Characterised by excessive worry or fear, anxiety can affect your ability to function at work and at home. Relationships with other people can start to suffer. The symptoms of anxiety can be tackled, but first the anxiety itself needs to be recognised.
The first step is to establish that what you have is anxiety. You might have been to your doctor and described a variety of symptoms without realising they’re being caused by an underlying anxiety disorder.
When in a leadership role, there is a certain amount of anxiety that comes with being responsible for other people, making strategic decisions and planning for the future. This pressure can spark an inner dialogue of ‘Am I good enough?’ For some, imposture syndrome creeps in so they feel that they shouldn’t even be in the role.Generalised anxiety often creates feelings of worry and fear that are more intense and prolonged than the flutterings of nervousness which tend to soon pass. A variety of physical symptoms are associated with anxiety including a racing heart, tension in the body and sweaty palms. Generalised anxiety also causes the autonomic nervous system to be activated, and the resulting adrenalin makes you feel more alert and stimulated. This might seem advantageous at work as it makes you more productive in the short term.
Signs of anxiety at work that you might not recognise include overworking, checking and responding to emails outside of office hours, and constantly dwelling on how to make everything 100% right. These are all examples of an absence of workplace boundaries. You might also make yourself available to others all of the time, as you’re fearful of missing something. Micromanaging is another common trait of anxious over-achievers; not because you don’t trust others to do their job, but because you can’t bear the thought of losing control.
Perhaps you find these qualities admirable and necessary, but are they sustainable over time? Living off adrenalin and always being in a low level of anxiety will have lasting effects on your overall health; it can lead to a constant state of inflammation within your body and leave you susceptible to cardiovascular issues and stomach disorders like irritable bowel syndrome.
We all want to lead a happy and healthy life, so consider if any of the symptoms I’ve descried resonate with you.
By addressing how you are thinking and feeling, I’ll help you develop an awareness of how, in your body, psychological events and physical sensations are so closely connected. Without this awareness, we can get stuck in a vicious loop which I call ‘the cycle of suffering’.
As The Mind & Body Guide, my aim is to explore these connections to help you gain insight into yourself. This could be looking at present problems or those that are more deeply seated: things you’ve been told or events you’ve experienced which have shaped who you are now.
I have decades of experience in health care. Years spent working as a senior physiotherapist in the NHS. I’ve taught Pilates to hundreds of people. And I’m a qualified psychotherapist with a suite of therapy skills to draw on.
My approach to therapy is to help you to understand yourself mentally and physically. Then, working together, we can plot your pathway to a healthier, happier life.
