Anxiety in Young Women
Common symptoms:
Somatic: irritable bowel, stomachaches, headaches, body aches, chronic pains with no medical cause, difficulty breathing, and panic attacks
Executive Functioning: lacking “motivation” to complete assignments, remembering to complete tasks, staying on task, following directions, planning, misplacing items, making simple errors and feeling “too overwhelmed” to begin assignments
Emotional Regulation: difficulty controlling and managing fears/worries, tearfulness, feeling ”numb,” irritability and anger, suicidal thoughts/plans, withdrawal from others, or feeling as though “you can’t stop talking about it” and are “bringing people down”
Developmental Considerations: college is a period of rapid change, in which symptoms often follow the semester schedule, with lowest feelings at the beginning and end of each term followed by a “high” that can look manic following finals
Considerations:
Fear is a sign of intelligence, representing a natural physiological, cognitive and emotional response to a situation interpreted as threatening
Aspects of anxiety are inherently temperamental, meaning “I was born this way.” The goal of therapy is not to get rid of anxiety forever
Emotions come and go. Imagine clouds passing in the sky. Occasionally there are a series of gray days, but ultimately emotional states aren’t “fixed.” Part of therapy is learning to identify when these emotions shift
Treatment:
Diagnosis: as anxiety can look like many other mental health conditions (ex. ADHD, OCD, and even Autism), a psychological assessment involving cognitive, and psychological testing may be recommended when alternative diagnoses are considered
Referrals: common referrals include psychiatry, a medical appointment involving blood-work, especially to rule out thyroid and hormonal contributions to symptoms, and recommendations for specific self-care outlets
Psychotherapy: Dr. Carroll-Wray’s approach is integrative, incorporating yoga, mindfulness and other body awareness techniques with traditional psychotherapy (CBT and humanistic therapy). Body awareness techniques will help you to safely reconnect your mind with your body’s emotions, and to help you identify cues from your body in everyday life. Traditional psychotherapy involves exploration of the function of anxiety and identification/practicing of relevant coping skills. The process assumes that at your core, you are capable of living the life that you want for yourself. A strong therapeutic relationship will help you to better connect with your strengths, in an environment where you can speak truthfully about your thoughts, feelings and behaviors without judgment.
