Understanding the Relationship Between Anxiety and Trauma

Both anxiety and trauma can debilitate an individual’s life. Sometimes anxiety and trauma can present separately from each other. Other times, anxiety and trauma will be interconnected. This blog post will explore how anxiety and trauma can present independently or simultaneously depending on the individual seeking therapy.  Understanding the relationship between anxiety and trauma cannot be overstated.  

Anxiety and Trauma

Anxiety can present in someone’s life even if the person has not experienced trauma in their life. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that about 19% of adults in the United States have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety may result from either individual characteristics and/or environmental factors. Most of the time, anxiety symptoms begin due to both personal and environmental factors. Anxiety symptoms can dysregulate the nervous system and keep this system stuck in fight/flight for long periods of time.

Trauma, on the other hand, mostly occurs due to factors outside of someone’s influence or control. Because of how trauma can impact the mind and body, it too can disrupt the nervous system and lead to anxious thoughts, a racing heart, and restlessness. Sometimes these symptoms can be confused as anxiety. That is why a thorough biopsychosocial assessment is needed to assess for what is driving anxiety symptoms and nervous system dysregulation.

Nervous System Dysregulation

A major component in treating mental health disorders, in general, is the regulation of the nervous system. Anxiety and/or trauma can both disrupt this bodily system. When this system is dysregulated, a person may experience anxiety, a racing heart, restlessness, difficulty with sleep, and fatigue. By regulating the nervous system, a mental health therapist can help to bring about balance and more responsiveness back into an individual’s life. This can then help determine if anxiety is causing the mental health symptoms or past traumatic experiences.

5 Ways to Soothe the Nervous System

Not everyone will soothe their nervous system the same as the next. Here are 5 ways to soothe the nervous system but it is important to find out what works best for you. These ideas may lead you to try new things that might work better for you in the long run.

1. Using changes in water temperature to reconnect the mind and body. This will help you to develop the ability to track sensations within the body to allow for a present-moment focus.

2. Spending time in nature. The natural rhythms of nature can act as significant sources of grounding, i.e., trees blowing in the wind or waves on the beach.

3. Essential oils can help to calm the body, especially if they have been used to successfully help calm the body in the past.

4. We may take this for granted but a good night’s sleep can stabilize many of the different systems within the body, including the nervous system.

5. Physical exercise, in line with your body’s abilities, can help to regulate the nervous system, expend excess energy, and regulate other body systems.

EMDR Therapist to Heal Anxiety and Trauma

You don’t have to live your life plagued by anxiety and/or trauma. Eye Movement Reprocessing and Desensitization (EMDR) therapy can help decrease the intensity and frequency of anxiety and trauma symptoms. Catalyss Counseling provides EMDR therapy to help you achieve balance and internal peace in your life. See how EMDR therapy can benefit you and your healing by exploring Catalyss Counseling’s EMDR page.

How We Can Help

If you would like to talk to someone more about how EMDR can help you heal from your trauma, follow these simple steps:

1. Contact us today for a free 20-minute phone consultation

2. Or, you can book directly online with the therapist of your choice

3. Begin your journey towards a calmer, more relaxed life

Author Biography

This blog was written by Daniel Gospodarek, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He is the founder of Revitalize Mental Health PLLC which serves men who have experienced trauma, PTSD, C-PTSD, infidelity, and work-related traumas, first responders, military personnel, and healthcare professionals looking to heal. Daniel is duly licensed in both Wisconsin and Colorado. He is certified in EMDR and is currently in his intermediate level of Somatic Experiencing training. 

Other Therapy Services Available at Catalyss Counseling:

Here at Catalyss Counseling, we want to meet all of your counseling needs in the Denver area. Our supportive therapists provide depression counseling, therapy for caregiver stress, grief and loss therapy, stress management counseling, and more. We also have specialists in trauma and PTSD, women's issues, pregnancy and postpartum depression or anxiety, pregnancy loss and miscarriage, and birth trauma. For therapists, we can also provide clinical supervision! We look forward to connecting with you to help support your journey today.