How to deal with anxiety
Asked by Zara
Answered
05/31/2022
Hello Zara, thank you for reaching out. I would love to assist you with this matter.
First, I would like to say congrats on your new job. I know it can be both exciting and scary, but it is normal to have some nervousness. I would like to address the feelings of anxiety. Anxiety, at times, is the body's response to situations that are interpreted as threatening. For example, if you have not had a job for a long time, you may feel like you will not do well, thus triggering your anxiety. A way to overcome this is to remind yourself that you got the job; therefore, you are qualified to do the job. The Pandemic has also created anxieties surrounding returning to work. If this is something that you are experiencing, you can overcome this by staying informed with trustworthy sources. Keep in mind that not all anxiety is bad. Some anxiety can even help you. An example of how this works would be for you to look into how you approach your decision-making. Without any anxiety, you would probably make bad decisions, such as driving too fast on the highway or not paying your bills. However, we also see how too much anxiety can lead to avoidance or unpleasant physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms.
In your question, you also mentioned having flashbacks of the past. These symptoms can be common in people who have experienced trauma and abuse. If this is the case, your trauma may manifest itself in these flashbacks. For example, you may re-experience trauma through thoughts, feelings, memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and other means as a trauma survivor. Re-experiencing a trauma can be very distressing and may trigger uncomfortable emotions such as fear, helplessness, anger, or sadness. Everyone's experience with trauma is unique. It can be possible to develop every symptom or only a few.
If these are things that you have experienced, I suggest that you connect with a counselor with the support of people who care about you for assistance with this. Let us know if I or any other counselors can assist you in any way.
LCSW