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RESPONDING TO ANXIETY

Anxiety can be good - a signal that action is warranted. It keeps you alive and is good for generating problem solving. But anxiety can also be excessive and that is confusing because it makes it hard to know how much attention to pay to the anxiety and its perceived source. It is important not to give excessive anxiety power over your life. Worry is a mild form of anxiety, but anyone who is a chronic worrier can tell you it is no picnic. Problems with Anxiety are present in common mental health problems: Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and various other anxiety disorders, including panic attacks and phobias. See Shadow Syndromes by John J. Ratey, M.D. and Catherine Johnson, Ph.D. for more information.

People with ADD may unconsciously use worry (and procrastination) as a way to focus their mind. They also may worry about having the internal resources to cope with their responsibilities. People on the OCD spectrum usually have an observer self that can tell the obsessive thoughts or actions are not based on a real need, but still feel compelled to have them. It is like an alarm that can't be turned off or a sensation of never being satisfied. Unlike people with OCD, people with PTSD have difficulty distinguishing whether their fears are reality based or not. This is often true of people with anxiety disorders. In both disorders, fear is being triggered by some similarity of the current situation to an earlier dangerous situation. It can be very difficult to distinguish whether a response is warranted. In addition, when extreme danger is perceived, the limbic system can make decisions outside the realm of consciousness. In either case, people with PTSD or other anxiety disorders may react as if "the paper tiger were a real tiger."

Since anxiety is a complex and varied issue, no one tactic will work all the time and a combination of tactics will probably prove most effective. Professional help is often warranted. The following solutions may help in some, but not all situations.

1) Breathe! Breathe in expanding the belly, then the chest. Breathe and exhale slowly and evenly.
2) Take time to notice all of your feelings while breathing slowly and evenly.
3) Exercise is the best medicine as long as you don't exercise past the point of pain. Exercise changes neurotransmitter and hormone levels in a way that reduces stress and produces a feeling of well being.
4) Have you anxiety rather than trying to push it away or muffle it with consuming or using substances. The idea is to remain engaged in constructive behavior rather than giving the anxiety too much power.
5) A general guideline for OCD driven behavior is to substitute a constructive behavior for the anxiety driven behavior and refusing to engage in the anxiety driven behavior.
6) Talk to a friend. Women stress manage by "tending and befriending" others. For both men and women, naming the anxiety takes away its power.
7) Attend a support group. There's safety in numbers.
8) Eat a balanced diet. Eat protein at all 3 meals and as a part of your snack to prevent blood sugar crashes. A blood sugar crash can trigger a panic attack.
9) Avoid sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and refined carbohydrates because of the potential for a blood sugar crash.
10) Consider that the anxiety may be PTSD related, especially if it is followed by anger or numbness. Remind yourself that you are in a new situation and that the excess anxiety is due to an earlier situation. Keep breathing evenly and notice sensations and emotions, without letting the sensations and the emotions necessarily guide your behavior because at least part of the reaction is being triggered by something that reminds you of the past.
11) Avoid projecting your anxiety from one situation onto another (especially another person - it's bad for relationships).
12) Instead, stay focused in the present. Disaster mind is usually future oriented or rooted in the past.
13) Make up a better story. When a person is anxious or depressed, thoughts tend to be distorted. Remember that thoughts are symbolic - they are not reality itself. Try saying to yourself, "That's quite a story that I am making up." Or, make up a story whose outcome will serve you better than the negative one you are telling yourself.
14) Often thoughts are stories are made up to explain our feelings. Identifying the feeling behind the thought can reduce the compulsion to think negatively.
15) If you are worrying, try turning your worry into problem solving.
16) A way of tapping into intuition is to ask yourself, "What does my body want to do?"
17) Use anxiety as a signal to problem solve. Ask yourself the following questions. "Is there something I have been neglecting?" "What can I do about it?" Is there a problem that I am difficulty problem solving?" "How can I get help?" "Where can I get adequate knowledge to solve this problem?"
18) Do what you can and then turn your attention to something else.
19) Get an anxiety workbook and use it. Also, Worry, by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. is good resource book.
20) Get professional help. Also, some anxiety problems are connected to health issues. Hyperthyroidism, adrenal stress/fatigue, and candidiasis are some of the health issues that can increase anxiety.
21) Medication is useful in some situations. Care needs to be taken in taking any medication, and there is some evidence that some medication tends to inhibit recovery from PTSD.