Sometimes, it feels like your anxiety have a life of their own. Anxiety comes and goes when you least expect it. Like you are just minding your own business then boom! Panic attack. Heart palpitations. Dry mouth. For no reason. It just keeps coming in waves.
You miss who you used to be- carefree and stressless.
You go to bed with it and it’s like you are constantly tripping up the fight or flight. You now find yourself in a loop where you are anxious about being anxious. Every time you feel anxious you get the thought that this will last forever. In turn, you get more anxious
Anxiety comes in many forms – and all of them can completely consume you. Reddit. Google. Health groups. All day every day googling your symptoms. You are trying to keep a level head but it’s hard to function.
Anxiety becomes a mental health issue when it starts impacting on your day-to-day functioning. Some of the signs that prevent you from living your life to the fullest include:
Cope. Eradicate. Heal. Overcome. These are words you probably used when you think of what to do about your anxiety. Understandably so since anxiety does make us feel like there is something wrong with us. Uncomfortable.
Anxiety can’t be gotten rid of … no matter how much you want it to go away.
Anxiety is a normal and natural part of the human experience. After all, we are the only animals on Earth to experience it because we have the capacity for freedom and choice. In fact, anxiety can be invigorating and life-enhancing as well.
Existential anxiety is our expression of the ultimate concerns about life itself, including things such as meaninglessness, death, fundamental loneliness, and lack of certainty. It is an inherent part of our human condition. It enhances our life when we become more passionately engaged, ethically attuned and creatively enriched.
It is not less anxiety that we need today, but more, at least of a certain kind of anxiety.
Existential anxiety tells us we are not living life authentically. Emotions play a crucial role in our lives. They are useful and functional. Existential anxiety signals to us that we may be living other people’s lives and not ours. It is asking us to live more purposefully and authentically.
For some of us, it is enough to cope with the symptoms and unhealthy behaviour arising from our anxiety. However, very often, coping with our anxiety’s symptoms and unhealthy behaviour is like playing the whack-a-mole game.
Each time we successfully deal with an anxiety symptom, another pops up. No matter what we do, it feels futile. This is because we are not dealing with the root of the issue …
What does it mean to lead a meaningful life for ourselves?
Life is uncertain and can be scary. We do not know what will happen next but we must continue making choices for ourselves. This is a fact of life. Existential Therapy attempts to bring this uncertainty into the room so that we can start to: