High Functioning Anxiety and Depression

I’m just not sure if I’m on the right path, how I even got here…

…or if I actively chose all this. I now have this gut feeling that something is off. I do my job well and have all the things on the surface that make it seem like I should be fine, which only makes me feel worse and like I need to just suck it up.

I have some things from my past that I never really processed that make me edgy at work, irritable with my partner, stuck in a rut, and put me right back into that negative spiral that things won’t get better.

Depression and anxiety are hard-wired into us for survival.

I find it useful to think about depression and anxiety as spectrums that most of us are moving around on a pretty regular basis. I bring them up together, as they are close cousins that feed off one another. When we feel down, we often avoid our thoughts and feelings. Avoidance is a breeding ground for anxiety, so our anxiety ratches up and makes us feel worse, perpetuating a highly unpleasant cycle.

Approaching anxiety and depression with curiosity and an open mind about how they have been serving you and what feelings, thoughts, or experiences lie beneath that they are protecting you from facing can be hugely helpful in getting you un-stuck.

Here’s how therapy can help…

I’ll provide you with tangible skills to support your nervous system with calming down or activation. Some of my favorites are 4-7-8 breathing (don’t worry, I’ll teach you!), heart-focused breathing, grounding through using your five senses, using specific scents of essential oils to activate or soothe, tossing a ball, and wiping your feet on the ground to gain energy up through your body.

Together, we can also look at the root causes of your concerns and address them so the anxiety or depression don’t need to be there. For example, we’ll explore things like, is there a memory/experience/feeling from which your anxiety or depression may be protecting you? What memories, situations, or developmental stages are associated with your first anxiety or depression experiences? Why have they been stuck in this loop instead of resolving on their own?

You don’t have to continue to endure.

If you’re done with the self-doubt, irritability, fear, sadness, and discomfort, go ahead and call for an initial consultation to see what your future might hold instead.

Call me at (619) 663-6433 to schedule a free 20-minute consultation.