Allay Anxiety » anxiety

Anxiety Treatment – How to Help Yourself

Alex — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:55:49 +0000

I find that there are a lot of blogs about anxiety on the internet. So, the question becomes, why do I want to write my own. Well, it’s a good question but I believe that I have the answer. I believe that it actually does me some therapeutic good to write about my own personal struggles and the things that I have been through. So I do it.

Now, even if this blog is never read by anyone, though I am hoping that that won’t be the case, I can honestly say that I would not be discouraged. Because, and I don’t want this to sound self-centered, I write this blog for me. Because when I can vent about my own frustrations with anxiety, my own struggles suffering from it, then I get a cathartic release. Quite simply it benefits me quite a bit and that is a good reason to do it.

However, I hope that this blog becomes much more than that. I hope that I am able to share my strategies for coping with anxiety with others and that they may actually help others as well. I know I may sound like a bleeding-heart but I believe that when one has quality information to share it becomes their duty to share that information with humanity. And not everyone believes that. I hope you do.

Now, I research anxiety and mental health a lot. (I also, as a sufferer of social anxiety and panic attacks, have a lot of first hand knowledge on the matter.) What I have found in doing the research is that there are not a lot of people with first hand knowledge, ie they have lived with anxiety disorder, providing much quality information. The information usually comes from a couple of sources. First, there are clinicians and therapists who make their money working with people who need help. I don’t begrudge them for that as most are genuinely caring individuals who want to help. The problem comes from the fact that at the same they face a monetary reality. They need to make money to eat so they often take on all sorts of clients whether they can help them or not.

Now, I have seen countless therapists in both an inpatient and out patient setting and I can tell you that very few of them actually were anxiety sufferers themselves. In large part they were highly educated in the theories of psychology but most of what they knew came from a college seminar or a workshop. And, despite their best intentions, most of them were not able to be particularly helpful.

Like I said, I don’t begrudge them this fact. I just know that I was often quite disappointed when it turned out that the golden counsel my insurance had been paying $150 an hour to receive was essentially useless. I don’t care what your CBT therapist’s manual says… Your interventions are not helping!

Eventually, I parted ways with all of the advice-doctors that I had ever seen. I don’t mean to say that they are bad people, but, first and foremost, they are trying to put food on the table… And they put the food on the table by keeping you coming in to see them week after week. Currently, I see a shrink for medication management and that is it. And, honestly, I have never felt better. So, I don’t think it is likely that I will be returning to “seeing someone” anytime soon. However, if you see someone and it is working out great then by all means keep doing it. Though I would challenge you with a question. Do you see your therapist because you genuinely believe that they are helping you or do you see your therapist because you genuinely like them as a person and they have such a rooting interest in your life?

I pose this question to get you to think about improving your current lot in life. I don’t ask it to criticize you. But, are things improving since you’ve been seeing your current therapist? Think about it.

Now, I don’t write this out of any malicious motive. I think that being a therapist is a noble endeavor in theory. And I believe that every single (or very nearly every single) therapist that I saw wanted to help me. But, wanting to help me is not the same thing at all as actually helping me. And, on reflection, I have to say that all the therapists, MDs, PhDs, and DDSs that I have ever seen haven’t really added one thing to the bottom line. Sure, I have gotten better. Is it because of their pricey counsel? I doubt it.

And that’s the issue. At what point do you want to take ownership over your own health and well being? For me, I came to the realization that all the gains (and I mean every single one of them) could have been achieved with a little hard work and research. I never needed to step foot one in a therapist’s office except to realize what a giant waste of resources (both money and time) was being committed. And, once I realized this, it wasn’t a hard decision to tell my therapist that I no longer needed his/her services.

What can blogs teach you about dealing with anxiety? On this question, the answer somewhat eludes me. Oh sure, I think that the methods that I promote can be effective but I am not a therapist (Thank God for both of us). I do not tell you how to live your life or how to conduct your own treatment. But I ask these questions because, I know for me, the status quo wasn’t working. I came to a point where I needed to change something. And, for me, I realized that I needed to take ownership over my own treatment and well being.

Thus we come back to this blog. You may be wondering, “Aren’t there enough anxiety blogs?” And for me the answer is simple: The world could use one more! Like I said, I’ve been doing a lot of reading online to check out the other sites on this topic and I have been woefully disappointed. While there are a great number of such sites in quantity the number of those with quality (and by quality I mean not selling you an ebook or their own therapeutic services) is severely lacking. So, I have come to believe that in time, Allay Anxiety can become a quality resource. And, believe me, I write this blog for myself as much as I do for my readers.

So, I suppose, I have lampooned the entire professional mental health establishment, but, hey, somebody had to say it. And, I’m sure I’ll get an email or two about how so-and-so’s therapist is the bee’s knees and they couldn’t live without them. However, I hope I have got the gray matter pumping because, frankly, it is your life. It’s time to take ownership of it.

Dealing with Anxiety

Alex — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:06:28 +0000

Dealing with anxiety does not have to be a life altering type of situation. I talk to people all the time who think that they are going to wake up on day and be able to overcome anxiety because somebody says or does something magical. An example of this kind of thinking is believing that the right prescription pill is going to cure your anxiety. I know many people who shop from doctor to doctor, trying pill after pill and they are never satisfied with the results and they are going to keep trying new meds instead of thinking about other possible treatments that they could pursue. I know that meds do work. I have taken nearly all of them myself, but I have a secret to share with you: Medications do not work that well for anxiety. A medication is not going to by itself allow you to be dealing with anxiety in a healthy way. Sure that med will give you the baseline with which you can do something else with yourself to try to combat your anxiety. The med just allows you the clarity to attempt to use another technique to try to actually deal with your anxiety. A med by itself is just not going to do it for ya. Sorry to say.

However, I want you to realize that I am not anti anxiety medication, I believe that these pills do serve an important purpose, they get you in a clearer state of mind so that you can begin to take the steps that are truly necessary for you to begin dealing with anxiety in a healthy manner. Remember, as I have said again and again, the way that you think about your anxiety is far more likely to determine how you are able to cope about it. Now, in some cases, I do not think that my technique for overcoming anxiety can be effective even if you are willing to believe that a medicine is not going to magically cure you of your anxiety. I believe that deeply religious people will have a hard time accepting my method for reducing anxiety. I believe that in order to fully come to grips with your anxiety you have to endure a major paradigm shift regarding your state in the universe. As a result of this, you simply will not be able to continue to believe in the same things that you did while you were suffering from severe anxiety. If this means that you were a strong believer in God and you still had anxiety I think you have to question whether that means you should continue to believe in God going forward. If you believed in God and still could not get over debilitating anxiety, and I mean real anxiety, rather than anxiety about how to get rid of acne or how to get rid of blackheads or something like that. I mean if you suffer from severe troubling anxiety and do not know how you are going to make it through the day, and you still believe that you are going to heaven when you die, then I believe it is best if you just continue to suffer with anxiety and go to heaven when you die.

You can get rid of anxiety by using my method, but for it to work you will need to challenge your assumptions on every level. And for most people that means recalibrating their place in the universe and their own personal insignificance. If you believe that you are going to heaven when you die than you should continue to suffer with anxiety because the payoff for that mindset, eternal bliss in heaven, is better that the alternative payoff – a life free from anxiety. Because if you believe that if you stop believing in God that you will not get into heaven, then you must continue to struggle with panic and deal with anxiety. Why do I say this? In order to truly conquer anxiety and learn how to get rid of anxiety you need to accept the fact that nobody cares that you have anxiety, this will diminish the power of your anxiety disorder and in time you completely lose your anxiety symptoms. However, in order to truly grasp the nature of your insignificance, it can be difficult to do so if you think you are a perfect child the two just don’t go together. So, if you struggle with anxiety, then I believe you will have to make a decision if you want to be free from anxiety in this life or the next. It is a very personal decision, but if you believe you want to begin dealing with anxiety, I can help you.

Anxiety is Ruining My Life

Alex — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:13:04 +0000

Oh, if I had a dollar for each time I thought to myself, “Anxiety is ruining my life.” For I can not recount how many times those words ran through my brain or escaped from my lips. In fact, it even got to the point that I believed I would just have to accept my misery, my glum lot in life, and play out my hand.

Is that you? I bet it is. And you probably want me to tell you that you CAN overcome your anxiety and that overcoming anxiety is easy and, even better, that I can sell you a program or book that will show you exactly how to do it. Boy, you are bound to be disappointed. You know why? Because I can’t cure your anxiety! But there are things that YOU can do to cure your anxiety but they are not easy. Working on yourself is hard. It is hard like coal mining is hard and everyday you have to hit the mines. There is no break, there is no reprieve. I know that my health is entirely contingent on the fact that I do the things it takes to maintain my mental compentency.

So, who am I? Good question. I am a fellow sufferer of anxiety. Only I had it worse than you do. After my first hospitalization my doctor remarked that I might have the most severe case of anxiety he had ever seen. I had been a wreck for sometime, though it was my social anxiety that was especially debilitating. I had taken all the normal steps, and luckily why parents had been pretty financially successful so I had access to many options and therapies that many people do not.

I saw a psychiatrist. He prescribed some benzodiazepines for my symptoms. The first few days were nothing but pleasant. My anxiety symptoms lessened. I even enjoyed the easy, relaxed feeling that the drug provided. However, it did not last. Soon my anxiety came back, first in social situations and then later full blown, and I found I had developed a new problem. Along with my anxiety, I had developed a powerful dependence on the clonazepam.

I thought that just having an anxiety disorder was unpleasant enough. It became a whole new ball game when I found myself completely addicted to benzodiazepines. This was a whole new hell, believe me. Words simply can not explain the misery brought on by benzo withdrawal symptoms. And this wasn’t a passing phenomenon. I suffered from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome for more than two years. It was beyond awful. It was worse, in fact, than my anxiety disorder in the first place.

Quick aside: If you doctor is putting you a regular dosing of benzos — klonopin, xanax, valium, whatever — do the research before you do damage to your body that you will have difficulty coming back from.

So anyway, I started to see a psychiatrist and my condition improved somewhat with medication. So I started to see a therapist to work on “core issues” and really get to the bottom of it. But that was a joke. Sure, my therapist was a nice guy. He had an interesting world view and he took an active interest in me. But what he did not do was help. Finally, I stopped seeing him.

Today I do not see therapists. I do not pay people to have them share their world view with me. Instead I decided to take matters into my own hands. And if I didn’t make that decision I would still be suffering from my anxiety disorder in full force. For, I discovered that therapists and doctors they can only help so much. Most of the work you have to do yourself. If you want to overcome your anxiety, you are going to have to take action.

The question I get is how do I do that. Well, let me ask, have you even looked for an answer to your solution or are you waiting for someone to solve it for you? Because there are plenty of people who will trade you false hopes for cash. Your cash. But if you take action and find the answers yourself, you will be so-much-the-better.

You see, there are sites like this and countless others where people share the exact steps that they took to overcome their anxiety disorders. Oh sure they had some help from professionals, but they learned the majority of the techniques from other anxiety sufferers. We are a great community, these people who used to suffer from anxiety disorders, and we work together to help others out of their own situation. But, the thing is, you have to be willing to do the work. You can’t be closed off. You have to devour every website on anxiety and every blog and start learning. The internet is the best source of information since the dawn of man and you can take advantage of it.

So, read this site and read other sites like it. Learn from those among us who have re-taken their lives. And, with work you can join us.

Anxiety Disorder Statistics

Alex — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:50:50 +0000

A recent publication by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America documents several interesting statistics concerning anxiety disorders. I think the most interesting fact contained therein was that there are a tremendous number of people suffering from this disease. More than 40 million people in America have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder according to the report.

These numbers are staggering especially in light of the fact that the entire population of the country numbers at around 300 million. These statistics suggest that almost 20% of Americans struggle with anxiety.

The moral of all of this, I suppose, is that if you’ve been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder you are clearly in good company. These statistics illustrate that even though anxiety disorders are not entirely the “norm” they occur with such frequency that I would hope you don’t feel alone if you suffer from one.

How group therapy helps anxiety

Alex — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:27:33 +0000

Approximately six years ago, I began attending a weekly therapy group to help cope with struggles related to my anxiety disorder. Signing on to this group was something I was extremely reluctant to do but agreed to try it out for the opportunity to attack my anxiety. After some badgering by my individual therapist I agreed to try out the group.

And I’m very glad I made that decision for it has proven a most rewarding experience for me. Actually, I still show up every week, on Mondays to be exact, and I don’t have any plans to stop attending.

Let me testify here for a moment. If you suffer from anxiety like me, then the I idea of sharing your trials and tribulations openly in front of a group of total strangers every week can seem intimidating. For me that first week was terrifying. But something not unusual happened. The “strangers” didn’t remain that way for long.

As time went by, I learned of their struggles and their their difficulties and, most of all, I felt accepted. Because of this I was able to communicate openly about my issues with anxiety and depression and come to grasp an entirely new vocabulary for interpersonal relationships.

After years of group attendance, I am a much healthier person. Attacking anxiety isn’t easy. In fact, I still struggle with my anxiety, but I’ve made tremendous gains in that area. If you struggle, like I do, with an anxiety disorder, I can’t recommend group therapy highly enough.