Anxiety & Depression

The link between stress, anxiety & depression

I know from personal experience how anxiety and depression can take over a life. We live in a world with enormous stressors pushing us to do more, to do it faster, to optimize everything.

Unfortunately, our culture too often fails to recognize that we’re human beings, not human doings. So it’s no wonder that so many people feel that no matter what they do, they’re not good enough. When you work so hard yet still feel you’re failing, it’s common to experience both anxiety and depression.

Is anxiety wearing you out?

It’s a warning sign if you:

Feel in constant crisis mode;
Have panic attacks;
Get stuck in worry spirals;
Feel ‘on’ all the time and aren’t making time for self-care;
Overdo to manage things you worry about;
Feel resentful and disconnected from loved ones.

Can't get rid of the blahs?

It’s time for help when you:

Feel exhausted and can’t sleep or get out of bed;
Can’t motivate yourself;
Get stuck in negative thoughts of guilt and hopelessness;
Don’t enjoy things you used to;
Can’t make decisions;
Eat too much comfort foods or have lost your appetite;
Experience so much pain that life seems not worth living.

"Unhappiness itself is not the problem - it is an inherent and unavoidable part of being alive. Rather, it's the harshly negative views of ourselves that can be switched on by unhappy moods that entangle us."

Mark Williams

What's happening when you're stuck

One concept that helps with understanding what’s happening when you get stuck in painful emotional states is the window of tolerance. We each have a window that represents the range of intensity of emotions we can tolerate. The more trauma you experience early in life, the more likely you will have a smaller window of tolerance.

When stressors become too great, our nervous systems become overwhelmed. At the top end of the window of tolerance, anxiety reactions dominate – restlessness, driven doing, panic, fear, and irritability. At the bottom end, depressive reactions kick in – shut down, numbness, fatigue, paralysis, and brain fog.

When you get stuck in anxiety, you likely try to do even more in a futile effort to manage your fears. With depression, you blame and judge yourself so harshly for lacking motivation that you can’t get motivated. Both types of responses lead to self-reinforcing vicious cycles.

What I help with

I differ from many other therapists in that I take a deeper approach than talk therapy. We start with telling your story, beginning to understand why you get stuck, and learning coping skills. But for lasting change you often need to go deeper.

I help you connect current triggers with your past and heal from old wounds that hold you back. I often use Eye Movement Densensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to jumpstart healing from the past.

Recovery from anxiety and depression begins with recognizing your life has become unmanageable. Treatment looks different for each person. In therapy I help you:

Gain understanding of yourself and see your strengths;
Feel more able to manage emotions rather than being controlled by them;
Let go of spiraling thoughts;
Find balance in healthier practices for eating, movement and sleep;
Heal from traumas that keep you stuck in unhealthy attachments or overreacting;
Align your life with purpose and meaning.