Anxiety; When It's Helpful and When To Get Help

Anxiety is a fact of life, and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes anxiety can be a great benefit; it can heighten our senses in situations that could become dangerous, ie. walking alone to your car after dark, you need to be more aware of your surroundings than you normally are. It can also help you meet a deadline for work or school. Anxiety can be a helpful red flag if your life has become too stressful and your body is telling you that you need to slow down, build in boundaries or take time off. Use your anxiety! Don’t let it become another thing you stuff to the side, refusing to acknowledge.

Our bodies are able to tell us when we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. Think about it, someone asks you to take on a volunteer project, maybe something for church or a friend. You feel a knee-jerk reaction to say yes because you want to be helpful or you don’t want to disappoint, but at the same time you feel a tightening in your chest, tension in your shoulders, maybe your heart begins to pound. In this situation, your body is using anxiety to tell you that committing to this project is not a good idea and if you choose to ignore the very helpful anxiety symptoms that popped up, well, you’re on your way to a serious problem.

Sometimes we are way past the point of listening to our anxiety and honoring the needs of our bodies and emotions. Sometimes that anxiety feeling will not go away, sometimes it disrupts your life. Even ruins your life. This is when it’s time to get help from a professional counselor, people who are trained to help and who WANT to help. Let your anxiety help you to keep your sanity, and get the help you need when you need it.