Anxiety & Depression

3 million Australians are living with anxiety or depression.

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Anchoring Your Life Counselling provides support through the use of evidence-based therapies, to ensure you have the best chance of success in reaching your desired outcomes, regardless of where you live.  Debra also has both lived experience and training in the area of anxiety and depression and offers you a supportive and empathetic place to be able to express your feelings while providing coping strategies to help you with the symptoms.  Therapies drawn on are Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), and Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) which are determined based on the clients individual needs.

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DEPRESSION

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Everyone has moments of feeling sad or moody at times but some people experience these feelings intensely and over long periods of time such as many weeks, months or even years.  Depression is a serious condition and it not only affects a person mentally but also physically.  

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Recognising depression and knowing when to seek out support is important in recovering from it.  Some common symptoms to look out for are:

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• Behaviour: withdrawing from family, friends and events;  not getting things done;  not enjoying usual pleasures;  relying on alcohol and sedatives;  unable to focus and concentrate

• Feelings: unhappy;  miserable;  overwhelmed;  irritable;  frustrated;  low self-confidence;  low self-esteem;  guilty;  shame

• Thoughts:  worthlessness;  failure;  hopeless;  life is not worth living;  people are better off without me

• Physical:  low energy;  low immune system;  headaches;  sore muscles;  gut problems;  sleep problems;  change in appetite

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ANXIETY

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Anxiety can make daily life difficult to cope with when it's present all the time and often for what seems like no reason.  Anxiety is very different to feeling stressed or worried which is more what we feel when we are responding to a pressured situation, such as an exam or an interview, and it usually goes away once we are no longer in that situation. 

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If you suffer with anxiety, you are not alone.  It is the most common mental health condition in Australia with an average of one in four people experiencing it at some stage in their life.  The great news is that the sooner you reach out for support, the more likely you are to succeed in your recovery.

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Recognising anxiety and knowing when to seek out support is important in recovering from it.  Some common symptoms to look out for are:

 

• Physical: panic attacks, racing heart, tightening of the chest, quick breathing, restlessness, feeling on edge

• Psychological: excessive fear, constant worrying, catastrophizing, negative thoughts or obsessive thinking

• Behavioural: avoidance of situations that make you feel anxious which can impact on study, work or social life

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There are many different types of anxiety but the most common are: 

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Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD): 

Is characterized by chronic anxiety, exaggerated worry and tension, even when there is little or nothing to provoke it for a period of six months or longer.  In addition to this, also experiencing restlessness, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension and sleep disturbance.

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Social Anxiety Disorder:

Is characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Social anxiety can be limited to only one type of situation - such as a fear of speaking in formal or informal situations or, in its most severe form, may be so broad that a person experiences symptoms almost anytime they are around other people.

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Panic Disorder:

Is characterized by unexpected and repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms that may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, or abdominal distress.  The panic symptoms themselves are the trigger for panic.  For it to be a panic attack, a person must believe that their symptoms are about to lead to something like a heart attack or dying.  They will then fear that they might have a panic attack in front of someone or have another one.

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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

Is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These behaviors can be things like hand washing, counting or cleaning and they are often performed in the hope that the obsessive thoughts will go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides only temporary relief and not performing them markedly increases anxiety.

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

Can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat.

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