Anxiety……just the word inspires butterflies in your stomach doesn’t it? Anxiety is so many things and absolutely everyone on the planet experiences some amount of anxiety in their lives. Anxiety encapsulates many other feelings – worried, scared, nervous, terrified, and upset just to name a few.
Anxiety that is brought on by stress at work, loss of a loved one or pet, financial troubles, and unexpected changes is very normal. However, if anxiety, starts to consume you, it may be time to seek help. Check out the clinical symptoms below. If you answer “yes” to any of these, you are encouraged to talk to a therapist and/or your doctor.
- Do you find yourself worrying often? About anything? About everything?
- Do you lose sleep because your thoughts are racing, and you can’t settle down for the night?
- Do you have panic attacks? (Panic attack symptoms include feeling like you can’t breathe, hyperventilating, fearing you are dying or having a heart attack, racing heart, sweaty palms).
- Have you recently experienced a trauma? This can include loss of a loved one/pet, accident, house fire, returning home after a tour of duty with armed forces, sexual assault, physical abuse or history of childhood abuse. Also see the Trauma page.
If you are interested in treatment for anxiety, you can visit Psychology Today to find a therapist near you. Another option if you do not want to go the insurance route is to use a platform such as BetterHelp.