Understanding Anxiety
What is My Body Trying to Tell Me and How Should I Deal With It?
3 min read
Many people come to therapy wanting help with anxiety. They identify the anxiety they are feeling in multiple ways: I can’t stop worrying; I have panic attacks and want them to stop; my stomach gets upset all the time when I’m at work, to name a few. So, what exactly is anxiety and why does it present so differently? And most importantly, what can I do about it and how can therapy help?
At tolerable levels, anxiety is perfectly healthy and even adaptive. It serves as a warning signal and motivates us to act. It might be a signal that we need to make changes in our lives. When it is proportionate to what’s happening around us and we are able to regulate it, anxiety is helpful. It is one of the ways that the body signals that we need to pay attention.
But how do we know if anxiety is not healthy and how does psychotherapy help? At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we define anxiety by what happens in the body and we measure the severity of that anxiety by how it shows up. Our bodies tell us quite clearly when anxiety is not at a tolerable level. Anxiety that shows up with tense muscles or a sigh is a low level of anxiety and, if you are in a therapy session, suggests that you are ready to go deeper with your work.
“At Downtown Somatic Therapy, we define anxiety by what happens in the body and we measure the severity of that anxiety by how it shows up.”
Anxiety that shows up in the smooth muscles is a higher level of anxiety. You might be feeling nauseous or feel the need to go to the bathroom. In session, these signs tell your therapist that it’s time to slow down and regulate. Finally, you might start to have trouble thinking or you might experience ringing in your ears. These are signs of really high anxiety that need to be regulated.
In a therapy session, depending on the level of anxiety, your therapist might summarize what has just happened or ask you to name what is going on in your body. Anne Heller, a psychotherapist at Downtown Somatic Therapy, says that by doing this, the two of you are working to bring your pre-frontal cortex on line in order to regulate your anxiety.
Another way your therapist might help you calm your anxiety is to ask you to name things in the room around you or identify what you are experiencing through your different senses. All of this helps ground you and allows your system to stabilize. Learning to notice and regulate your anxiety in therapy will help you to regulate that anxiety in your day-to-day life.
Maybe you are not even aware of the physical anxiety in your body. Perhaps you have developed ways to tamp it down, some of which are really helpful and others that are not. Some of the unhealthy tools that people develop to defend against or calm their anxiety include ruminating thoughts or excessive worrying; discharges such as angry outbursts; or destructive habits including self-harm or substance abuse. Most people are not aware that those behaviors might stem from anxiety.
Whatever your coping mechanisms, our therapists will help you stop the behaviors you don’t want and find healthier ways to regulate your anxiety. Through this work, you’ll achieve a greater sense of calm without hurting yourself or others along the way.
“Whatever your coping mechanisms, our therapists will help you stop the behaviors you don’t want and find healthier ways to regulate your anxiety.”
So, what is going on and why is your body reacting in these different ways? Anxiety is simply our brain’s way of signaling that it has identified some kind of danger. You may be warding off an emotion that feels like too much to handle or that you have never felt safe experiencing. Or your subconscious may be registering a conflict, maybe getting close to someone is stirring up unconscious feelings or something at work has stirred up self-doubt and old wounds related to self-worth. Much of this could be happening out of your awareness, but your brain identifies it as dangerous and your body reacts.
Ultimately, our goal in therapy is to get underneath that anxiety. Through a variety of ways, we’ll work with you to uncover emotions that have long been avoided or deep internal conflicts of which you may not even be aware. By regulating anxiety that is over threshold and processing what’s underneath the anxiety, you’ll be in touch with what is important to you and gain a deeper feeling of wisdom and calm. And, ideally, through work with one of our therapists, you will gain a greater understanding of the emotional language of your body and your brain, allowing you to navigate your life in the ways that you desire.