Anxiety, Depression & Stress
I was once told by a client that 'anxiety is like being trapped on a hamster wheel in an out of control spin of "what if" worse case scenario thinking, believing that you are rubbish and that all of your thinking is rubbish. It makes you completely vulnerable, ashamed and exhausted.' 'And,' I was told, 'that's what can make it so hard to talk about. I have to think about and talk about not being in control, not coping, not managing- not being perfect, being weak.'
The same client explained that 'depression was a dark, cold place, cut off from everything and everyone. I can see life going on and other people and I am separated from it all by a glass wall and in a way from my self. In a way it always felt like I wasn't feeling, then it dawned on me in here that I was actually separated from my feelings too and that I was scared of it all.' And, 'stress is the gnawing, exhausting, boom/bust cycle I've gotten myself into for my whole life and it wasn't until I came here and talked to you that I started think about what else I want from my life.' *
Anxiety & depression don't always go together and do not feel the same to everyone. What I have found that can work is the useful phrase that I have borrowed here from Sarah Silverman, 'If it's mentionable, it's manageable'. And that is the job of the counsellor & therapist, in my work with people who have experiences of living with either anxiety or depression the work begins once we have built trust in the therapy room, which then can allow the hidden stuff become mentionable.
To make your free half hour zoom appointment to see if we might be a working fit, click contact
* client's permission was sought and given for anonymous use of these words.
Wise words:
On Vulnerability
On Shame
Links:
The Surprising Emotion Behind Anxiety
The Role of Anger in Depression
Apps:
Calm
Headspace
I was once told by a client that 'anxiety is like being trapped on a hamster wheel in an out of control spin of "what if" worse case scenario thinking, believing that you are rubbish and that all of your thinking is rubbish. It makes you completely vulnerable, ashamed and exhausted.' 'And,' I was told, 'that's what can make it so hard to talk about. I have to think about and talk about not being in control, not coping, not managing- not being perfect, being weak.'
The same client explained that 'depression was a dark, cold place, cut off from everything and everyone. I can see life going on and other people and I am separated from it all by a glass wall and in a way from my self. In a way it always felt like I wasn't feeling, then it dawned on me in here that I was actually separated from my feelings too and that I was scared of it all.' And, 'stress is the gnawing, exhausting, boom/bust cycle I've gotten myself into for my whole life and it wasn't until I came here and talked to you that I started think about what else I want from my life.' *
Anxiety & depression don't always go together and do not feel the same to everyone. What I have found that can work is the useful phrase that I have borrowed here from Sarah Silverman, 'If it's mentionable, it's manageable'. And that is the job of the counsellor & therapist, in my work with people who have experiences of living with either anxiety or depression the work begins once we have built trust in the therapy room, which then can allow the hidden stuff become mentionable.
To make your free half hour zoom appointment to see if we might be a working fit, click contact
* client's permission was sought and given for anonymous use of these words.
Wise words:
On Vulnerability
On Shame
Links:
The Surprising Emotion Behind Anxiety
The Role of Anger in Depression
Apps:
Calm
Headspace