Everyone says they're anxious these days - but what if your anxiety is trying to tell you something deeper? What if those physical symptoms you're experiencing are actually signals of unprocessed emotions, not just "anxiety"?
Understanding the Real Nature of Anxiety
At its core, anxiety is a signal from your unconscious mind that something conflicting is approaching consciousness. This could be complex mixed feelings, forbidden thoughts, or uncomfortable wishes. Because these feelings create discomfort, we unconsciously develop workarounds – what therapists call "defenses" – to avoid these difficult experiences and reduce anxiety. While defenses can provide temporary relief, when they become rigid habits, they often create more problems than they solve. This is typically what brings people into therapy.
Your Body Speaks What Your Mind Can't Say
Most people don't realize that anxiety can manifest in thirty different physical ways. Here are the symptoms that might actually be anxiety in disguise:
Tension/pain in jaw, neck back leg chest, abdominal wall
Fibromyalgia
Tension headaches
Cramps
Tremors
Shortness of breath
Teeth grinding
Choking sensations
Vocal and other tics
Hypertension
Hypotension
Flushing
Coronary spasm
Migraines
Unexplained abdominal pain
IBS
GERD
Functional vomiting
Choking symptoms
Bladder dysfunction
Interstitial cystitis
Visual blurring
Visual loss
Tunnel vision
Hearing impairment or loss
Memory loss
Mental confusion
Loss of consciousness
Pseudoseizure
Dissociation
Rethinking How We View Symptoms
Here's a hypothetical analogy to help understand this concept: Imagine if you went to the doctor with what you know to be a sinus infection - with typical symptoms of nasal discharge, headache, and a sore throat. Now imagine if, instead of treating these as connected symptoms of one condition, each symptom was treated as its own separate diagnosis:
Nasal discharge syndrome, acute, single episode
Headache disorder, not otherwise specified
Pharynx Inflammation Syndrome, acute, single episode
Of course, modern medicine doesn't actually work this way with sinus infections - doctors understand these symptoms are connected. However, this analogy helps illustrate what sometimes happens with anxiety symptoms in mental health diagnostics. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) can sometimes lead to treating anxiety symptoms as separate diagnoses, potentially losing sight of the underlying emotional conflicts driving these symptoms.
Finding the Fire Behind the Smoke
Think of anxiety as smoke and emotional conflict as fire. In therapy, we can observe how symptoms intensify when approaching certain emotional topics and decrease when moving away. This pattern helps distinguish between anxiety rooted in emotional conflict and symptoms with other medical causes. When we resolve the underlying conflict, the anxiety symptoms often resolve as well.
How ISTDP Makes the Difference
Unlike traditional therapy approaches that might focus on managing anxiety symptoms, Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) helps you:
Identify the specific emotional conflicts triggering your anxiety
Work through these conflicts directly rather than just managing symptoms
Create lasting change by resolving the root causes
Experience relief more quickly than traditional "anxiety management" approaches
When to Take Action
Consider professional support when anxiety:
Interferes with your daily well-being
Impacts your relationships
Affects your ability to focus
Disrupts your emotional balance
Creates persistent physical symptoms
Doesn't respond to self-help strategies
Ready to Move Beyond Anxiety Management?
If you're tired of just managing anxiety symptoms and want to address the root cause, ISTDP might be right for you. Schedule a trial therapy session to discover if this focused, evidence-based approach could help you find lasting relief. Click here to check availability and schedule your first appointment.