Methods for Overcoming Anxiety

Anxiety is defined in Webster as a state of apprehension and worry, uneasiness and distress about future uncertainties. A person suffering from anxiety is consumed by her fears. There is hope for a person with severe anxiety to be free from the foreboding and dread she often feels.

Begin by Learning Relaxation Techniques

• Seeking assistance from professionals experienced in anxiety is the best course of action to take. An individual with anxiety can benefit from therapy and, depending on the severity of the anxiety, medication. The combination of therapy and medication alleviates the intense symptoms of anxiety in order to determine its origin.

  The initial steps in this process are to discuss with the individual the basis of fears and worries that are based on unrealistic threats. His worries manifest themselves in physical symptoms, including tension, hypervigilance and avoidance. An individual suffering with anxiety is taught how to manage those thoughts and calm the over-arousal reactions in his body while conquering the desire to avoid the situation. This is done in part with progressive muscle relaxation: the individual focuses on relaxing muscles in hisfeet, calves, thighs, stomach, chest, shoulders, arms, neck and face. The individual learns that he can relax his own body when he needs to.
  Another technique is guided imagery; the individual will focus on a setting, paying close attention to the details of the image. The image is generally a peaceful setting intended to foster a relaxed feeling. This, along with diaphragmatic or deep breathing, will allow the individual to feel his body relax and the anxiety leaving it. These skills are taught and practiced in therapy with the hope that they will become part of his daily routines.

Self-Talk and Disorted Messages

• A professional will ask the individual to assess her self-talk. She will be encouraged to focus on the connection between the self-talk and the fear response. The individual will be directed to notice the biases in her own thinking that lead to excessive worry and fear. The therapist will assist in adjusting these distorted messages and replacing them with messages based in reality and positive thinking.

  The individual will learn techniques to stop negative thoughts from beginning with a technique called thought-stopping. She will be taught to picture a stop sign when these exaggerated fears and worries begin. The next step would be for her to begin replacing those fears with a pleasant scene similar to those used in the guided imagery.

Degrees of Worry

• Placing fears and worries into three degrees of importance often helps the individual prioritize fears. Very Important, Important and Not Very Important are the three degrees, written down on a sheet of paper. The Individual will write down what he is feeling anxious about, putting it into the correct category. He can go back and review what he had been worried about and determine the level of relevance of that fear. The therapist will work with him to learn the evaluation process to determine if he is giving the items the proper level of importance.

  Learning adaptation skills for a situation that brings worry and anxiety to an individual is essential in avoiding an anxiety attack. Role playing with the individual about how he would react in certain situations will give him an arsenal of tools to use when he is faced with the onset of fear and anxiety.

  Anxiety does not need to control your life if you are willing to learn how to identify the triggers. Learning and practicing relaxation techniques as well as working on your self-talk will empower you when you are faced with a situation that causes you anxiety.