We all experience anxiety from time to time, you may feel anxious before sitting an exam or going on a job interview. Anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear.
A person with anxiety disorders means the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. Symptoms can affect daily living such as school work, job performance and relationships.
Anxiety can trigger your fight or flight stress response and release chemicals and hormones like Adrenalin into your system. This increases your pulse and breathing rate so your brain can have more oxygen. This response is preparing you to face an intense situation.
If it intensifies you may feel lightheaded and nauseous. If you are in a persistent state of anxiety, this can affect your physical and mental health.
Anxiety disorders can occur at any point of your life. Stressful life experiences can trigger an anxiety disorder. Symptoms may occur immediately or years later if feelings were suppressed.
There are different types of anxiety disorders: Social Anxiety, PTSD, OCD, panic disorders
PTSD develops after witnessing or experiencing something traumatic. Symptoms can happen immediately or are delayed for years. Common causes include war, natural disasters or a physical attack. Episodes may be triggered without warning.
Social Anxiety involves a paralyzing fear of social situations of being judged or humiliated by others. This can leave you feeling ashamed, alone or not worthy.
People with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) may feel overwhelmed with the desire to perform certain rituals over and over again or experience intrusive and unwanted thoughts that can be distressing. Common compulsions include habitual handwashing (a need for cleanliness), counting or checking something.
Panic disorders causes panic attacks, spontaneous feelings of anxiety, terror or impending doom. Physical symptoms include heart palpitations, chest pain and shortness of breath.
I would like to share what happened to one of my clients who experienced social anxiety. He would prefer to remain anonymous at this stage.
He contacted me and explained his reactions, he had all the symptoms of social anxiety, which prevented him from attending any social events. family weddings or friend's birthdays. He knew he needed to face it because it was taking over his life. He agreed to have Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) which is tapping on the meridian points to restore balance to your body's energy. After two sessions he felt safe to share his experience and welled up as he recalled what happened, his body shook as it does when we are letting go of shock, I held a space for him to speak his truth with no judgement or interruptions, after deep sounds from a man shackled, he released the energy that he was holding onto for 10 years. I commended him for his bravery, for his honesty and thanked him for choosing me to open up and express himself.
We are all suffering from one thing or another in this lifetime, if you feel safe with someone who knows what they are doing - you can allow yourself to finally let go of what has created this dis-connection without labelling it.
Most of our traumas happen in childhood, when we do not have the resources to deal with the event or situation. Our mind protects us from the trauma until we are ready to better cope with it. Some people are too afraid to look at their issues, they fear that it will some how be worse if they confront it - this just prolongs the suffering. When we face our fears we can move into acceptance, build trust and self love.
