Racing heart, racing mind, dizziness, spaciness, worry, and tightness in the body. . . these are some of the physical and emotional challenges that go hand in hand with anxiety. Anxiety can feel like the 200lb gorilla sitting on your chest, the vise pressuring your temples, or the hands around your throat. Many confuse anxiety with stress, but while anxiety can create stress and too much stress can absolutely affect anxiety, stress typically results from something specific while anxiety can be more amorphous. Worse, the symptoms of Anxiety Disorder create an anxiety about the anxiety, creating a snowball effect where symptoms spiral out of control.
If these symptoms seem familiar to you, you are not alone. Over 18% of all adults and over 25% of 13 to 18 year olds will suffer from an anxiety disorder while 1 in 8 children suffer from an anxiety disorder. Yet only 1 in 3 individuals suffering from an Anxiety Disorder ever seeks professional help.
Anxiety Disorders can be incredibly damaging to health and longevity and those suffering from this condition are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor for physical ailments than the average individual.
Children with anxiety disorders are more likely to have poor school performance, have limited social experiences, and engage in substance abuse.
Luckily, Anxiety Disorders are very treatable using a combination of cognitive therapies (e.g. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), somatic/mindfulness techniques, talk therapy and other therapies. Check my tools or blog for some self-help tools and exercises to help with anxiety.
If you think that you might be suffering from an anxiety disorder, check out the Anxiety Symptom Checklist or the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Test (DASS-42). Give me a call or send me an email to see how I can help.