– What is Anxiety Anyways?

Last Updated on September 14, 2015 by Chris Roberts

HOW COUNSELING FOR ANXIETY IN NASHVILLE, TN CAN BE OF HELP TO YOU.

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent forms of emotional discomfort.   However, few people turn to anxiety counseling for help.  Anxiety counseling in Nashville, Tennessee, because we are embedded in the cultural section of the country known as the South, is often seen as an unnecessary crutch or admittance of significant deficit in functioning ability.   And whether in Nashville or not, therapy as a whole carries a certain secretive connotation that is not necessarily harmful.  However, when it comes to anxiety, there are often many people who do not seek the help that is available through counseling that could be extremely beneficial to their lives.

Counseling for anxiety is beneficial for many reasons, one of which is to simply help a person gain a greater understanding of how anxiety functions and the ways in which anxiety impacts a person’s life.  Further, left on its own, anxiety does not just go away.  We will talk more about why this is true, but the reason counseling for anxiety in Nashville, Tennessee is important is because it must be proactively addressed in order for the underlying root causes to be dealt with in an effective manner.  There are many well-written self-help books and other modalities for helping with anxiety such as good friends and pastors, but oftentimes the expertise of a counselor is what ultimately helps a person overcome this frustrating experience.

Anxiety is a cruel master, because it is so tricky to nail down, and it can permeate so many areas of a person’s life.  Anxiety counselors are trained to see beyond the immediate impact of its symptoms and to provide valuable insight as to why all previous attempts at reducing anxiety have not been ultimately successful.  At its core, anxiety is a heightened state of awareness that believes harm could be lurking around the next corner.  A heightened state of awareness means many things, including: increased blood pressure, fidgety, quick breathing, racing thoughts, unstoppable thoughts and circular thinking.  Anxiety is different than fear, because fear is a legitimate response to an immediate threat.  An example would be a thunderstorm.  If you are in the middle of an open field with lightening strikes and thunder booming all around, fear would be an appropriate response.  Fear would kick in adrenaline, and you would be prudent to run for cover or a low lying area.  Your heart should be racing, and your muscles should be pumping as the threat of being struck by lightening is real and immediate.  Anxiety would look more like being in a safe, dry office on ground level and when you hear thunder, you react as if you are in an open field.  Or, when you learn that there is a thunderstorm predicted for sometime during the day, it is hard for you to call down and focus on normal tasks, because you are so preoccupied with where the storm is, and where it will hit.  Anxiety also has at its core this principle: You worry about a hazardous event happening even though the realistic probability of that event happening is extremely low.  For instance, it is possible a building can be struck by lightening and the people inside can be hurt.  But the realistic probability of that occurring is extremely, extremely, small.

Counseling for anxiety is important, because it helps people understand that their anxiety is not “irrational,” and can help people put their worries into an appropriate context.  In one sense, anxiety can be considered an irrational reaction to a certain event.  But irrationality is not a kind label to place over this worry that can overwhelm a person.  Most people with anxiety know it is irrational.  That is not the issue.  The issue is that anxious people don’t feel they have the power or resources to make it go away.

An anxiety counselor becomes important, because a good counselor will be patient and kind with the person’s particular worry.  Effective anxiety counseling in Nashville, TN is more concerned with helping a person understand their anxiety, rather than just making the person stop being anxious.  Most people who have anxiety have struggled with this functioning for many, many years.  Anxiety becomes an imbedded, neurological response to perceived fears that have been enacted countless times for a long period of time.

Taking the first step to locate quality anxiety counseling in Nashville, TN is not an easy exercise either…because it’s anxiety provoking to meet new people and ask for help!  Chris Roberts is an anxiety counselor in Nashville, Tennessee who understands the complications and frustrations of dealing with excessive worry.  When you are ready, Chris would love to talk with you a little about your worries.  If you live in or around the Nashville area please feel free to give Chris a call at (615) 800-9260, to see if he could be a good fit for you, or to connect you with someone who can best meet your needs.