By Inside Psychotherapy
Anxiety Becomes an Issue When the Feeling Never Goes Away
We all feel anxious from time to time, especially with everything that’s gone on in the past few years. However, if you have an anxiety disorder, that feeling just never seems to go away.
You may have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. Maybe you avoid certain situations out of worry. Additionally, you may even experience physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness, or a rapid heartbeat. Your brain is constantly telling you to be on high alert, even when there is no reason to be.
Basically, anxiety is feeling afraid of something that’s not dangerous. However, the feelings are very real and can interfere with everyday life. They can make it difficult to feel like you are going to be okay.
Anxiety Symptoms Can Be Pervasive
Roughly 20% of adults in the United States are affected by anxiety, but many people are hesitant to seek treatment. This is because anxiety is powerful and persuasive, and usually not in a good way.
Its Main Goal is to Isolate You
Anxiety wants you to feel ashamed and embarrassed, and to keep it a secret.
It doesn’t want you to talk about it, or challenge it because that would weaken it. Anxiety LOVES to be in a power position. It wants to stay in control. Therefore, it urges you to keep it to yourself, not get treatment, and keep your life limited so that it can thrive in your mind and body.
Anxiety Symptoms Can Manifest in Many Ways
Perfectionism
Anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways. Perfectionism, or the belief that if we strive for perfection in everything we do we will be successful and happy, is one of the most common. This may seem like a positive outlook at first glance, but in reality, it is a tool that anxiety uses to cement its place in your life.
If your anxiety and perfectionism are linked, you may be constantly worried that you’re not good enough or that you’ll make a mistake. This can lead to difficulty finishing tasks, as well as feeling overwhelmed and stressed most of the time. Letting go of perfectionism is scary, but also necessary to combat anxiety as a whole.
Addiction
Anxiety is also often linked to addiction, not just to substances but potentially to work or relationships as well. Addiction and anxiety feed off each other, trapping you in a vicious cycle that creates more and more obstacles to overcome. Treating anxiety with an addiction may make you feel better in the moment, but in the long term, it just exacerbates the problem and makes anxiety an even more forceful opponent.
Self Esteem
When you are struggling with an anxiety disorder you also may have difficulties with self-esteem. Self-esteem can be thought of as the overall opinion or evaluation you have of yourself. This includes the judgments you make about yourself and the value you attach to yourself.
Our self-esteem is developed based on how we view other people reacting to us.
Anxiety Likes to Cultivate Negative Self-Worth
Anxiety likes to cultivate poor self-confidence and a lack of self-worth because the lower your self-esteem, the stronger your anxiety gets to be. The problem for most of us when it comes to self-esteem is that it is difficult to accurately read the messages that others are sending about us. We find ourselves feeling less accepted and loved than we really are.
Anxiety Therapy Counters the Inner Negative Dialogue
Anxiety therapy seeks to counter the message that you are not good enough. If you have anxiety, this can be magnified even more. One of the anxiety’s favorite tools is “Negative Self Talk.” It takes control of your inner voice and makes it overly critical. The dialogue you have with yourself turns excessively negative. Therefore limiting your ability to believe in yourself and your own abilities, in turn, heightens your anxiety.
How Does Anxiety Therapy Help?
“Self Care”
You may have heard that a great way to treat anxiety is to increase your self-care methods. While this is true, it’s definitely not as easy as it sounds. Anxiety knows that self-care will weaken it, so it tries to resist and convince you that it’s a bad idea.
If you have anxiety, taking time to administer a healthy dose of self-care can trigger feelings of guilt, or stir up unresolved feelings related to self-worth. This is especially the case if the activity is something you feel like you should do to practice “self-care” correctly, instead of something you know will make you feel better.
This is Not a Battle You Must Fight Alone
Through anxiety therapy, we talk about how anxiety is a powerful foe, but it is also a clever one. At Inside Psychotherapy our skilled team of therapists understands the insidious nature of anxiety.
Even if you address anxiety in one area of your life and feel like you have that under control, it can pop up in other areas. It’s like “Whack-a-mole,” but one person can’t have the unlimited mallets or endurance needed to win! That’s why, for most people, a teammate is needed.
As soon as you begin anxiety therapy, it becomes a 2 on 1 fight against anxiety instead of you trying to win alone! Talking about your feelings in Anxiety Therapy brings them out of the darkness and into the light, allowing you to confront them head-on while being supported the entire time.
Identify Anxiety Triggers With the Help of an Anxiety Therapist
Your therapist will help you to identify your anxiety triggers. Some anxiety has direct causes that you can pinpoint, and some is just random and unexplainable, but all will be addressed in anxiety therapy.
One of the key ways your therapist will introduce you to help reduce anxiety is with challenges to your anxiety, with a lot of support! Through anxiety therapy, you will slowly begin to challenge the things that feel frightening, a little bit at a time, until what once was a daunting task has less and less control over you.
Gain the Tools to Overcome Negative Self-Talk
You will find tools to turn down the volume of the overly negative and worried voice in your head that is holding you back. The reality is that if you suffer from anxiety, you will probably not ever “rid” yourself of it fully. But, you can learn to manage it and improve the quality of your life through anxiety therapy.
Your therapist will serve as your guide and teammate in this experience, helping you find the methods and coping mechanisms that work best for you to be successful in your struggle with anxiety.
Are You Ready to Start Anxiety Therapy in NYC?
Anxiety is the most common mental health challenge in the United States. If you live in a big city and are struggling with anxiety, know that you’re not alone, and professional support is available. At Inside Psychotherapy we have a skilled team of therapists that are ready to help you break the cycle of anxiety. Follow the steps below to get started!
- Learn more about our skilled team of therapists here.
- Fill out our convenient online contact form.
- Begin the journey to a life free from anxiety!
Other Therapy Services Offered at Inside Psychotherapy, NYC.
In addition to Anxiety Therapy, we offer a wide variety of therapy services designed to meet you where you are in your life. We also offer services both online and in person. We also utilize several different treatment modalities including CBT, Eclectic Psychotherapy, Mindfulness, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Our services include therapy for:
