Anxiety Disorders
Sarah* thinks she is an imposter.
Sarah is a 35-year old married woman. She has two young children, lives in a great neighborhood, is well traveled and educated, with a polite cheerful disposition.
When I first met Sarah, she sat on the edge of the chair and spoke so fast that it looked as if she was rushing to get somewhere else.
She avoided my gaze throughout the session, couldn’t identify what was wrong, and smiled often, even when her tears came down.
“I’m not sure I should be here. I am supposed to be grateful for all that I have, but I just can’t feel anything. I look at my body, but it doesn’t belong to me. I do, do, do, all day long; but the list is just getting longer.
“I feel like everyone is just taking another piece of me. I’m just worried that there is nothing left in me to give. I am an imposter waiting to be discovered. The other day, I wanted to get in the car, drive, and never come back – and it really scared me. What type of mother wants to do something like that?”
This was my first encounter with Sarah.
She was so overwhelmed, sleep deprived, and worried about doing the right thing that she lost a sense of who she was.
She was preoccupied with lists and worries. The “what-ifs” were constantly playing out in her head.
The more she tried to avoid thinking, the bigger those worries grew.
Anxiety can suck all the life out of you.
Suddenly, you are no longer in control, but on autopilot.
You focus on finishing tasks, but there is no meaning or joy in anything you do. Each day is just like the day before.
It takes so much energy just to make it through the day. Your muscles are tight, you are irritable, and you worry that one day you will lose it all together.
Too much anxiety overwhelms the system.
While some levels of anxiety can be helpful in motivating us to get things done and accomplish goals, too much of it can overwhelm our nervous system, tricking it to think that we are in danger.
This is when we attack: “I didn’t mean to yell at you.” Or when we escape: “I can’t be around you right now.” Or when we freeze: “I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep… I can’t even feel my body.”
Avoidance, procrastination, and fear just feed into the anxiety, giving it more power and ammunition.
But sometimes, there is this tiny voice that tells you that anxiety does not need to control you. There is a way out of this limbo. There is hope.
You should be listening to that voice.
In therapy, you will learn to run toward all that is scary.
Yes. Instead of feeding into the fear, you will learn to run toward it.
And guess what? When you stop being afraid, anxiety loses its gripping power over you. You CAN be free!
In therapy, you will learn to feel safe first within your own body.
You will learn to identify triggers, work with positive sensations as well as uncomfortable ones, find your own voice, and allow yourself to be worthy of all that you have given to others.
You will learn to identity, challenge, and replace faulty cognitions; work through unresolved conflicts; and, finally, be able to slow down, so you can meet your authentic self.
*Name changed to insure client confidentiality.
Let’s connect today, so you can begin LIVING tomorrow!
Please call me at (858) 779-0114.
