In a previous blog post, we explored ways to understand anxiety and some common types. In the following, guest edited by counsellor and therapist Guy Turton, we look at some of the precedents to the experience of anxiety and some common approaches to addressing it when experienced.
Precedents to Anxiety
Anxiety can reflect our anticipation of a future event that we believe may go awry. It’s the mind’s way of bracing for something uncertain or potentially harmful, even when no direct threat is present. As a survival mechanism, it can motivate us to take action in the face of real danger. In today's world, where threats are more likely to be psychological and existential than terminal, this ancient mechanism often gets triggered inappropriately or excessively. Before anxiety fully manifests, there are often subtle precedents that can give us clues as to its origins and potential intensification. Here are some common precedents:
Stress: Stress - especially with long-term exposure, whether from work, relationships, or environmental factors, primes the nervous system to remain in a heightened state of alertness, making it easier for anxiety to arise.
Unresolved Trauma: Past traumatic experiences, particularly those not fully processed or integrated, can lay the groundwork for future anxiety. Even when we are not consciously aware of these past wounds, they can continue to influence our present emotional states. Trauma can be primary (experienced by us) or secondary (witnessed by us) and can be:
1) Single event trauma (such as a car crash or street attack), or
2) Developmental / Relational / Ongoing (such as abusive caregivers, growing up in a conflict zone, emotionally unsafe / unboundaried family environment.
Occasionally 1 and 2 can happen together (such as birth trauma – which is both single event and developmental. Sexual abuse could also be seen as both single event and developmental interruption).
Shame: Somewhat recently, the role of shame is getting more recognition. Often previously overlooked in psychotherapy, ruptures in connection, a lack of emotional holding and safety – either with others or to own ideals - that create a sense of unlovability, unworthiness and lack of value, a belief that “I am the problem” (contrasting with “What I have done” as with guilt) can provoke anxiety about being rejected.
Negative Thinking Patterns: Recurrent negative thoughts, especially about the future, can create a mental environment where anxiety thrives. When we habitually worry or anticipate negative outcomes, we reinforce the brain’s anxiety circuits. A lot of mainstream news feeds focus on the negative, propagating the problem. We live in a culture addicted to thinking, that at times neglects body connection.
Lack of Emotional Regulation: Difficulty in managing emotions, whether through suppressing them or over-identifying with them, can lead to heightened anxiety. Emotional dysregulation often stems from unresolved psychological issues or an inability to fully process and express feelings.
Decline of Physical Health: Poor health, including chronic illnesses, nutrient deficiencies, or substance abuse, can trigger or exacerbate anxiety. When the body is in a weakened state, it’s easier for the mind to fall into patterns of worry and fear.
Approaches to Addressing Anxiety
Given that anxiety arises from multiple aspects of being, the approaches to addressing it target different dimensions of experience. Psychotherapy, traditionally in the form of talk therapy can be a highly effective method for exploring unresolved emotional conflicts, and identifying and altering negative thought patterns, as an effective way of providing lasting relief. Additionally, developing emotional skill and learning techniques to manage stress, can help individuals regulate their emotional responses to anxiety-provoking situations. Approaches such as sensorimotor psychotherapy can also help clients process the lingering physical imprints of traumatic experiences to create profound, lasting change from the bottom up – consisting of physiological interventions designed to address the unspoken, embodied effects of trauma.
Accessing a supportive social environment can be crucial for those dealing with anxiety. This could include engaging in community activities, fostering deep connections with friends and family, or participating in support groups. On a broader level, advocating for social justice, environmental sustainability, and meaningful cultural values can alleviate some of the collective anxieties that permeate society.
Spiritual traditions across the world offer profound insights and practices to help mindfulness and reconnect individuals with a deeper sense of peace. Many spiritual paths address the deep, existential sources of anxiety. Practices such as accepting the impermanent nature of all things (in Buddhism) or self-inquiry (in Advaita Vedanta) consist of ‘inner work’ that can diminish existential anxieties. Body based practices such as singing, ecstatic dancing and acts service are often overlooked but can be very effective – directly linking spiritual practice to the somatic.
In terms of biological interventions, mindfulness-based practices like breathwork can help calm the nervous system. Regular exercise to release endorphins and proper sleep hygiene can help. If medication (such as SSRIs or benzodiazepines) is used under prescription from a qualified medical practitioner, neurotransmitter levels can be balanced, with the possibility of providing relief at a physiological level.
Anxiety is a widespread human experience, manifesting as anything from mild worry to intense dread, and is often seen as an intrinsic part of the human condition. It is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that reflects our anticipation of uncertain or potentially harmful future events, even when no direct threat is present. While from an evolutionary point of view anxiety can serve as a survival mechanism that motivates action in the face of real danger, understanding it for what it is in a supportive psychotherapeutic setting can help us live in contentment rather than allow ourselves to be burdened by it.
About our Guest Editor:
Guy Turton is an Oxford based Counsellor and Therapist - https://counsellinginoxford.com/
A Few Questions for Our Guest Editor
How did you decide to train as a Psychotherapist?
My own experience as a client was so transformative, it was like I moved from a black and white/Mono world into a beautifully colour world of stereo. The change in my consciousness was so remarkable.
What do you do for leisure?
Connect with nature, hangout with my teens, keep on wondering what "healing" really is. Try and "Be" not "Do".
What is the most important book you read until now? What made it important?
"Iron John" by Robert Bly. It provided a connection to the Mythology of the "Male Wound" and helped to begin to explain why men struggle with vulnerability and emotions and getting a little stuck sometimes.
Do you believe in fate?
Probably not (I had to look it up to be sure), but I believe in continually "Searching" and generally where I put my energy, I find that rewards and results and gratitude tend to follow.
A proverb / quote that you find meaningful
“We are judged on the behaviours our wounds inspire, rather than on the wounds themselves" (Alain De Botton)