One of the best ways to deal with anxiety is to learn about your own anxiety: your symptoms, what triggers it, and what coping mechanisms have been effective in the past. When you learn what your anxiety is tied to, it can help you be mindful of what's really happening as well as prevent and mitigate symptoms by processing and working through the issue in therapy. Other strategies that have been shown to help manage anxiety are meditation, challenging anxious thoughts, exercising, and journaling.
Explaining what anxiety looks and feels like isn’t a simple feat. In fact, it’s difficult for many people to properly understand all that comes with anxiety if they haven’t experienced it themselves.
To summarize, anxiety refers to racing, uncontrollable thoughts that interfere with one’s normal life. Some people experience anxiety in different situations throughout their day. Stress at work or home might trigger anxious thinking for these individuals. Other people experience anxiety in more specific circumstances. For example, some people experience anxiety as a result of a traumatic event. And when they are reminded of their trauma, their anxiety kicks into high-gear.
The specifics of anxiety can look very different from one person to the next. However, there is a commonality among those who suffer with it: Their anxiety interferes with their ability to live happily and successfully. The good news is that there are mental health professionals who are trained and experienced in helping people deal with these unpleasant thoughts and feelings properly.
Thriveworks Counseling in Toledo, OH offers a variety of mental health services, one being anxiety therapy. We have mental health providers who specialize in helping their clients manage their anxiety properly. This typically involves working together to identify the cause(s) of your anxiety, learning coping mechanisms to employ when you start to feel anxious, and more. If you think anxiety therapy could make a difference in your life, call Thriveworks in Toledo, OH now. We’ll set you up with an anxiety therapist right away.
Anxiety Disorders: What Type of Anxiety Do I Have?
As we started to delve into earlier, there are different types of anxiety. There is the “general” anxiety that people experience in a range of circumstances, which is called generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
There are also other anxiety disorders that are characterized by more specific occurrences of anxiety. For example:
- Social phobia: Social phobia, otherwise called social anxiety disorder, is a form of anxiety that is triggered in social situations. Often, those who suffer with social anxiety worry about being negatively perceived by others, whether they’re giving a presentation, walking in the middle of a large crowd, or engaging in another social situation.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): PTSD is another form of anxiety, though many don’t recognize it as such. This condition can develop after someone experiences a traumatic event and they don’t properly confront the emotions that follow.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): OCD is characterized by repetitive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.Commonly, people with OCD feel compelled to clean or organize. They also perform certain behaviors multiple times, like locking a door or making sure the oven is turned off.
- Panic disorder: This is another form of anxiety, which is characterized by the occurrence of panic attacks. Panic attacks are, unfortunately, often mistaken for heart attacks. Those with panic disorder often feel like they have completely lost control.
Do you think that you may have GAD, social phobia, PTSD, OCD, panic disorder, or another form of anxiety? If you are experiencing symptoms, we ask that you consider talking to a mental health professional. We know that this can feel scary, but it will ultimately help you take better care of your mental health and get back to living a life that you enjoy.
Consult an Anxiety Therapist at Thriveworks Counseling in Toledo, OH
The anxiety therapists at Thriveworks Counseling in Toledo, OH will welcome you with open arms. They have helped many people just like you work to understand what may have triggered their anxiety, how they can better manage their anxiety (be it social anxiety or anxiety that’s characteristic of OCD), and more. They’ll want to get to know you first to design a plan for treatment that will prove most effective.
Thriveworks Counseling can set you up with an anxiety therapist now. All you have to do is call our Toledo office to get started. We hope to hear from you soon, and we look forward to it!
