Stress Reduction Tip #1
The Anxiety you experience may be a real, or it may be an imagined threat. Your
emotional system tends to override your cognitive system, which then affects your
behavior.
Behavior becomes automatic when Anxiety is Triggered. Subjective decisions based on internal feelings or affect predominate.
This could result in inadequate decision making and negative consequences. I have included tips on this page to help you reduce your anxiety which is causing your stress.
Overtime, if anxiety persists it can lead to depression, or even physical health problems.
Stress Reduction Tip #2
Stress Reduction Tip #2
There are two types of anxiety existing in complex relationship with each other.
The first is acute anxiety, which generally occurs in response to a real threat and is experienced as time limited. Adaptation to acute anxiety is usually fairly successful, partly because the focus for response or action is clearly defined.
The second is chronic anxiety, which occurs in response to perceived threats, is not experienced as time limited and exists in all individuals to a greater or lesser degree.
Chronic anxiety is influenced by many things but not caused by any one thing. The principal generator of chronic anxiety is the degree of an individual’s sensitivity to real or perceived changes /disturbances in the balance of their relationship systems.
Such sensitivities and subsequent anxiety reactions are generated and fueled by the inherent relational instability set up by the paradox in the human need for togetherness. Belonging and acceptance on the one hand, and for personal autonomy and individuality on the other.
Once triggered, chronic anxiety sets off instinctual responses, actions and reactions that quickly gather momentum and become largely independent of the triggering stimuli. Chronic anxiety is subtle and pervasive and runs like a silent undercurrent guiding all human relationships.
The physical manifestations of anxiety are possibly the most well known and can range from:
Chronic anxiety also affects the way we think and influences how we perceive the circumstances of our lives. It can determine our beliefs, organize our behavior, influence our personality and hijack our emotions. More often than not, we may not be aware that our thinking, feeling and behavior are anxiety driven. Thus, chronic anxiety is a much broader concept than, for example, an anxiety disorder or an episode of acute anxiety symptoms. Although it may never manifest as a disorder or an acute episode, it can certainly include these.
Working to lower one’s level of chronic anxiety can be a self soothing endeavor. Attention to both intrapsychic factors and the way one functions as part of the interactional dynamics of family and other key relationships is something to be explored in Psychotherapy.
In our sessions, we will work together to understand and modify both:
The first is acute anxiety, which generally occurs in response to a real threat and is experienced as time limited. Adaptation to acute anxiety is usually fairly successful, partly because the focus for response or action is clearly defined.
The second is chronic anxiety, which occurs in response to perceived threats, is not experienced as time limited and exists in all individuals to a greater or lesser degree.
Chronic anxiety is influenced by many things but not caused by any one thing. The principal generator of chronic anxiety is the degree of an individual’s sensitivity to real or perceived changes /disturbances in the balance of their relationship systems.
Such sensitivities and subsequent anxiety reactions are generated and fueled by the inherent relational instability set up by the paradox in the human need for togetherness. Belonging and acceptance on the one hand, and for personal autonomy and individuality on the other.
Once triggered, chronic anxiety sets off instinctual responses, actions and reactions that quickly gather momentum and become largely independent of the triggering stimuli. Chronic anxiety is subtle and pervasive and runs like a silent undercurrent guiding all human relationships.
The physical manifestations of anxiety are possibly the most well known and can range from:
- tightened muscles,
- shallow breathing,
- increased heart rate,
- changes in skin temperature
- nausea,
- dizziness,
- suffocation and,
- pain.
Chronic anxiety also affects the way we think and influences how we perceive the circumstances of our lives. It can determine our beliefs, organize our behavior, influence our personality and hijack our emotions. More often than not, we may not be aware that our thinking, feeling and behavior are anxiety driven. Thus, chronic anxiety is a much broader concept than, for example, an anxiety disorder or an episode of acute anxiety symptoms. Although it may never manifest as a disorder or an acute episode, it can certainly include these.
Working to lower one’s level of chronic anxiety can be a self soothing endeavor. Attention to both intrapsychic factors and the way one functions as part of the interactional dynamics of family and other key relationships is something to be explored in Psychotherapy.
In our sessions, we will work together to understand and modify both:
- the position of the self in the system and
- the way the system manifests inside the self.
Please check back for additional Stress Reduction Tips!
