Do I Have Anxiety and How Do I Overcome it?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “anxiety disorders” affect more than 40 million Americans annually. Overcoming anxiety is one of the most common goals of people seeking therapeutic treatment.
Anxiety is a natural reaction to stress and can be beneficial in some situations. Anxiety creates a physiological response to a real or perceived threat and serves as a natural alarm system to alert us of danger. It creates heightened arousal, releases “fight or flight” hormones and prepares us for action.
Anxiety best serves us when it is acute and time specific; it gives us an edge when preparing for a major event or facing a crisis. Anxiety is problematic when it does not resolve as part of natural process and becomes chronic in nature, often interfering with the quality of life.
The wide variety of ways that anxiety is expressed results in a spectrum of identified anxiety disorders including Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Specific Phobias, Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Professional counsel is often appropriate to assist in understanding the nature of anxiety so that recovery goals can be more effective.
The DSM IV diagnostic manual identifies the following common criteria for anxiety and panic:
- Apprehension, fearfulness or terror
- Feelings of impending doom
- Shortness of breath
- Shaking, sweating
- Heart palpitations, chest pain
- Sensations of choking or smothering
- Fear of losing control or going crazy
- Obsessive thinking or persistent worry
What people describe in terms of their human experience often sounds like this:
- Feeling sense of urgency or pressure
- Frenetic energy that drives activity
- Racing thoughts and difficulty calming the mind
- Inability to relax and stay in the present
- Impulse to escape
What’s important to understand about anxiety is that all of these symptoms are indicators of a system out of balance, not a single deficiency or issue. The key to overcoming anxiety is to incorporate all aspects of the self in a plan for recovery and regaining balance.
Chronic anxiety impacts every aspect of who you are and can lead to a greatly diminished quality of life. Overcoming anxiety and achieving optimal recovery requires addressing the connections between how we think, feel, live, relate and the state of our body.
With this foundation of “A Holistic Approach to Overcoming Anxiety”, future posts will expand on recovery options for your mental, emotional, spiritual, relational and physical self. Be sure to read all six!