Anxiety and Life Changes
Written by Montana Squires
Edited by Hannah Poe Klaassen, M.S., LPC, NCC, RYT-200
Change can be scary, even when you plan for it. It’s normal for you to feel anxiety about a life change. Dealing with something unfamiliar means that your brain is not sure what to anticipate next. With a life change you may find yourself in new territory that you have not adapted to yet. There are all sorts of life changes you can expect in life: social changes, family changes, financial changes, and changes to your health. Whether the change is good or bad, one might find themselves feeling more anxious or depressed after facing a life change. And it can become so easy to discount these feelings when you compare them to the experiences of others. Things that are hard for us are simply just things that are hard. There is no universal guide to say that you “should” be able to move on after a loss at a certain time or not.
For instance, let’s consider the loss of a pet. If you are an animal lover, like myself, pets are part of the family. Pets have their own personalities and the relationships you form with your animals can be life changing. Losing a pet to illness, accident, or old age is never easy. I would equate it to losing a close friend or a family member. Someone who has a different experience of animals than myself might not understand the complex grief that comes with the loss of a furry friend. They might even suggest something like a replacement pet to cope with the loss. Your unique animal can never be replaced in the same way, nor can that relationship be rebuilt with a new animal right away. Your loss could feel too overwhelming and a new pet might feel disrespectful to the deceased pet's memory. Neither person is wrong for how they interpret the loss of an animal and how they would consider navigating that grief. It’s just that we all experience hardship differently.
A common diagnosis that mental health counselors encounter is Adjustment Disorder. This diagnosis focuses on increased hardship following a recent change in the past several months. It can come with increased anxiety, depression, both anxiety and depression, changes of behavior, or with unspecified factors. Ways that a Well Culture Counseling therapist could help you adjust to a new life change are: reframing new patterns of thinking and adding new coping skills to your toolbelt.
If you are looking for counseling regarding a life change that you are having difficulty facing, click here to book a 15 minute consultation. Not sure how to choose a therapist, check out our guide on How to Find a Counselor in Denton, TX.
If you would like to learn more about anxiety check out our blogs about the Roots of Anxiety and Social Anxiety.
