anxiousAll of us at one time or another have felt anxious.  We all experience the feelings; that terrible sensation in the pit of our stomach that something disastrous is going to happen.

Feeling scared or concerned can often lead to headaches and muscle pain due to the tension building up in the body.  It is the pressure felt when you worry about a particular problem or situation such as:

  • Will I pass my examinations?
  • Will my plane crash?
  • Will I or my loved one recover from _______________ fill in the blank!

Anxiety is one of the ways our brain and body has of preparing for possible upsetting events that could happen to us.  It's called our flight or fight response to danger when our bodies naturally receive adrenalin in large doses.  No matter how hard we try to stay calm, there are bound to be anxious moments in our lives that we normally manage to deal with over time, or once the problem causing the anxiety is resolved.

Anxiety Disorder, on the other hand, is far more serious.

Feeling anxious about a subject that will not go away and seems to actually worsen with time, sometimes to the extent that you may be obsessing over your problems, can have dreadful consequences.  With anxiety disorder the problems you have never seem to go away, the more anxious you are about a problem the more problems you create and feelings of helplessness worsen even with ever greater levels of adrenalin running into your system.  The adrenalin itself is a very powerful chemical to be dealing with if it is maintained at such high levels in the body for a long time.

It is important to remember that Anxiety Disorder is an actual medical condition and should not be seen as a weakness on your part.  It is your body and mind saying they need help, they are out of balance.

As a rule of thumb, if you have been worried about a problem without a solution for more that two to three months, or if this worry is recurring, then we suggest you seek help from a therapist.  You need someone who is familiar with anxiety and is trained in ways of identifying your worries and who will be able to show you ways to overcome your anxious feelings.

A psychosomatic Therapist is recommended, as they treat, not just the isolated problem, but the entire body and mind in a holistic manner, giving you practical cost effective skills to release what can be months of tension.

Symptoms associated with feeling anxious are:

  • Feeling restless or on edge
  • Dry mouth
  • Muscle pains (usually the jaw or back)
  • Feeling tired all the time
  • Lack of energy
  • Difficulty sleeping (restless, unable to fall or stay asleep)
  • Nightmares
  • Feeling Irritable most of the time
  • Concentration is extremely difficult
  • Low Libido
  • Sweating
  • Trembling
  • Irritable bowel

Feeling anxious can be reduced by a change in diet and exercising, receiving counselling and group support.   However, this doesn't provide a complete solution.  Professional advice must be sought.

Louise Wood is a fully qualified Psychosomatic Therapist and attests to the power of the body to communicate what is truly going on for the individual.  The mind does create emotions in the first place, but once those emotions have taken root in the body, the mind doesn't know how to release them!  Without help the body is on a recorded loop of patterns and triggers that must be dealt with through the body itself, not just the mind.

Louise is also an accredited trainer/teacher of a Government Accredited Certificate III Level in Psychosomatic Therapy.  For more information, contact Louise personally.