Anxious All the Time? Here's How CBT Can Help
Feeling anxious from time to time is part of human nature. But when this anxiety starts to take over and become a constant in your daily life and routine, it can feel overwhelming. Experiencing anxiety daily can make it difficult to focus, relax, and enjoy your life.
This constant state of worry isn't just nerves; it can be a sign of an anxiety disorder. The good news is that there are several highly effective, evidence-based forms of treatment out there to help you. In fact, one of the most common, widely researched, and successful approaches is cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. If you're anxious all the time, this is how CBT can help.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is the body's natural response to anything that it perceives as a threat. This is often called the "fight-or-flight" response. Unfortunately, this reaction can be triggered too often, even when there isn't a real danger. Anxiety can bring on symptoms like difficulty sleeping, fatigue, muscle tension, racing thoughts, increased heart rate, or restlessness. Living in a heightened state of anxiety can lead to physical health issues, avoidance of people, places, and situations, and a loss of productivity.
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the link between a person's behaviors, feelings, and thoughts. The main ideology behind CBT is that how you think can affect the way you feel. And how you act can further reinforce those feelings.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a structured and goal-oriented form of therapy that usually lasts between eight to 20 sessions. Instead of just exploring why you're feeling anxious, CBT digs deeper and emphasizes how to change these negative thought patterns and actions that are allowing anxiety to be present in your life.
How CBT Can Help with Anxiety
Help Identify Unwanted Thoughts
People with anxiety often experience cognitive distortions like catastrophizing, or always thinking something terrible is going to happen. CBT helps individuals pay closer attention to these negative thought patterns so they can explore them with logical thinking. Doing so can significantly reduce the automatic fear response
Challenge and Reframe Thoughts
Once these unwanted thoughts are identified, CBT helps individuals learn techniques that can help them further question their validity. This act of reframing negative thoughts into more positive ones can help to reduce anticipatory anxiety and help build confidence.
Gradual Exposure
CBT uses gradual exposure to situations one fears. This gradual exposure can take place in the real world or through visualization. It helps to show that outcomes one fears can be less severe than what a person may think.
Building Skills
CBT also incorporates skill-building into the treatment plan. Clients learn problem-solving skills, time management strategies, and relaxation techniques to reduce their overall stress. These coping tools can help individuals be a little more proactive with their anxiety and respond to triggers more effectively.
The Effectiveness of CBT for Anxiety
CBT is proven to be an extremely effective treatment option, especially when it comes to anxiety. It can be used to treat a variety of different anxiety disorders like general anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder, or phobias.
Next Steps
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) offers a practical and highly effective evidence-based approach to managing anxiety. This is done by targeting any unwanted or unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Identifying these negative thoughts, cognitive restructuring, gradual exposure, and learning coping skills all work to empower individuals to break free from their anxiety. CBT is one of the best-recommended treatment options for those who are seeking long-lasting change from their anxiety. Reach out today if you're interested in exploring more about CBT.
