Have you been feeling suddenly restless or nervous? Maybe you’ve noticed you’ve had to catch your breath more frequently. Your concentration may be waning, and it’s hard to keep up with daily tasks and future plans. You’ve had moments where your heart has been beating faster when you think about specific relationships or tasks.
If any of these experiences are familiar, you may be facing anxiety.
People often underestimate anxiety. Viewing your life through a lens of fear can be debilitating and can cause your overall mental, physical, and emotional functioning to be limited.
Our South Tampa anxiety counselors know that living with anxiety can be overwhelming. Our Tampa anxiety counselor has some tips to help you find support.
Reach Out to a Professional Counselor
If you’re noticing that you’re struggling with anxiety, a first line of defense could be to get help from a Tampa anxiety counselor. Anxiety manifests in many different ways, and a qualified therapist can help you understand where your anxiety is coming from, how it’s showing up, and identify strategies to help get it under control again.
Practice What You Learn
In addition to increasing awareness about your anxiety, therapy can help equip you with healthier coping mechanisms to reduce your distress.
However, all the coping mechanisms in the world won’t help you if you don’t put time into practicing them.
Work on building your new skills outside of session. Most of the change people experience when they go to therapy is due to their actions outside the therapy hour. Believe that your healing is worth the effort and time required. You deserve it!
Recruit Trustworthy Friends and Family
If you have a support system, fill them in on what’s going on. If you might need accountability to practice your new skills or work on homework outside of therapy, ask someone to help you remember. Tell someone how to support you in the event of an anxiety attack or panic attack.
Our Tampa anxiety counselors stress the importance of being vulnerable about your anxiety with someone you trust can increase your feelings of safety and help you know that you don’t have to carry it all on your own.
Find a Group
You may have heard of groups to help people who struggle with substance abuse or codependence. Did you know that there are also groups exclusively designed to help people who are suffering with their anxiety? There are groups where you learn and practice skills (and have the aforementioned accountability built in), groups that help process your anxiety with art and other experiential activities, and many organizations even offer support groups.
Connecting with others who understand the challenges of dealing with anxiety can be an impactful addition to your treatment and help you remember that you’re not alone.
Acknowledging that you are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety can be scary. Anxiety symptoms can also be unsettling. However, anxiety is also very manageable. Please reach out to our Tampa anxiety counselor to start getting the help you deserve.
