When people think of anxiety, they often picture panic attacks or someone who is visibly nervous (think about the person breathing heavily into a paper bag). But most anxiety doesn’t look like this at all. It looks like overthinking. It looks like replaying conversations in your head, checking your phone constantly, struggling to relax, even when nothing is wrong. You always feel on edge for no clear reason.
For many people I work with, this anxiety developed for a reason. Maybe you grew up in an unpredictable home. Maybe you had to stay alert to avoid conflict. Maybe you learned that being prepared was the only way to stay safe. Your brain learned early on, “If I stay on guard, I’ll be alright.” The problem is that your nervous system never turns off. Anxiety is hardwired into our DNA and is necessary for our survival as a human species. In therapy, we don’t try to “get rid” of anxiety. Instead, we get curious about it. We will explore:
- What is your anxiety trying to protect you from?
- When did you first learn to be on edge?
- What would safety feel like right now?
Little by little, you learn that you don’t have to live in constant alert mode, and you can trust yourself more than your fear.
If anxiety has been running your life, it doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It simply means your systems has learned how to survive, and now it’s ready to learn something new.
