Most individuals do not even think it is a problem to be an overachiever. They attribute their problems to procrastination, a lack of intellect, depression, or anxiety.
A significant part of my practice caters to adults and teens who suffer from anxiety and depression rooted in being an overachiever.
I continue to struggle with actually reading a book and so recently I got into the audiobook scene. I began with two health books followed by, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed.
Treatment of trauma rests on the foundation that trauma brain or trauma-based body chemistry can be changed first through skill-based techniques to “stabilize” clients, and then to reprocess the trauma.
Many people have what I call Trauma Brain and have no idea that it is the cause of their current symptoms.
Most clients have no idea how long it will take to change reactions to symptoms or habits that are part of how they live their lives. Changing our reactions to symptoms depends on several factors such as how long we have been experiencing symptoms and maladaptive reactions. Are they connected to other habits or symptoms?
Diagnosis vs Symptoms
People come to therapy for various reasons. The symptoms of individuals I see are self-reported or observable and consist of anxiety, phobia, exposure to traumatic events, symptoms of depression, obsessions, compulsions, and experiencing significant life events.
Generally speaking, individuals who have been in therapy before “know” what they are looking for in a therapist, more so than a newbie would. They have learned through experience that therapy is not one size fits all.
I know that it sounds so formal … TREATMENT… but depression is indeed a medical condition. We misquote the term at times by saying things like, “I’m depressed”, or “I am so depressed that my Netflix series has ended.”
Anxiety can be so debilitating that it interferes with daily tasks, moods, presence with loved ones, and ultimately, quality of life. It slowly erodes who a person is with physical and mental nagging.
