Do you sometimes find yourself feeling anxious for no reason? Do you worry about things even though you reasonably know you have no need to worry? If you answered ‘yes’ to both of these questions, then this blog post is for you!
How Common is Anxiety These Days?
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reports that 40 million people each year, or about 18 percent of the US population suffers from anxiety. That’s a lot of people, and only a fraction of them are treated for it. This means it’s something not nearly as many people get help for as need it, but I’ll come back to that later.
It All Starts in Childhood
There are at least a couple of factors that cause people to have anxiety. Some of it owes to genetics. One study by the National Academy of Sciences suggests that up to 30% of our anxiety is genetically inherited. Aside from that, anxiety owes itself to a little thought of experience in toddler-hood where you first made the emphatic statement “NO!” to your parents or caregivers. Once that magic word came out of your mouth, all the fear about parental retribution came flooding in. These people are like gods to a 2 year old kid, so it stands to reason children would get afraid after such a statement.
How the Anxiety Keeps Coming Up
This was only one instance, you say. That’s true, but through a little known mental mechanism of transference, the whole emotional dynamic gets repeated again and again. It happens with teachers, police officers, spouses, bosses, etc. It can happen at even the thought of voicing something that smacks of defiance, and the whole anxiety-producing cycle gets going again. It can be especially bad if the first reaction to your toddler defiance was negative, but it can happen even if there was no reaction at all. Maybe your parents or caregivers abandoned you instead of punished you. This wound up being a punishment anyway because you were left alone to contend with the aftermath of defiance instead of being treated in an accepting manner.
Okay, So What Do I Do About It?
I’m not here to say it’s your parents’ fault you have anxiety; I am here to help you understand the source of it. As far as what to do about it is concerned, understanding where it came from can help you start to alleviate it. Coping skills for anxiety include learning and practicing things like deep breathing, which helps treat the biological part of anxiety. Much of that relates to breathing too shallow causing people to suffer from panic attacks. Another way is to write down the thoughts that are coming up in your mind related to anxiety. Many people have catastrophizing thoughts related to their anxiety. By this I mean thoughts that focus on horrible worst-case scenario outcomes in the future that practically never happen, but can cloud people’s perception of reality. Getting professional help can also be beneficial, although psychiatrists are discouraged from prescribing anti-anxiety medications that can be habit forming, like Klonopin. Therapists can be very helpful in treating anxiety.
What I Can Do To Help
I’ve been helping people overcome anxiety for over 10 years as a licensed therapist, and can assure you there’s always something that can be done to help people reduce their level of anxiety. While totally getting rid of it isn’t an overnight thing, there are lots of things that I can show you that can help make it much more manageable. In addition to some of the coping skills mentioned above, I use two forms of therapy in my practice that are good at helping people reduce anxiety: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and Image Transformation Therapy (ImTT). Both of these forms of therapy help treat the early life origins of anxiety, as well as those factors that contribute to ongoing anxiety. You can call me for a free 15-minute phone consult at 512-648-3053 to find out more about how I can help you with your anxiety problem. I can also be reached by filling out the form below. Whatever you do, reaching out for help is bound to be better than what you’ve been doing up to this point to get rid of the anxiety you’ve been suffering from.
About the author: Scott Kampschaefer, LCSW is a private practice therapist in Frederick, Maryland. He has an extensive background in working with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder at a clinic for older adults with these disorders in Austin, Texas. He now works with adults and adolescents 14 and up in private practice. His new e-book is entitled Life’s Lessons from the Young and the Old and is available for purchase on Amazon.
Visit our page on anxiety therapy to learn more about how Scott can help you with anxiety.