Is anxiety messing with the way you communicate?

Anxiety is enough of a battle in its own right, but did you also know it can mess with the way you communicate with – and interpret messages from – the people around you and society in general?

Here’s how:

1. When you are anxious, you literally cannot think straight. Your thoughts get all entangled. Consequently, you often misinterpret incoming messages. For instance, at work you may hear the words “you are moving departments” but you interpret them negatively to mean “I am being demoted”.

2. Confused thinking can result in your outgoing message not being clear. You may want to convey an expert opinion about a plan, but it sounds garbled and patronising.3. Anxiety can stop you from approaching the person with whom you need to communicate. Fear is a major part of anxiety. This can have all sorts of carry-on effects – like not being noticed, missing an opportunity or being seen as aloof.

4. Anxiety can cause you to lose confidence in yourself. You may feel so alone and frightened that you feel frozen and unable to take action. For example, precisely the time you need to network to get a job, your anxiety may be keeping you isolated or make you tongue-tied or speak nervously.

5. Anxiety can lead to avoidance of social interaction. It can also lead to a downward spiral whereby the less you socialise, the less you communicate with others your age – reducing your confidence even further and resulting in more self-imposed isolation.

6. If you are worried and tense, it will be noticeable in your voice and body language. Therefore, regardless of who you are speaking to, you will appear underconfident and distracted and you may not be able to express yourself clearly.

If your communication is under par, it is probably time to evaluate your emotions and how they are impacting your behaviour.

If you want to be an effective communicator, it is essential that you learn to manage your anxiety.

Learning to manage your anxiety will go a long way to helping you to communicate effectively and achieve the results that you want.

We have a strong team of Clinical Psychologists, Registered Psychologists and Psychotherapists who offer both group and individual sessions to teach you practical skills to manage your anxiety and learn to communicate effectively. Contact us or call us now on 02 9328 5899 to learn more and book an appointment.

By Renee Mill|2022-07-18T12:59:56+10:00April 13th, 2018|Anxiety|

About the Author: Renee Mill

Renee Mill -- Anxiety Solutions CBT Director, Principal Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor and Best Selling Author -- has counseled hundreds of individuals, couples and families for over 30 years. She cares deeply about her clients and has created a warm and safe environment for all thrive. Renee has worked intensely on creating a new technique for dealing with generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety, fear of public speaking, performance anxiety and panic attacks. Renee’s other key areas of interest are depression, relationships and couple therapy, self-worth, parenting, resilience and well-being. Renee has published 3 best selling books and lectured in Australia, China, Israel, the United States and South Africa. She is well known on the speaker’s circuit and is often called upon by the media for her professional opinion. To hear Renee’s interviews or read her articles have a look at our Media Section.