It seems every time I turn around there is a new website promoting the cure for anxiety. For only $19.95 this self proclaimed expert will teach you the various methods where anxiety will no longer be an issue in your life. So why are there so many sites? Anxiety disorder is the top mental health problem in the USA with forty million people effected every year so the consumer base is pretty high.
Anxiety is normal to a certain point. It is what fuels the fight or flight button in or brain that is designed to keep us safe or at least safer. Of course to me Anxiety is like Depression in one word does not do a very good job of covering an entire disorder spectrum. This one word somehow covers the jitters you get before an important meeting or a first date or trying to explain to your parents how you just wrapped Dad’s prized possession around a tree. Anxiety also includes being so afraid of the outside world that you never leave your house or anxiety attacks that are so severe you swear your going to die or flashbacks that are tied into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that will send you back into your person hell in a heartbeat or a phobia so strong that there is no way in hell are you going to confront it. One heck of a spectrum for one word.
How do you get over anxiety or at least lessen the impact it has on your life? Well first you send me a check for $29.99 and I will tell you, just kidding. The key to plain old anxiety is figuring out where it came from which is a lot harder then it sounds. Joe Blow is scared to leave his house because the one time he did a pack of rabid squirrels bit him on the ass so he now believes this event will repeat so he sentences himself to house arrest. This may be a extreme example but I can guarantee the situation, well maybe not the part of the squirrels, applies to a group of people. The key to therapy for this situation is for Joe to be able to understand what happened to him was a freak occurrence and it is not what is to be expected when he steps outside his home. The longer the anxiety has been present the harder it is to treat for over time the mind tends to make mountains out of mole hills.
Here is another group example and that is people who are terrified of the dark which is a pretty large group. Is it the fact that there is no light in the room that scares this group? Yes and no. The dark scares them but it is not the cause as chances are something happened a long time ago in a dark room that set this particular anxiety off. They are not afraid of the dark but they are afraid that something that took place in the dark will happen again a lot of people who were sexually or physically abused as children are terrified of the dark. Understanding the root of the anxiety is the key to overcoming it.
Anxiety related to health problems is so unbelievably common it keeps doctors and emergency rooms busy. The drawback to the internet is that there is too much information available which just makes a bad situation even worse. Across the forums that I participate on I see it constantly. People taking one thing such as a worry that their friends do not like them and before you know it they believe that they are now the proud owner of a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. My response is always the same thing go see a doctor to get a real evaluation done then start to research the problematic behavior and not the other way around. The part that always get me is I see people post about a specific condition for awhile then when you ask if they have seen a medical professional the answer is no. To me the doctor is always the first step and then I go from there. Ever been tested for HIV? What is the worst part? The wait for by the time the results have come back you have completely convinced yourself that you have this terrible condition but when the test comes back negative you feel on top of the world and a little bit stupid for allowing yourself to think the way you did. The majority of health concerns can be ruled out with a visit to the doctors and waiting a week for the test results is a lot easier on the body then a self diagnosis which is just asking for trouble. As soon as a question appears in your mind find a doctor to answer it for you and stay away from medical sites until you have a firm diagnosis.
My worst anxiety attack occurred before I had my breakdown. I was recovering from shingles and my throat was sore so I did what most people do and looked in the mirror. My throat was a different color then normal and for whatever the reason I thought it was swelling. I tried to ignore it but my brain would not let it go and for some weird mental reason I believed that I could no longer swallow so now I was breathing heavily through my nose. A quick trip back to the mirror and now I was convinced that my throat was swollen shut. Mentally I was long gone by this point and started to hyper ventilate to the point where my ex drove me to the hospital. On the way there I was struggling to breathe and at one point she wanted to stop at her work to call an ambulance. We get to the hospital and my ex convinced a nurse I was a couple of steps away from dying so I was immediately rushed through. I was in one of the little rooms still struggling to breathe when the doctor came in and he examined my throat then said yes it was red but there was no signs of it swelling shut and no logical reason why I could not breathe normally and do you know what all of a sudden I could breathe again. The mind is a powerful device that can convince you that your dying when your perfectly fine. Save yourself the anguish and stress and go see your doctor to answer that question that will not go away on its own.
There are many forms of anxiety disorders from Generalized Anxiety Disorder to Social Anxiety Disorder to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to Panic Disorder to Phobias to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to Agoraphobia and a bunch more. The best thing to do is get a firm diagnosis, develop a treatment plan and then go to work on it at least this way you know exactly what your dealing with instead of wandering around in circles. My anxiety is in check at the moment due to a whole hell of a lot of meds but I know the only way to lessen it on a permanent basis is to get to the route of the issue but being Borderline means no therapist is willing to come near me so I am relying on the band aid that is medication to keep the bugger at bay.
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