Anxiety

Anxiety is similar to depression in that the psychiatric community does not have complete agreement as to its source, or the best way to treat it. There are, of course, anti-anxiety medications, which in some cases are very beneficial. From a psychological (as opposed to a medical perspective), anxiety is a form of fear. A main difference between anxiety and fear is that with fear, the person is usually able to identify what they are afraid of, while with anxiety, the source of the fear is often unknown. Usually, when people come to therapy for a problem with anxiety, the main symptoms are: 1) An "out of control" feeling, similar to being on a roller coaster; 2) Shortness of breath, along with a fear of losing consciousness, or dying; 3) Rapid heartbeat and pulse, sometimes accompanied by sweating; 4) involuntary visual images of impending doom.

Anxiety disorders can be treated in a number of ways, aside from medication. If you suffer from anxiety, you can be reassured that your anxiety is treatable, and does not mean that you are losing your mind, or that you will have to endure this for the rest of your life. As in all emotional problems, there is no "one size fits all" solution. The therapist may give you behavioral techniques to reduce or eliminate your anxiety if it comes periodically. These may include breathing exercises and visualization techniques, which can help you to regain a sense of control over your body, and eventually relax.

The next task is to help you identify exactly what is causing the anxiety, or to put it another way, and to name your fear. Identifying what the fear is, and it's origin, can be a big step towards resolution. Sometimes, that alone is enough to reduce or eliminate the anxiety. If it isn't enough, the therapist can then use other methods, and again, this is determined by understanding the person's personal history, and defensive structure (coping mechanisms). People can develop problems with anxiety which stem from one single event in their lives, such as being in an airplane, that suddenly loses altitude, or anxiety can develop from a more generalized problem such as being raised in an alcoholic family where there was never any sense of security. Obviously, the above two situations are so different in nature that they would call for completely different treatment approaches, and, the length of treatment would also vary. With the airplane, one treatment approach could be termed "systematic desensitization" where you might be exposed, through guided imagery, gradually to the same event, while helping you to remain relaxed. By combining the feeling of relaxation with the event that initially caused stress, over a period of a few sessions, you may be able to reduce or eliminate the anxiety. In the example of the alcoholic parent, there would be a number of tasks necessary for you to gain a sense of security in the world that might take many sessions, especially if you have never experienced that sense of safety before.

Some therapists view anxiety as a midway point between a full expression of the emotion (letting the emotion be fully experienced) and a full suppression of the emotion, which would be experienced as a lack of emotion or depression. The emotional energy is attempting to flow through your body, but your fear prevents this from happening and the emotion gets trapped in the body, oftentimes in the chest and shoulder areas. As always, your will and determination to succeed (in this case to succeed at reducing or eliminating the anxiety) are the most significant factors in recovery.