Good Nature

Anxiety isn’t inherently a bad thing- it’s a signal that alerts us to have caution in a specific situation. Healthy anxiety is anxiety that shows up when it’s needed, and seems to be proportionate to the trigger for anxiety. For example, low to moderate level anticipatory anxiety is pretty normal before giving a presentation when it’s important to the person to do well. 

 

Anxiety becomes problematic when it lingers around more than it should, or it’s blown out of proportion given the trigger. Examples of this would be low to moderate anxiety that seems to always be present (known clinically as “Generalized Anxiety”), or a full blown panic attack in a situation like giving a presentation when the consequences of messing up aren’t that big. Think of these types of anxiety as an overactive smoke detector- something has trained the nervous system to over respond. Some goals of anxiety therapy are to figure out how that “setting” got turned on, and exploring what the anxiety is signaling that the person needs in order to be less anxious.

 

So what are some signs that your anxiety could use some therapeutic support?

 

You might notice that you overthink frequently, running situations that have happened or situations that could happen over and over again in your mind to the point where it stresses you out. You might notice that your anxiety makes you frequently eat or sleep way more or less than you intended. You might notice that it’s just generally very hard for you to relax. You might notice that feelings of uneasiness get in the way of navigating specific situations the best you can, such as uneasiness tied to work or social situations.

 

However your anxiety is showing up, it’s an important signal from your nervous system about what you need, and we can help you decode that signal.