Anxiety is the body natural response to a stressful or threatening experience and is the primary emotion that has contributed to survival of the human species. Anxiety allows the body to respond to a threat or fear with what is known as the fight or flight or freeze response. However, prolonged exposure to a stressful situation or threat can cause the body to develop a persistent anxiety response resulting a generalised anxiety disorder. This occurs when the persistent anxiety becomes generalised to other, non-threatening experiences that would normally cause little to no anxiety. When this occurs, it can be extremely difficult to manage anxiety without the support of medical treatment and in severe cases can result in agoraphobia or the fear of leaving the house.
It is very common for people to feel that in order to manage their anxiety they need to control it or destroy it. The reality is anxiety is present due to an underlying disconnection between their mind and body. This could be due to exhaustion or burnout, supressed emotions such as trauma, or simply operating at an unrealistic pace for periods of time, due to unreasonable professional deadlines. Many people who attend our program have avoided or buried a difficult or traumatic life experience and think that if they continue with work and family life the difficult experience has gone. Unfortunately, this is where anxiety emerges, and slowly becomes a primary feature of their daily experience. The Bay therapeutic team will assist you to look at these difficult events and resolve the pain associated with it.
If you would like to know more about The Bay’s approach to treating anxiety, call our Executive Director today on +61434645126.
