Feeling Overwhelmed? How to Know If It’s Anxiety
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night panicked because you forgot to do something? Your mind immediately starts racing trying to remind you of all the things you need to do for the day and you already feel exhausted. You go throughout your day on edge, waiting for the next “bad thing” to happen and if it doesn’t you feel drained by the end of the day because of how alert your body was. You know this isn’t how you want to live your life, but you don’t know any other way.
You shouldn’t have to go through life feeling constantly on edge.
Imagine what life would be like if your mind could be peaceful. If your mind was so at peace it would let you be in the present moment completely. Whether you’re hanging out with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, or simply relaxing, you are fully engaged, not distracted by thoughts of what could go wrong. You trust yourself to handle whatever comes your way. You find joy in the simple moments, not consumed by a constant feeling of unease or dread. Your life feels balanced, with room to hold both challenges and joy.
But how do we get there?
First let’s look at what the criteria for anxiety is…
This is such a big question that so many people ask and I first want to say: you know your experience best and no test is going to perfectly define your experience. Also, this is not a formal way to diagnose you, but I hope this gives you some ways to figure out if anxiety is something you struggle with!
If we’re going to get technical, the symptoms defined in the DSM-5 (the manual for diagnosing mental health issues) are:
-Feeling anxious more days than not for at least 6 months about a number of activities
-Finding it difficult to control the worry
-The anxiety/worry is associated with 3 or more of the following symptoms:
Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge
Being easily fatigued
Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
Irritability
Muscle tension
Sleep Disturbance
Now, what can help if these are symptoms you’re experiencing? Great question! In my practice, I like to get to know my clients and how they are experiencing anxiety first so we can create a game plan together for how to address it. If my client has racing thoughts, we might work on tools to interrupt those thoughts so that they don’t spend all their time and energy consumed by them. Or if my client is having trouble going to bed, we might focus on practical ways to lower their anxiety before bed so they can go to sleep sooner and get more restful sleep.
You are unique and your experiences should be honored as unique! Whatever way you experience anxiety, I would love the opportunity to enter into that with you and help you find the tools to meet your specific needs.
If you want to learn more about how I work with anxiety, click here.