed on all of their life then they may fear not being in control they may be hanging on and stating all right this is the one area of my life I can control when I grew up you know I grew up in a really 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 hang on with white knuckles and if I can’t manage everything then that frightens me death and loss are other triggers for anxiety and it can be pets or individuals and animals are very important I don’t wish to lessen pets due to the fact that you know they are little parts of a great deal of our families so making certain we check that my child’s pet for instance is it’s getting old she’s growing older she’s 14 now I think and you understand she’s in good health we took her to the veterinarian and the veterinarian stated yeah she’s got a little heart whispering however that’s anticipated for a 14 year old pet and but when she goes out if she does not 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 anxiety around losing individuals and you know if she when she crosses the bridge she will and and you understand
I’m fine with that I’m I have a harder time dealing with my child’s emotional chaos when that occurs and due to the fact that she’s matured with this canine so you understand those are the kinds of things that we want to discuss with our customers what things are weighing on you that you might not even be considering since I understand in the back of my mind there’s constantly that worry about among our donkeys and her dog jobs and promotions can activate anxiety if people are afraid they’re gon na lose their job if they’re constantly afraid that you understand they’re gon na stroll in and get a pink slip or get fired you know we want to help them take a look at how sensible is that are you doing what you need to do in order to attain and keep your task and sometimes it’s hard to answer I suggest the first thought that a great deal of us have is well you understand if you’re doing the ideal thing so just do it but there are those bosses out there and I’ve had some really amazing employers a lot of them and I’ve had two truly horrendous managers and those 2 bosses I might never I never seemed like I was able to do anything right and so going to those jobs there was always this stress and anxiety about what I’m what am I going to get in trouble for today so you want to talk with people about does your task cause stress and anxiety what can you do to moderate that anxiety the same thing with promotions people might get anxious about whether they’re going to get promoted security and security you understand when you lose safety and security you can feel really nervous so if there’s a burglary at your house next door or a shooting down the road or you begin viewing the news you can feel unsecure and really unsafe really quickly so we wish to assist people determine how safe and protected are you actually and a great deal of it goes back to actually looking at realities when individuals lose their dreams and hopes or fear that they’re going to lose their dreams and hopes they can start to get nervous you know they have this dream that they’re going to be a physician or I simply completed the discussion on assisting high school students shift to college and a lot of high school trainees for instance start college with these broad eyes and hopes to conserve the world and they want to be physicians and engineers and this and that and they enter it and they realize that it’s a lot more difficult than they believed or they recognize that you know what I truly don’t like this but I have actually currently committed to it so what do I do or I want to assist individuals however 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 which triggered a great deal of stress and anxiety it was like fine what am I gon na do now you know what career should I choose so helping people determine do you have dreams that have possibly type of crashed and burned and you need to find brand-new ones you know alright that one we’ve got to accept it find out that it’s not going to be and what can you do now people
might also have dreams about relationships they get into relationships and they see themselves with this person permanently and then this relationship ends and or begins to get rocky and they resemble but that’s my dream what happens if my that’s got to occur since it’s my dream I don’t know how to operate if that goes away we want to help individuals have the ability to rewrite their narrative and then sickness 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 uncommon you know there are extremely few spiders that are actually that dangerous same thing with snakes discussing bridges I’ve shared with you all that is not one of my unreasonable fears you understand I am simply frightened that you know something’s going to take place and I’m going to get pushed off the side of the bridge which is entirely illogical however we need to help individuals look at those and identify the thoughts that they’re telling themself about those phobias and deal with that stress and anxiety failure is another trigger for stress and anxiety especially in this culture our culture American culture in in big part puts a high premium on success and perfectionism so when people recognize that they’re not best they might begin to get nervous because they feel like if I’m not ideal then I’m a failure you know those cognitive distortions of all-or-nothing thinking and they begin with that negative self-talk you know you can’t do anything right so those are a few of the problems that you know we typically see in therapy sessions so what do we do you understand somebody comes in and it like I can’t live in this manner doc anxiety depression and substance disorders in addition to a range of physical conditions are typically comorbid so this is the first thing we need to recognize we need to realize that we’re extremely rarely dealing with a very simple medical diagnosis you understand when somebody comes in we require to determine you understand if they come in and they exist with depression all right let’s speak about that and
Understanding Stress And Anxiety: A Patient’s Experience:
In my recent session with Emma (name altered for privacy), a 32-year-old woman, I had the opportunity to explore the complex layers of stress and anxiety. Emma described experiencing persistent worry, a racing heart, and invasive thoughts. She found it challenging to focus at work and typically felt a sense of impending doom. These symptoms were interfering with her daily life, relationships, and overall well-being.
Emma’s Treatment Strategy:
To address Emma’s stress and anxiety, we developed an extensive treatment strategy customized to her distinct needs. Here are some crucial elements of her strategy:
Psychoeducation: Educating Emma about anxiety and its mental and physiological manifestations helped her gain a much deeper understanding of her signs. This knowledge empowered her to acknowledge and verify her experiences.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is an evidence-based technique that concentrates on identifying and challenging unreasonable ideas and beliefs. Emma discovered to reframe unfavorable ideas and establish a more well balanced perspective, slowly lowering anxiety-triggering cognitions.
Relaxation Techniques: Incorporating relaxation methods such as deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation assisted Emma regulate her stress reaction and promote a sense of calm.
Exposure Treatment: As Emma revealed avoidance habits related to specific triggers, we slowly exposed her to those circumstances in a regulated manner. This exposure enabled her to confront her fears and develop strength versus anxiety-provoking stimuli.
Self-Care and Lifestyle Modifications: Emma recognized the significance of self-care practices in managing her anxiety. She focused on routine workout, healthy eating, quality sleep, and engaging in activities she enjoyed to promote total well-being.
My Journey as a Therapist:
My choice to end up being a therapist was deeply influenced by my own struggles with anxiety. My individual journey has actually provided me with distinct insights and empathy when dealing with customers dealing with comparable obstacles. Having actually experienced anxiety firsthand, I am able to connect to my clients’ fears, worries, and the effect stress and anxiety can have on numerous aspects of life.
Harvard’s Research study on Stress and anxiety:
A critical research paper titled “Understanding the Complexity of Anxiety: Insights from a Longitudinal Study” by Harvard University offers important insights into the intricacy of stress and anxiety conditions. The study followed a mate of individuals over a period of 10 years and examined various elements adding to the development, maintenance, and treatment of stress and anxiety.
The paper highlighted that stress and anxiety disorders occur from a mix of genetic, environmental, and mental aspects. It highlighted the value of early intervention, evidence-based therapies, and holistic approaches in managing anxiety effectively. The findings even more underscored the significance of a restorative alliance and customized treatment plans in resolving anxiety. How To Treat Anxiety In Therapy
Conclusion:
Anxiety is a deeply individual and complex experience that affects people in profound ways. Through restorative interventions like psychoeducation, CBT, relaxation techniques, direct exposure therapy, and self-care practices, individuals like Emma can gain control over their anxiety and lead fulfilling lives. As a therapist, my individual journey with stress and anxiety allows me to offer effective and compassionate care to my clients. The research carried out by Harvard University sheds light on the complicated nature of stress and anxiety, enhancing the importance of tailored treatments and early intervention in promoting psychological well-being. Together, we can navigate the maze of anxiety and discover the course to a more serene and empowered existence.