Coping with Anxiety

People who suffer from chronic anxiety often experience feeling completely normal one minute to totally crazy the next. Paradoxically the only way to get through the anxiety is to allow oneself to feel it in all its intensity. Anxiety goes away eventually. Its like a hurricane. Its intense, frightening, and ominous but it will eventually pass. As a therapist I encourage people to do the one thing they usually don't want to do. Go through it. Dont avoid it. Avoiding makes it worse by creating more anxiety. It takes a lot of energy to avoid the inevitable. It is better to say to oneself, "I can handle this" rather than "what if I become anxious?" Going through it means to answer the "what ifs?" If I become anxious here's my plan I will.. and list some things you can do to help yourself ride out the storm. Call a friend, go to be with family or supportive people, exercise, watch a movie with your kids, play a meditation tape, or pray. Give yourself a list of things to do. Make a set of notecards with things that have helped in the past. There is no need to suffer. Anxiety is a real disorder and can be treated. Seek professional help with someone who truly understands and will not judge you. Often it is a way a person thinks that makes them anxious to begin with. Crazy thoughts do not make crazy people, yet you may feel that if you tell anyone your anxiety producing thoughts you will be locked up in the psych ward. The simple truth is everyone feels anxious and at times it is actually good to feel some anxiety. When it starts to feel unreasonable or you start to feel like its beyond your control, and you have tried everything you know to make it better, then it can become disabling. It is time to get help when it's that intense. Talk to you doctor about medicines that could help. Recent research suggests that 90% of people with anxiety and or depression get better with a combination of medication and therapy. That's a pretty good statistic and one that should provide a lot of hope to those who suffer from chronic anxiety.