Do you need Situational or General Anxiety disorder therapy? Here’s how to know. Are you anxious? How does anxiety show up in you? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference when overwhelm disorients and confuses you.
Let’s explore key differences between fear that accompanies specific experiences and worry that feels like a constant companion. Below, we'll discuss situational anxiety and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) to help you determine how and why anxiety may be getting in your way.
Situational Anxiety or General Anxiety Disorder Triggers: Why Does Anxiety Happen?
One of the primary differences between situational anxiety and GAD depends on triggering events.It’s important to ask yourself why fear and dread are happening:
Do your feelings of upset and worry affect your life and relationships in specific situations?
or
Do alarm and stress impact your capacity to live normally in a more general, everyday way?
If anxiety arises most often or around circumstances you dread, you are probably dealing with situational anxiety. Situational anxiety is a distinct type of anxious response. It is triggered by new, unfamiliar, or particularly uncomfortable situations.
These circumstances or events can make you feel intensely nervous. For some, anticipatory fear or dread can reach phobic proportions. For most, anxiety impacts self-control and the ability to remain or restore calm. Situational anxiety is not unusual but it is very personal.
The event or situation triggers an escalation of fear and anxiety. Moreover, it may be connected to performance, past or developing relationships, life transitions and more. Do any of the following strike a chord of dread or panic in you?
Preparing for a job interview
A first date
Travel by plane, train, or boat
Expressing personal thoughts or opinions to a group
Making small talk with new people
Sleeping away from your home
Using public spaces, restrooms, or resources
Leading or being responsible for people, for projects or in groups
Being alone in a crowd or public space
Performing or speaking publicly
On the other hand, if you feel generally anxious without any identifiable or consistent cause, you are likely affected by general anxiety disorder.
Situational Anxiety or General Anxiety Disorder: How Do You Experience Typical Anxiety Symptoms?
Another key difference between situational anxiety and GAD relates to the way symptoms show up and how they impair you. As opposed to the ongoing, excessive worry present in GAD, the single trigger of situational anxiety promotes anticipatory anxiety and reaction. When the triggering event or situation ends, the anxiety decreases (though there may be some anxiety when thinking about the situation).
Typically, situational anxiety symptoms can present as distinct mind and body responses to the specific, bothersome situation such as the following:
Intense nervousness
An overblown sense of embarrassment
Irritability preceding and around the event
Worry about the situational particulars
Low self-esteem, defeatist thinking regarding abilities
Shaky hands, sweaty palms
Headaches, neck and back tension
Chest pain, digestive trouble
Rapid heartbeat and breathing
Flushed feeling, sweating
Blushing and hot flashes
Again, if you manage situational anxiety, your symptoms are unique to you. You may blush or tremble when you speak publicly. Or feel particularly lethargic or down on yourself when you think about sharing your thoughts or opinions with others. Conversely, GAD impairs daily function on the whole.
You know that GAD, rather than situational anxiety, is at play if you experience the following effects daily for 6 months or more. GAD is characterized by general
Irritability
Uneasiness or jumpiness
Muscle tension and headaches
Unresolved aches, pains, illness
Tension headaches
Constant sleeplessness
Fatigue and ongoing restlessness
This type of anxiety hinders your ability to live your life freely. You are always held back by anxiety or worry about your inability to control the anxiety. The resulting, perpetual mental distress is a clear indicator of generalized anxiety disorder.
Situational or General Anxiety Disorder Therapy: How Often Do You Deal with Anxiety Symptoms?
Finally, another key difference between situational anxiety and GAD is how you approach resolution and recovery. At the time, your situational anxiety symptoms can be nervewracking. They may lead you to avoid opportunities that could enhance your life, relationships, and career. While you may not be affected all the time, situational anxiety still affects how you spend your time and whether you feel able to make the most of it.
Thus, you need to take special measures to be mindful and self-compassionate when dealing with distinct fears. Unlike a more comprehensive approach for GAD, your goal will be to work with a professional specifically. Practice techniques that improve your body awareness, confidence, and emotional regulation regarding your specific stimulus.
Learning to recognize the link between your mental state and physical state is crucial. Then, you can better notice changes in your face, muscles, and breathing during anxiety-making situations. Your therapist can help you with tools that slow racing thoughts and bodily reactions.
Then, the mind and body help each other and soothe you for better concentration and improved perspective. Additionally, treatment may involve calming pre-exposure or performance routines. This help prepares the mind with familiarity, reducing the sense that circumstances control your behavior or responses.
Finally, that mind-body connection is important for encouraging self-care too. Combatting the rollercoaster of stress and worry with consistent self-care is preventative maintenance. You can consider good nutrition, exercise, relaxation, and regular therapy sessions key support when situational anxiety arises.
Professional Counseling Helps Reduce Anxiety
Ultimately, whether your anxiety feels overwhelming periodically or generally, counseling can help you cope. Seek out situational or general anxiety disorder therapy with a clear understanding of how fear and worry affect you holistically. Together, you can experience comfort, relief, and overcome fears that have undermined your happiness.
Please allow me to help you move forward. We can work through the challenges of situational anxiety together and support a stronger, more confident you. Please contact us today for a free consultation.
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