Anxiety Therapy in Annapolis
Do you constantly worry about the future and things out of your control?
Do you experience unease and nervousness often with no apparent reason?
Do you have a hard time falling asleep because you can’t turn your mind off?
When we are anxious, we feel unease, tension, and nervousness. We may even experience changes in our body such as sweating, increased heart rate, more shallow rapid breathing. Other symptoms of anxiety may include a sense of impending danger, feeling weak or tired, trouble concentrating or thinking, or losing touch with the present reality.
Anxiety is our body’s response to threat or danger. Our anxiety response is hardwired in all of us by way of the central nervous system. Occasional anxiety is normal given that it helps us deal with everyday life situations which require us to be alert and focused.
Here’s an example: You’re walking down the street and suddenly become aware of a large dog that does not appear friendly galloping towards you. If you’re like most people, you may become nervous, on-edge, and your heart rate may increase. These changes are designed to help you to be alert to the situation, gather yourself, find safety, or face the dog in a firm assertive way. In this way, healthy anxiety/fear is present to help protect you.
However, anxiety becomes a problem when it’s experienced excessively, often, and without an immediate danger. To put it another way, we can find ourselves anxious and on alert much of the time without the dog around.
Anxiety is uncomfortable so naturally we find ways to lower or avoid our anxiety. That is very normal. If we have anxiety in social situations, we may avoid social gatherings even if we yearn for human connection. If certain emotions such as sadness or anger make us anxious, we may avoid certain people that trigger these emotions even though we may care for them. We may have general unease most of the time for no apparent reason and use various forms of relaxation to ease our tensions. While these ways of dealing with our anxiety may work and ease us in some way, we may never deal with things at a deeper level.
Psychotherapy can help you better understand anxiety, help you deal with it at a deeper level so that you can live with more freedom and calm.
