Anxiety

Anxiety is the “Nice Person” disease.

Some people like to say that anxiety is the “nice person” disease. In a lot of ways, I think that’s true.

Take Pamela for example.

Pamela thought she was having a heart attack.

Pamela was exhausted and afraid when she came to her first session.

She had been to the ER several times in the last few months. Each time, she thought she was having a heart attack – or something. Her heart pounded, she felt like she couldn’t breathe, and she was afraid she was dying.

Each time she was told her heart was fine. She wasn’t having a heart attack; she had experienced a panic attack.

The doctors prescribed an anti-anxiety medication and suggested she might want to “get counseling” for her stress.

The medication helped a little.

It took the edge off, but she was still filled with anxiety and continued to have panic attacks.

Finally, she decided she would try counseling.

It was a hard decision, though, because in her culture counseling wasn’t something “we” do. That’s for other people.

She cared for others but failed to care for herself.

During our first few sessions, I learned that Pamela was a person who had spent her life taking care of others.

She was constantly worried about what others thought of her and whether she was meeting their expectations. She did her best to keep everyone around her on an even keel.

Meanwhile, she was going under.

Her childhood past finally caught up with her present.

Something that was true of Pamela and is true of many people who struggle with anxiety was a secret she had kept from childhood, an experience of abuse she had never shared.

And there were other traumas as well.

She had never been given the support or opportunity to work through these painful experiences, and eventually they took a toll.

As we worked together, Pamela gradually healed.

She took the time to grieve the losses she had experienced as a child and young adult. She also learned new skills.

She learned how to calm herself down when she was on the verge of a panic attack. She learned how to think about situations and relationships in ways that changed how she felt. She learned she wasn’t selfish for saying “no” sometimes and for taking care of her legitimate needs and wants.

Like Pamela, healing begins by reaching out.

Pamela is one person, and not everyone experiences anxiety in the same way. Whether you identify with Pamela’s experience or whether your anxiety feels different, I encourage you to reach out to me.

Let’s have a conversation about where you are and where you might be in the near future.

Reach out for peace today by calling (214) 458-0647 for a 15-minute phone consultation.