Anxiety and panic:
You probably suffer from anxiety if you:
• Worry excessively
• Feel insecure in public
• Are fearful of specific situations such as airplanes, bridges, freeways, elevators, etc.
• Often feel tense, nervous, jittery, or irritable
• Are kept awake at night by your busy mind
• Have frequent headaches, gastrointestinal problems or unexplained chest pains
• Experience panic attacks (may include racing heart, shortness of breath, hot/cold flashes, dizziness, an unfounded sense of impending doom)
• Can’t eat due to worry, or the opposite – self soothe by eating compulsively or snacking excessively
Some of my clients feel anxious all the time, but most find their anxiety symptoms are exacerbated by particular situations or circumstances. Some feel anxious in social situations, others in very specific circumstances like tunnels or elevators. Yet others worry that every unusual bodily sensation may be evidence of a life-threatening disease. What all of these have in common is a sense of not feeling in control. When circumstances cause you to lose that sense of control, your nervous system goes into fight or flight mode to try to reassert it. You may experience this as anything from a mild tension to a full-fledged debilitating panic attack.
Unfortunately, the way most people instinctively react to anxiety is to avoid whatever circumstances or activities seem to trigger it. If you’ve been trying this you’ve probably discovered that avoidance (a) takes a lot of energy, (b) limits your possibilities in life, and (c) is impossible to maintain in the long run. Inevitably circumstances arise to provoke your anxiety. Deep, lasting change requires a shift from trying to avoidyour anxiety to discovering its roots so as to fundamentally transform it.
Whether a lifelong problem for you or something that started out of the blue one day, anxiety can be so all- consuming that you may wonder whether anything can be done about it. I find however, that most people actually experience significant shifts in a relatively small number of sessions of Coherence Therapy. As we begin to shed light on what drives your anxiety and you regain your sense of agency, you will once again be able to re-engage in your full range of normal activities and even more importantly to relax.
If these symptoms resonate with you and you’d like an opportunity to make a change, I invite you to give it a try and schedule a free initial consultation.