Are You Dealing with Anxiety or PTSD?

Trauma happens to most of us sooner or later. 

And while some people can absorb the hit and seem to keep on moving, many of us are stopped in our tracks and hurt deeply. Some of us react in ways we wish we wouldn’t. Others withdraw, struggle, and flounder. Regardless, we’re changed. 

Feeling knocked down for much longer than we’d like, we may look for relief and find it. Or we might bury and avoid our pain, living with it much longer than we need to or even realize.

Inevitably, anxiety results. So it isn’t difficult to understand how PTSD and anxiety might be confused.

This is why PTSD was often described as a severe anxiety disorder in the past. However, within the last couple of decades, research has determined that trauma-related emotions like guilt, anger, and shame make PTSD inconsistent with a fear-based anxiety condition.  

In other words, PTSD is not simply the worry and dread related to a scary situation. Much more is going on.

PTSD Counseling NYC: Why PTSD is Not Just A Severe Anxiety Disorder

It is important to understand that anxiety can occur without a traumatic event. It is a real condition, worthy of care and attention. However, anxiety often results from internal assumptions or perceptions unrelated to a specific circumstance. 

Conversely, surviving a terrible threat or event, a trauma, is an altogether different experience. In fact, trauma survivors often feel as though they are experiencing the trauma again and again. 

Consider your own experience. Do you feel unable to free yourself from the emotional, mental, and physical reactions that accompany a past experience? 

Trauma can alter your perceptions and responses powerfully. It can also significantly change your nervous system. Essentially, there are markedly specific ways the brain and nervous system adjust to make sense of the dangers they now perceive. 

PTSD Counseling NYC: A Closer Look at the Relationship Between Anxiety Symptoms and PTSD Symptoms

At first glance, it seems that there is considerable overlap in the symptoms of both disorders. However, a closer look can help clear up key differences. 

Common Anxiety Symptoms

  • Irritability
  • Restlessness or fatigue
  • Hypervigilance or controlling behavior
  • Intrusive or racing thoughts
  • Excessive worry or fear
  • A persistent sense of doom
  • Insomnia or disrupted sleep
  • Digestive trouble or nausea
  • Muscle tension, aches, and pain
  • Poor focus or ability to concentrate

Common PTSD Symptoms

The symptoms above are often shared by PTSD sufferers. But the trauma itself makes all the difference in how they are experienced. In other words, PTSD symptoms are fallout from the trauma. They are generally grouped in the following ways: 

  • Re-experiencing: you live in a persistent state of fight-or-flight, regularly reliving the event when triggered or when reminded. You may deal with nightmares and flashbacks, even coping with physical tension or sensations linked to your trauma.
  • Avoidance: you find it difficult to maintain a healthy connection with others, your environment, and yourself. You avoid anything or anyone that is connected to your trauma. You may experience a sense of detachment or emotional numbness.
  • Negativity: you have distorted, pessimistic, or defeatist thoughts about yourself and the world around you. You may develop deep distrust in the safety or reliability of others, leading to a reduced ability to have many joyful experiences or positive connections.
  • Arousal: you are reactive. You may be irritable and on edge.  Others may call you controlling and combative. Your relationships may struggle as outbursts, reckless behavior, and attempts to control others cause conflict. Trouble sleeping or paying attention is not unusual nor are periods of hypervigilance.

If you are a trauma survivor, your symptoms are deeply connected to traumatic memories. Something terrible happened and continues to happen inside you. Your emotions and nervous system are stuck, reacting to perceived peril and instability. Fortunately, hope is on the horizon.

PTSD Counseling NYC: Trauma Treatment Can Help You Recover

PTSD stifles healthier thinking and relationships. But you don’t have to go on this way. Even if you aren’t really sure where your emotional pain stems from, reach out for help. Let a counselor help you safely and compassionately determine what lies at the root of your distress.

The Relationship Suite

We’re a group of skilled therapists ready when you are. We have the experience to support trauma sufferers. Please read more about PTSD therapy and contact us for support soon. You can feel better and live well.

To learn more about our Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment services, click here. 

If you’re struggling, call 917-273-8836 or Contact us for a complimentary consultation to learn more about counseling in NYC and how we can help you.

We are a group of skilled therapists specializing in individual and couples counseling. Since Covid, we have been working with couples via Online Counseling in New York, New York City including Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Westchester, Long Island, South Hampton, East Hampton, Montauk. To schedule a complimentary consultation, click HERE.

We also provide Virtual Counseling in New Jersey, Hoboken, Jersey City, Princeton, Chatham, Morris, Westfield, Union, Bergen County, Colts Neck, Tenafly. Schedule a complimentary consultation by clicking HERE.