Hidden Anxiety

I am often asked ‘What is the most common reason people seek you out?’.

Without a doubt it’s some form of anxiety.  Anxiety has a sneaky way of hiding itself in a range of seemingly unrelated symptoms.

We’re probably all familiar with the immediate physical symptoms of anxiety – the racing heart, feeling short of breath, a churning stomach or feeling hot and sweaty.

However, in the longer-term anxiety can manifest in a multitude of other ways, some without an obvious connection to our state of mind.   Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a classic example of this, but other physical complaints such as difficulty sleeping, migraines, skin conditions, over-sensitivity to pain or noise, high blood pressure etc. can equally have their foundation in anxiety.

And the list goes on.  Traits that we sometimes regard as part of who we are can also be indications that anxiety levels are running higher than is healthy.  Lack of confidence, fear of change, inability to stand up for yourself, fear of driving, phobias, discomfort in social situations, inability to cope with the simplest of challenges, becoming withdrawn or bad-tempered are just some of the clues that tell us that all is not well.

There is sometimes a perception that “well that’s just how I am”, however by working together in sessions we can often address underlying anxiety, achieving positive changes in areas of life where perhaps a change was least expected.

It’s unlikely any of us will ever be in a situation where there are no potential causes of stress, but we can help ourselves get to a more robust mental state so that we can cope better and alleviate some of the many possible symptoms of stress and anxiety.