Anxiety
If stress and worry are the symptoms, anxiety is the culmination. Anxiety has a cognitive element (worry) and a physiological response (stress), which means that we experience anxiety in both our mind and our body. “In some ways,” Dr. Marques said, “anxiety is what happens when you’re dealing with a lot of worry and a lot of stress.”
If you are interested in reading more about the differences between worry, stress, and anxiety, visit this article.
Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.
At some point during my own mental health challenges, I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life. For example, you may feel worried and anxious about sitting for an exam or having a medical test or job interview.
During times like these, feeling anxious can be perfectly normal. But some people find it hard to control their worries. Their feelings of anxiety are more constant and can often affect their daily lives.
GAD is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than 1 specific event. People with GAD feel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed.
In Coaching, we reflect on our thinking → emotions → behavior → results. Anxiety starts with your thoughts and can spiral into a narrative (story) you tell yourself and believe to be true. There are many other aspects to this complicated inhibiting emotion. At a physiological level, it often feels like a rollercoaster (wave) of nausea.
Stop for a moment and think about what you are anxious about. Here is a great article on Navigating Anxiety using Emotional Intelligence.