Anxiety Relating to Difficult Life Situations, Life Transitions, and Stressful Responsibilities

Sometimes life change can feel potently stressful, and cause bodily anxiety prior to one’s conscious awareness of the upcoming stressor. Often just the anticipation of life change can be the stressor, contributing to feelings of dread, insecurity, uncertainty, and vulnerability. We feel defenseless, as being forced out of a long-held comfort zone. Sometimes we are thrown into life change by the sudden impact of a crisis or loss of loved one.

This is not just typical anxiety from daily challenges. Life change is existential – a challenge of existence and a deep life experience. Life change can be a positive growth experience, though sometimes not so positive. This depends on the circumstances and one’s personal perception of the life change.

First, there are the normal lifespan transitional periods, though even these can bring on great stress and its accompanying anxiety symptoms (i.e., first day of elementary school, entering high school, seniors transitioning to college, college graduates entering the work world, getting married, having children, entering retirement, and coping with old age).

Typically existential anxiety is a deeply felt underlying tension that worsens as we move closer to the life transition. We may often feel physically cold, have difficulty sleeping, experience headaches or a nervous stomach, or become symptomatic in some idiosyncratic way because of the underlying anxiety.

Life change can be really negative if it occurs due to a loss of a loved one, losing a job, developing a major illness, getting divorced, among other scary life experiences. This kind of stress can contribute to stress-related illnesses, including adrenal fatigue and exhaustion. If you find yourself approaching or moving through a challenging life-changing period, here are 7 strategies to transition as painlessly as possible, or better – – to make it a positive personal growth experience.

If transitional stress is significant, consider counseling with a therapist trained and knowledgeable in helping with life transitions, and biofeedback and stress management to help you learn skills for anxiety and stress reduction for the long haul. Also seek a healing treatment plan to restore deep internal wellness.