Anxiety is an extremely common mental illness that affects over 40 million people in the United States, and that’s just the statistic for adults. Once you add in the fact that Anxiety affects 1 in every 8 child, the numbers increase drastically for Anxiety in the United States. This is not a small epidemic we have on our hands.
One thing I tell my clients who are struggling with Anxiety is that there is hope for this mental disorder. Although Anxiety can be debilitating and crippling at times, it isn’t untreatable. It just takes some specified treatment planning that fits the individual, versus the cookie-cutter plan you might find on the internet or in hospitals.
Anxiety can often go untreated because the idea of treatment can be an anxiety-provoking thing. It’s hard to get counseling for Anxiety when counseling causes anxiety. So the purpose of this blog is to help ease some of the uncertainties about what treatment for Anxiety looks like. Please understand that there is no way to completely erase your feelings of anxiety when it comes to attending counseling for the first time. However, I hope you’ll push through that initial anxiety in order to see that counseling can be exactly what you need.
When working on Anxiety it is vital to first identify the things, people, and/or events that will trigger your Anxiety. Once we have a thorough idea of those triggers, we can begin to work on how to “deactivate” those triggers (as I like to say). Deactivating triggers can, at times, be a grueling process, but the work is worth it.
During the process of deactivating triggers, we will also come up with coping skills that are personalized to you and what works for you. Healthy coping skills are a crucial part of treating Anxiety. Many people turn to unhealthy ways of masking and escaping their anxiety, which then causes a ripple effect of a whole host of issues.
What many people don’t realize about those who suffer from Anxiety is that it can be a very lonely life. When you have Anxiety, you tend to isolate yourself from the things, people, or events that could trigger your anxiety, but you also tend to isolate yourself from your support group because you fear that they won’t understand or that they’ll minimize what you’re going through. This is a big reason why counseling can be so effective for people with Anxiety. Sometimes, the thing you need most is a listening ear, an objective opinion, and a non-judgmental acceptance and understanding of what you’re going through.
If you’re still unsure about the process, I encourage you to give me a call and we can have a brief consultation call where your questions and concerns can safely be expressed. I urge you to take control of your future and find the relief you so greatly deserve.
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