Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the ways that our body reacts to dangerous situations, and in those situations, you could use some anxiety to get out of a pinch. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, your sympathetic nervous system kicks into high gear, and your body sets off a series of processes that enable you to either fight or flee.

Blood flow is redirected toward your muscles and away from organs such as your stomach (leading to that hollow feeling that often accompanies anxiety), your heart rate quickens while your senses become heightened. All this is important, and the body does this to enable you to protect yourself from harm precisely when you need it.

If anxiety and the attendant physiological changes that help to protect you from harm are the body’s reactions towards dangerous situations, what’s the problem?It’s that the body misinterprets everyday situations as life-threatening scenarios.

When anxiety becomes your default reaction to non-life-threatening situations, it can be disruptive to daily life. Setting foot outside your door, talking with a stranger, giving a speech, or making a presentation at work, driving, going on a date or job interview, etc., become agonizingly difficult tasks to perform.

Signs of anxiety

The term “anxiety disorder” describes a situation in which the symptoms of anxiety are present and worsen over time to the point where they begin interfering with a person’s day-to-day life, and this occurs on most days and extends to around six months. In other words, it describes a situation in which anxiety has a grip on a person and prevents them from going about their life.

Some of the anxiety disorders that can afflict someone include:

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Panic disorder
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Phobias

In speaking about anxiety, we started to point out a few of the symptoms of it, and most people will be familiar with what it’s like to experience anxiety in certain situations. Some of the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms of anxiety may be present, but by themselves, they do not necessarily mean you or your loved ones struggle with anxiety.

For instance, feeling fatigued or being irritable might indicate something else, and not necessarily anxiety. To receive a proper diagnosis of either anxiety or an anxiety disorder, it’s important to go to a doctor or ask them for a referral to a mental health professional.

Some of the more common mental, physical, and emotional symptoms of anxiety include:

• shortness of breath or rapid breathing
• profuse sweating, clammy hands
• deep and irrational fears of certain objects, situations, or places
• irritability
• headaches or other aches and pains
• increased or irregular heart rate
• nausea and upset stomach
• fatigue
• difficulties falling or staying asleep
• grinding your teeth
• difficulty concentrating
• muscle tension
• restlessness and edginess
• fluctuations in your libido
• indigestion
• excessive worry
• problems with your short-term memory

Anxiety can disrupt a person’s walking in the fullness of life and joy that God has promised us. Feeling anxious all the time takes its toll on a person’s physical and mental health, and it can affect their social life too. Anxiety can interfere with a person’s professional and work relationships. It can be painful and exhausting to constantly deal with anxiety and can be reflected in poor work and academic productivity.

Because anxiety causes the body to react as it would when under stress, the body releases chemicals such as cortisol. While helpful in the short term, over the long term, exposure to cortisol can contribute to weight gain. Additionally, anxiety and anxiety disorders cause chest pain, increased heart rate, and heart palpitations.

Anxiety can increase your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, while also compromising your immune system and making you more vulnerable to digestive and respiratory issues such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and asthma, respectively. Overall, anxiety and anxiety disorders can cause significant loss of quality of life.

The great news is that the outlook for addressing anxiety and anxiety disorders is good. To limit the impact of anxiety on one’s life, one can employ natural methods, in addition to seeking help via therapy and medication. Your therapist can walk alongside you to develop a treatment plan that is tailored to your specific needs, and that may include therapy, medication, and natural methods as well.

Regarding therapy, one of the most widely used evidence-based therapeutic techniques for anxiety and anxiety disorders is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT helps you to identify and understand negative and unhelpful patterns of thought and behavior, providing you with the tools to replace these with healthy, true-to-life thinking and effective coping mechanisms.

Therapists also make use of a technique called Exposure Therapy, where you’re slowly exposed by your therapist to anxiety-producing situations or objects, to gradually desensitize you to them and help you become better able to cope in their presence.

In addition to therapy, medications may also be prescribed for anxiety and anxiety disorders. These medications are aimed at addressing the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety and they include medications such as tricyclics, anti-depressants, and benzodiazepines. When taking these medications, each person’s reaction to them and the dosage will differ.

The process is a collaborative one that requires clear and honest communication with your doctor so that they know what seems to be working and whether you’re experiencing any side effects. It can take time for the symptoms to begin to subside, and in that period, people are often tempted to stop taking the medication because they feel like it doesn’t work.

The medication does work, but it requires fine-tuning to get the right combination of medication and dosage that maximizes efficacy while reducing possible side effects. When taking medication, it’s important to continue doing so unless and until your doctor directs you otherwise.

Therapy and medication go a long way to addressing anxiety and anxiety disorders, but they can be helped along by making some lifestyle changes that help a person’s overall health and mitigate some of the anxiety symptoms. By taking steps such as getting exercise, eating fresh healthy food, sleeping well, limiting caffeine and alcohol intake, practicing mindfulness, using muscle relaxation techniques, and knowing their triggers, a person can go a long way toward reducing the impact of anxiety on their life.

Dealing with anxiety can be exhausting and painful, and it limits the possibilities of what you can do and enjoy. Compassionate Christian counseling for anxiety can help you reclaim the abundant and peaceful life God intends for you and your loved ones (John 10:10). Christian psychotherapy, while making use of techniques such as CBT, will bring the twin gifts of prayer and God’s wisdom in Scripture to bear on your situation and restore you to wholeness.

Christian anxiety counseling will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of your anxiety and its underlying causes, as well as develop tools to control negative thoughts and assist you to make God-honoring choices for lasting recovery.To help you address your anxiety, your counselor will create a safe space and use not only spiritual resources such as Scripture and prayer but effective tools for anxiety relief devised to meet your specified goals and address your anxiety.

This comprehensive approach to healing the whole person offers lasting solutions to anxiety relief. Your battle with anxiety may have left you feeling tired, but help is available. If you want to find out more about Christian counseling for anxiety, browse through our counselor directory and make an appointment to begin your journey toward peace and joy.