Am I anxious or stressed?

Stress and anxiety are both emotional responses that can have similar psychological and physical symptoms.

The easiest way to differentiate between the two is analyze whether the anxiety symptoms you’re experiencing are near constant or more situational. Stress tends to be caused by an external factor causing distress, such as a health issue, financial problem, or high pressure job, which often have an expectation of ending. Typically, once these issues are resolved or removed, the stress dissipates.

Some may experience chronic stress which is caused by ongoing pressure, frequent external distressing factors, or perfectionism can often be misdiagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder. In fact, chronic stress may make people more susceptible to anxiety, depression, and other health issues. With effective treatment, these symptoms and the sources of stress may be reduced and more effectively managed.

Anxiety, however, will cause a person to experience high stress response even in the absence of a threat. Their worries are ever-present, invasive, and difficult to “turn off.” The toll that anxiety and chronic stress take on a person can be extensive with the potential to cause extreme emotional duress, health issues, interpersonal relationship challenges, and inhibit their ability to function normally. Anxiety, like many mental heath issues, has a spectrum of severity ranging from mild to debilitating.

Those suffering from anxiety cannot simply “get over it” or “stop thinking negatively.” Most would give anything not to have anxiety and are constantly exhausted by their efforts to manage it and “act normally.” Like any other medical or mental health issue, anxiety takes time to treat and great effort.

There is hope! Effective, trusted therapy methods can help clients take back control from anxiety, reduce their invasive thoughts, improve their symptoms, and increase their sense of peace and joy.

Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Pervasive and intrusive thoughts

• Difficulty controlling worry

• Sleep disturbances

• Difficulty concentrating

• Racing heartbeat and/or rapid breathing

• Irritability

Treatment for anxiety and stress

• Feeling “on edge” nearly all the time

• Restlessness

• Gastrointestinal (digestive) upset

• Muscle tension or shakiness

• Headache

• Constant negative “what if” thinking

Validation, supportive feedback, exploring root causes and beliefs behind your anxiety, and bringing compassionate awareness to your symptoms, in addition to traditional therapy interventions can lead to transformative results. Here are several interventions used to treat stress and anxiety at Peace On You.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• EMDR

• Mindfulness therapy

• Psychodynamic therapy

• Psychoeducation

• Somatic exercises and polyvagal theory

What about obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)?

OCD falls under the Anxiety umbrella. Intrusive thoughts and obsessive compulsions are the hallmark of OCD and it’s an incredibly difficult and frustrating way of life for those coping with it. The term OCD is misused in a pop culture context as a diagnosis for anyone who likes to clean. There’s a reason for this stereotype - some with OCD do have a compulsion to clean, but it is excessive and beyond typical standards, they may avoid places they want or need to go out of intense fear of mess, dirt, or germs. This, however is the tip of the symptomological iceberg and not everyone who likes cleaning or dislikes germs has OCD.

Symptoms are often highly individualized and specific to a person, but some common themes are:

• Counting

• Checking (e.g. door lock, oven)

• Perfectionism

• Hoarding

• Symmetry and order

• Contamination and cleaning

OCD is complicated and symptoms can be challenging to treat, but there are proven methods that may alleviate symptoms from traditional therapy interventions like the ones mentioned above to pharmaceutical intervention (medication) to neurofeedback. Exposure and Response Prevention is a form of exposure therapy that has been shown to be effective at treating OCD symptoms. I encourage clients to face their fears and challenge their compulsions but do not use ERP specifically.

If you or someone you know is struggling with symptoms of anxiety, stress, or OCD, and would like to get some relief, reach out to me or book now online.

• Persistent, uncontrollable thoughts

• Intense fears

• Avoidance coping (e.g., avoiding the store out of fear of people being sick)

• Aggressive thoughts toward others or self

• Fear of harming someone, despite having no intention to do so