Sometimes it is hard to know if an experience we are having is “normal” or if we should seek help. It can be hard to track progress and know if the things we are doing to improve are working.
If we want to understand something better, we need to break it down into smaller, more digestible pieces. When we look at something in its totality it can feel too big and overwhelming. Let use anxiety as an example.
Anxiety and stress are not always detrimental to our health. In fact, there are very important evolutionary reasons why humans experience these emotions, but we’ll save that for another post. To evaluate our anxiety, we can use these three simple words – FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, and DURATION.
First, we want to take inventory of how often we feel anxious. Is anxiety experienced on a daily basis? If so, is there a specific reason for the anxiety? Do we always experience anxiety in certain situations or environments? What are they? Why? When an unwanted emotion is experienced on a very frequent basis it can evolve into an ever-growing and expanding problem, further impacting areas of our life.
Next, we want to look at the intensity of the emotion. For example, experiencing a moderate amount of anxiety spontaneously when someone cuts you off while driving is considered “normal”. However, experiencing moderate anxiety all day long for no explicit reason is very unsettling. Some people experience very intense moments of anxiety, called panic attacks. Breathing is a very important component to return the nervous system to a more relaxed state.
Lastly, we want to evaluate how long the experience lasts. In addition to making improvements by reducing the frequency or the intensity of an experience, we can look to shorten the length of time we experience an unwanted emotion. If we can reduce the length of a panic attack from 10 minutes to 5 minutes, we have made very significant progress. Finding ways to control these stressful situations is important in order to see success, maintain motivation, and put forth the necessary effort to make change last.
One helpful tip we can follow is to create a sheet to track our experiences and practice efforts. Use this sheet to log the frequency, intensity, and duration of your emotion and focus on using techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing or thought challenging to improve in one or all of these specific areas. If we see our efforts working, it will motivate us to continue and expand our new abilities.
If these situations do not improve with these self-coping mechanisms, please call NRS|LS for a psychological consultation and evaluation.
George Corradino, LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor