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time posted
Oct 21, 2020

How Can You Control Anxiety?

Counselling-Calgary.original

Everyone gets a little anxious once in a while. Anxiety is a natural reaction that prepares your body to respond in difficult situations. It’s our very own natural alarm system that lets you know there is danger. It is controlled by adrenaline. Adrenaline is the hormone that gets released when you are stressed, excited, or in a threatening situation.

Adrenaline prepares your body for fight or flight by stimulating energy releasing processes in the body. Your heart pumps faster, and breathing rate increases to rapidly supply your muscles with oxygen enabling them to burn glucose to produce more energy. That energy helps you face your fears, finish your work before the deadline, dodge oncoming traffic, and so much more.

The sudden adrenaline release also called a rush, boosts your energy to get things done. However, the constant release of adrenaline does not benefit your health, especially when it is ejected without any perceived danger. It is what causes an unhealthy anxious state.

Problematic anxiety is overwhelming, uncontrollable, and manifests unexpectedly. You become worried over ordinary circumstances because your adrenaline is operating on overdrive. Moreover, this anxious state is intrusive. It cripples your ability to concentrate or do any meaningful work. You easily become overwhelmed because your body is reacting to thoughts and feeling happening within you.

Constant anxiety leaves you feeling agitated because your body wrongfully perceives danger and prepares to fight, flight and freeze. In reality, you could be preparing to sleep or doing some work. Worse still, the sudden energy boost makes you restless and very irritable.

Can I Control My Anxiety

A psychologist and psychotherapist will help you identify the cause of your anxiety and provide practical solutions to help you cope when that alarm system does go off. Realizing you need a psychologist is one thing, taking the step to invest with a Calgary psychologist is another. It important to find a therapist that you can easily access and most importantly that you relate to when making the decision to see a psychologist. It is best to find a counselor near where you live. For instance, if you live within Calgary, then look for anxiety counseling in Calgary that has therapists that specialize in anxiety help.

Finding psychologists in Calgary that specialize in anxiety will help you get solutions and learn to cope with your anxiety without the additional burden of long-distance traveling. Adding traveling to the mix can be a potential anxiety trigger. You will have traffic to beat, time to keep, and an anxious mind in one setting. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to look for psychologist that lives within your area.

Proximity enables you to get help at the earliest convenience. It eases the process of scheduling visits and maximizes counseling time.

The Role of the Psychologist in Anxiety Counselling

Once you find a good psychologist, they will help you understand your condition and find solutions that are suitable for you. Most psychologists will help guide you in the right direction while addressing your thinking patterns, assessing your triggers, and helping you understand how to deal with your anxiety when its activated.

In therapy, there is no one size fits all. While there are standard therapeutic interventions applied in counseling, the suitability varies for every individual. People are diverse and respond differently to different situations. Your psychologist has to understand you as an unique individual: your habits, mannerisms, perception of life, and so forth to approach your situation.

Your therapist will ask questions about your anxiety, like when you first began experiencing anxiety, frequency and any environmental changes that may have triggered the manifestation of anxiety. The solutions are meant to empower you to solve the problems and take charge of the situation. They will guide to enable you to manage your anxiety with a fresh perspective and new mindset.

The therapist's role is not simply problem sharing when it comes to anxiety, therapy in Calgary is about enhancing your ability to cope with anxiety, giving you tools to minimize anxious feelings and keep you on the right path when noticing symptoms.

We want you to feel in charge.

Practical Solutions for Controlling Your Anxiety.

There are simple everyday solutions that can help you manage anxiety and will help you manage the symptoms and avoid having higher degree of symptoms.

  • Exercising– One of the best medications, getting your heart rate up is so important to combat anxiety and will help you release excess energy in your body.
  • Practice “You are Not Your Thoughts” – We have countless thoughts in any given day and if you over identify with your thinking it can take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. This small step is about developing your self-awareness to a level of seeing the difference between being (YOU) and thinking (Just your thoughts).
  • Develop a Pivot Mantra – A pivot mantra is a strategy to help you remember who you and is designed to re-direct you away from your thoughts. This helps to distance yourself from whatever worrisome thought you are having. An example would be as follows, “My thoughts are not real, I do not trust this thinking. I am good, whole and I got this”.
  • Breathing- Breathing techniques are essential because anxiety attacks increase your breathing rate and cause shortness of breath causing you to hyperventilate. Deep breathing and having a quick method available can be very effective for reducing your anxiety. Check out this link to a very powerful and quick exercise. Breathing Exercise
  • Journaling- Writing down your thoughts and emotions helps you process them better. It also helps you identify challenges and discover themes. Journaling is a great tool to help improve your self-awareness and gain new insights about yourself.
  • Take a Walk and Get Outside - Your mind and body are connected and physical activity helps your mind cope easier. It is the reason why anxiety attacks worsen when there is minimal physical activity. Furthermore, walking betters your circulation and breathing. It is also a good source of sensory distractions. The sights, breeze, and sounds will get your mind off your worries.

It is important to seek the help of a psychologist if your anxiety is unmanageable. Constant adrenaline rush negatively affects your health. Do not wait until the problem is out of hand to find a psychologist.

There are plenty of psychologists in Calgary that specialize in anxiety therapy. If you live within this area make sure to visit their offices and find the help you need. Do not suffer alone when there is plenty of help available.

Author
I am the founder of One Life Counselling and Coaching LTD and I am honored to lead a team of professional psychologists, psychotherapist’s and life coaches who dedicate their professional lives to helping people to elevate their mindsets, evolve their beliefs and learn to thrive in the present moment.
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