According to the John Hopkins School of Medicine, generalised anxiety disorder ‘is a condition of excessive worry about everyday issues and situations. It lasts for longer than six months and, in addition to feeling worried, you may feel restlessness, fatigue, have trouble concentrating, be irritable, experience increased muscle tension, and have trouble sleeping‘.
Anxiety is the body’s natural defence mechanism to a threat that has been detected by neuroception (which is outside of your conscious awareness). This state can often make you numb to your own body – which is why it’s so hard to bring yourself out of it on your own. It develops from a number of complex factors, including your genetic makeup and life events. It’s more severe and longer lasting than nervousness. And if you don’t take steps to actively address anxiety, it’s unlikely to be resolved.
Just like anxiety, nervousness is your body’s way of helping you to cope with perceived threats. As with anxiety, nervousness produces adrenaline in the body: your heart beats faster, your breath quickens, and you’ll feel more alert.
Everyone will experience nervousness at one time or another; those familiar butterflies in the stomach (and maybe a few extra visits to the toilet!). Anything that causes apprehension and feelings of fear can bring on nervousness – including public speaking, social occasions or attending a funeral.
However, nervousness is temporary and should resolve itself once the stressor event has passed.
This is where the language of anxiety might be confused with nervousness. I often hear comments along the lines of: “He has anxiety about social situations or going out.” I think we have to be clear when a diagnosis of anxiety is given and avoid the temptation to normalise nervousness as anxiety.
If being anxious is a response to a perceived threat, its opposite is being calm. My aim in therapy is to explore what feeling calm and safe means to you. Is it possible to trust the environment that you’re in so you can listen to what your body is telling you? In overwhelming states of anxiety, your body is actually screaming to be heard. Together we can then work out pathways to show yourself more self-compassion. Self-compassion is about being warm and understanding of yourself. Giving yourself the same care and kindness as you would a good friend. In therapy, we’ll stop to listen and understand what is happening inside you. Then, together, we will work out ways to give reassurance to your body and mind and identify feelings of safety. Using this knowledge, alongside self-compassion, you can begin to lead a happier and healthier life.
As The Mind & Body Guide, my approach to therapy is to help you to understand yourself mentally and physically.
I have decades of experience in health care, including 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.
By working together, we can plot your pathway to a healthier, happier life.
