When it is Time to Get Counseling for My Anxiety?
By: Jessica Taylor, LPC
It is true that feeling stressed or anxious at times are part of being human. If we didn’t have a little bit of anxiety, we might not feel motivated to go to work or pay our bills. Because of this, it is sometimes difficult to determine when it is time to get help from a professional.
Here are some questions to ask yourself if you are thinking that you might need counseling for anxiety:
- Are you having issues falling or staying asleep?
If you find it difficult to fall asleep at night, or often wake up in the middle of the night and struggle to get back to sleep, chances are that your anxiety is the culprit. Just when we are winding down at night and starting to get tired, it is almost like the anxious part of our brain realizes this and decides to take full advantage. This often results in racing thoughts and/or physical symptoms such as chest pains or a racing heartbeat. In addition, if we are not getting enough sleep at night, this makes us even more susceptible to feel anxious again the next day.
- Are you having trouble concentrating at work?
If you are having intrusive anxious thoughts, it is obviously going to be hard to focus on that project at work. Some people that are experiencing trouble focusing as a symptom of anxiety, don’t even experience racing thoughts, but rather the sensation of feeling numb or “zoning out.” If you find that you are struggling to perform at work, it is important to seek help through counseling, because getting behind on your work duties is only going to worsen your symptoms of anxiety.
- Are you struggling to maintain positive social and/or love relationships?
When you are anxious, it can be extremely difficult to function in relationships. This is because symptoms of anxiety, such as irritability and intrusive thoughts, can make it difficult for others to be around us. In addition, if you are experiencing significant symptoms of anxiety during social interactions, it is probably extremely difficult for you to be engaged in-the-moment with others. Then comes the feelings of shame and inadequacy that only compound the anxiety and may lead to low self-esteem and symptoms of depression.
- Are you isolating yourself from other people or not wanting to go out at all?
When experiencing symptoms of anxiety, it can seem impossible to do things even as simple as going for a walk or to the grocery store. When we avoid the things that we feel are causing us anxiety, this only worsens the symptoms of anxiety and decreases our desire to leave the house.
- Have friends or family noticed a change in you?
Chances are, if a family member or friend mention that you seem different, or even recommend that you go speak to a counselor about your symptoms of anxiety, then your symptoms have gotten to a point where they are worried about you.
What Happens when you go to Counseling for Anxiety
If you are now feeling as though counseling is necessary to help decrease your symptoms of anxiety and increase your daily functioning, your next question is probably: “What happens in counseling?” Here are some strategies that are commonly used by counselors who treat anxiety.
- Mindfulness
If you are feeling anxious, it is really difficult to stay in the present moment. Instead, the anxious part of your brain wants you to focus on things that already happened in the past (which you do not have control over) or things that could happen in the future (which you also do not have control over). Your counselor can teach you strategies to stay in-the-moment, because that is what you have control over!
- Improving Reactions to Thoughts
We do not have control over the automatic thoughts that pop into our head, but we do have control over what we do when they come up. If we go “down the rabbit hole” and buy into what our anxiety brain is telling us, that’s only going to worsen our mood and functioning. Instead, your counselor can teach you to notice and accept the thoughts without buying into them.
- Addressing Basic Needs
Sometimes, decreasing symptoms of anxiety is as simple as getting more sleep and increasing the amount of walks we take throughout the week. Your counselor can help you hold yourself accountable in making sure that you are attending to your body’s basic needs and engaging in self-care strategies.
- Addressing Avoidance
Avoiding the things that make our symptoms of anxiety worse feels really good at first! But by using avoidance as a coping tool, we are only training our brain to send us more intense symptoms of anxiety when we are attempting to engage in that anxiety-provoking behavior later.