Treating stress and anxiety at Psychologist Brussels

Symptoms of worry, stress and anxiety

Human beings are by nature frequently subjected to fear: a threatening situation, moments in life categorised by uncertainty, and apprehension – there are so many moments which generate a feeling of fear or danger. This danger can be real but also projected, imagined, or produced by traumas which are our own and which we haven’t been able to move on from.

Certain fears become excessive because they are profoundly anchored in oneself and come out when given situations stimulate them. Some concrete cases are:

• Panicky fear of failing exams, or not being “up to scratch”.
• Permanent worry over losing one’s job.
• Money-related worries, particularly of a lack of money.
• Excessive fear concerning the safety of one’s children.
• Fear of death, or of loss, going as far as obsession

Anxiety attack

Sometimes anxiety becomes so strong that it leads to a physical reaction, and this is the body expressing itself. Among the most common signs of stress and anxiety, we can name:

• the feeling of your heart in your mouth
• a knot in the stomach
• stomach cramps
• sweating
• palpitations
• asthma attacks
• muscle pain
• migraines
• backache
• insomnia
• obsessive thoughts
• mental anguish
• feeling like you’re “going crazy”

When pushed to the extreme, these symptoms can provoke “anxiety attacks”, moments when the feelings are very strong and condensed, and which lead to a real feeling of “losing your footing”.

When these symptoms are recurring and hinder your everyday life, it is really time to consult a specialist.
Anxiety is like an alarm going off. The body is powerfully expressing that “something” is not right. It is therefore a psychologist’s job to help you to find out where it has come from and to find ways of facing up to and controlling this situation.

Anxiety is a part of life

Anxiety is a part of life. Fear and wondering about the meaning of life and life tests are just elements which provoke intense worry in anyone. Our current way of life and the different demands that modern society asks of us – speed, performance and competition – are today factors which increase the risk of anxiety and which provoke nervousness. Worry is extremely frequent and comes in different forms according to the individuals. In all cases, when worry takes over and we can no longer manage it, it is essential to seek help from a professional, even more so when your body, mirror to your soul, starts to give up.

Stopping attacks and managing your anxiety

Sometimes anxiety takes on so many dimensions that we have the feeling that it is gaining the upper hand, and that it is taking control of our daily life and destroying our free will. It is like a kind of mental paralysis, through which our actions and our thoughts are imprisoned. Suffering brought about by such a situation can become impossible to live with. Some medication can be prescribed to momentarily relieve these feelings, but these are only “band aids”, not a deeply psychotherapeutic process to analyse the trigger for the worries, and which will really allow the individual to be freed from this suffering.