Anxiety
What Is Anxiety Really About?
Anxiety is more than just worry—it’s the body and mind’s way of responding to something that feels threatening or overwhelming, even when there’s no real danger. Underneath anxiety, there are often strong emotions—such as fear, sadness, or anger—that feel too difficult to face. To cope, the mind finds ways to block or avoid these feelings. Over time, this inner tension can turn into symptoms like restlessness, panic, physical discomfort, or chronic worry.
Anxiety can take different forms, including:
General anxiety: constant worry, tension, or feeling “on edge”
Social anxiety: fear of being judged, criticised, or rejected in social settings
Phobias: intense fear of specific situations or objects (e.g. flying, public speaking, needles)
Common Symptoms
Excessive or constant worry
Physical symptoms: racing heart, dizziness, sweating
Avoidance of people, places, or tasks
Fear of judgment or embarrassment
Panic attacks
How Therapy Can Help
Anxiety often happens when painful emotions are pushed away or avoided. To protect themselves from overwhelm, people use unconscious emotional coping strategies that keep those feelings hidden. While these strategies help in the short term, they can also keep anxiety going.
Common examples include:
Rationalization: Explaining away hurt with logic to avoid the emotional impact
Intellectualization: Focusing only on facts and ignoring how we feel
Dissociation: Feeling numb or detached to escape overwhelming emotion
Therapy helps you gently notice and move through these coping strategies, so you can safely access and understand your true feelings. This process often brings relief because the mind no longer needs to maintain protective patterns—and the anxiety that comes with them.
Who Can Benefit?
If anxiety—whether general, social, or phobia-related—is interfering with your daily life, relationships, or sense of wellbeing, therapy can help.
Contact me to start your journey toward calm, confidence, and emotional freedom.