An Anxiety Map highlights the areas where you struggle the most with anxiety and to what extent they are proving debilitating. If you want the most effective way of coaching yourself out of anxiety, then this is the first step.
[su_panel color=”#F73F43″ border=”1px solid #F73F43″ radius=”3″ text_align=”left” url=”#”] How To Make Your Anxiety MapStep 1. Read through the 6 types of anxiety and anxiety triggers below and note which symptoms you experience daily or which you resonate with.
[/su_panel] [su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”]Anxiety Triggers
If you suffer from Anxiety, then you’ll experience anxiety triggers on a daily basis. Anxiety triggers are specific situations, or actions that lead to feelings of worry or fear are known as anxiety triggers. [/su_panel]
[su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”] Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety is an intense fear that does not go away and affects everyday activities, self-confidence and relationships.
Social Anxiety is an intense fear that does not go away and affects everyday activities, self-confidence and relationships.
Symptoms Include:
- Worry about speaking to people
- Dread of social events
- Prone to rumination
- Difficult to switch off which affects sleep
- Fear of criticism
- Physical symptoms include feeling sick, sweating and trembling
- Avoids eye contact
- Feel overly worried about events before, after and during the events
- Feel uncomfortable being the centre of attention
- Feel like you’re being watched and judged which gives rise to paranoia
[su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”] OCD
OCD is made up of two parts, unpleasant thoughts and compulsions. An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters your mind causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease. A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that you feel you need to do to temporarily relieve the unpleasant feelings brought on by the obsessive thought.
OCD is made up of two parts, unpleasant thoughts and compulsions. An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters your mind causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease. A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that you feel you need to do to temporarily relieve the unpleasant feelings brought on by the obsessive thought.
Symptoms Include:
- Fear of contamination of germs
- Repeated washing of hands or cleaning etc to remove germs or perceived contaminants.
- Repeated checking of actions such as lights, or checking the stove
- Compulsion to rearrange things to create order, which can lead to more controlling behaviour of of others and inflexibility on your part
- Fear of situations that could cause danger but unlikely to do so
[su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”] GAD- Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Generalised Anxiety Disorder is a long term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues rather than one specific event.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder is a long term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues rather than one specific event.
Symptoms Include:
- Constant worrying with a sense of dread
- Difficulty concentrating or sleeping
- You feel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time you felt relaxed
- As soon as one anxious thought is resolved, another appears about a different issue
- Feeling restless or worried
- Your feeling of anxiety is more constant and affects all aspects of your daily life
- Anxiety is the main symptom of several other conditions such as panic disorder; phobias; PTSD; social anxiety
- You find it hard to control your worrying
- You may experience dizziness or heart palpitations
- You feel nervous irritable or on edge
[su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”] HFA- High Functioning Anxiety
HFA is not a clinical diagnosis of anxiety, but is closely related. People with HFA have many of the same symptoms as GAD but are able to appear both ‘normal’ or ‘average’ and to others balanced. This kind of anxiety significantly negatively impacts their overall quality of life.
HFA is not a clinical diagnosis of anxiety, but is closely related. People with HFA have many of the same symptoms as GAD but are able to appear both ‘normal’ or ‘average’ and to others balanced. This kind of anxiety significantly negatively impacts their overall quality of life.
Symptoms Include:
- Tension and Stress are high but not high enough to be observed by others
- No intense physical symptoms such as heart palpitations or sweaty palms
- You push down your feelings and may turn to drugs, drink, food, shopping etc to numb out the anxiety
- Unable to relax as overthinking and overanalysing take over your mindset
- Workaholism or a need to keep achieving
- Frequent anticipatory anxiety before any or all events
[su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”] Low Self Esteem
Self esteem is the way we think about ourselves and the value we place on ourselves. To have low self esteem is to place low value or worth on ourselves as a person and is often part of someone’s anxiety issues.
Self esteem is the way we think about ourselves and the value we place on ourselves. To have low self esteem is to place low value or worth on ourselves as a person and is often part of someone’s anxiety issues.
Symptoms Include:
- You say negative things to and about yourself being critical of your actions
- You focus on the negatives and ignore your achievements, not even recognising achievements, brushing them off as flux or luck
- You think other people are better than you
- You find it hard or impossible to accept a compliment
- You have difficulties with both personal and interpersonal relationships and usually have issues to do with working around others; and have difficulty making friends
- Criticism and or disapproval upsets you and as a result you tend to withdraw from people and events
[su_panel border=”2px solid #b5a0fa”] AVP- Avoidant Personality Disorder
For people with APV, the fear of rejection is so strong that they choose isolation rather than risk being rejected in a relationship. Avoidance of people and situations or of their own feelings is the main key to this disorder.
For people with APV, the fear of rejection is so strong that they choose isolation rather than risk being rejected in a relationship. Avoidance of people and situations or of their own feelings is the main key to this disorder.
Symptoms Include:
- Fear of humiliation or rejection
- Easily oversensitive and easily hurt by criticism or disapproval.
- You have few if any close friends and are reluctant to become involved with others unless you are certain of not being rejected
- You experience extreme anxiety (nervousness) and fear in social settings and relationships
- You tend to be awkward, shy and or self conscious around others due to the fear of doing something wrong or being embarrassed
- You have poor self image seeing yourself as inadequate or inferior
Emotional Triggers form a large part of having anxiety. Below are some emotions that will trigger anxiety, but as they are different for each of us, note which ones trigger your anxiety [/su_panel]
[su_panel]Uncertainty [/su_panel]
[su_panel]Failure [/su_panel]
[su_panel]Resentment[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Sadness[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Anger[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Overwhelm[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Fear[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Guilt [/su_panel]
[su_panel]Powerlessness[/su_panel]
Environmental Triggers are life’s events that we all experience, but if you suffer from anxiety, they become triggers to this. NOTE: What triggers anxiety are our assumptions – the thinking that accompanies each trigger. We can no more not believe our own thoughts as we can any conditioning thoughts we have that we acquired from growing up. And what is even worse, is that these assumptions operate at the unconscious level which are harder to detect. [/su_panel]
[su_panel]Taking on too much[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Uncertainty[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Being under pressure[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Lack of control or no control[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Conflicts at work[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Conflicts at home[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Death of loved on[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Divorce [/su_panel]
[su_panel]Loneliness[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Major illness or injury[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Lack of time[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Big changes[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Financial problems[/su_panel]
[su_panel]New job[/su_panel]
[su_panel]Social obligations[/su_panel]
Summary Anxiety Map Statement
After you have created your anxiety map, you can summarise it as follows:
I suffer from/experience more often than I would like [Anxiety type] which makes it challenging/difficult to [Goal/wish/want] And though I’ve tried [list tips, techniques, or the three P’s (pills, potions, psychologists)] with limited success, ideally I’d like to be [write your ideal mindset/outlook here] where [anxiety types you experience] is not a problem for me.
How Does Anxiety Recalibration Help?
The Anxiety Recalibration Method is part of therapeutic self coaching, and eliminates, and or significantly reduces anxiety triggers, those that are easily identified, and those that carry on in the background and direct your behaviour, your responses and your mindset to be anxious in your everyday situations.
What Do Do Next
Once you have completed your anxiety map, or you want help and support to overcome your anxiety with me helping you create your anxiety map and using it to overcome your anxiety, contact me here.
