Treating Anxiety Disorder

Someone with generalized anxiety disorder lives in a state of unrelenting, high-level anxiety. They find it impossible to relax and even going about normal day-to-day activities becomes difficult. It's important to know how to go about treating anxiety disorder in order for them to obtain any relief and get their life back to normal.

There are a couple skills that someone with an anxiety disorder should take the time to learn. These aren't difficult to do but most people with high levels of anxiety have forgotten how. The two skills I want to mention our diaphragmatic breathing and self soothing.

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You'll find detailed instructions on proper deep breathing on the page: A Breathing Technique to Help with Panic Attacks and Anxiety.

Diaphragmatic breathing uses the diaphragm to fully expand the lungs and bring oxygen into your system. In effect, it gives the body and "all clear, all is well" signal. I recommend practicing it by taking at least 10 diaphragmatic breaths every hour.

The second skill is self soothing. Sometimes we can get ourselves worked up and know that we're overreacting but not to what to do about it. Learning how to soothe yourself and calm down is the answer.

A good way to do this is to use your physical senses. Too much of the input that comes at us every day is jarring, distressing and anxiety provoking. You have only to look at the evening news to know that. To maintain balance, you need to actively seek out opposing input.

Look at beautiful and calming images or movies. You can search YouTube for short clips that you find inspiring or calming. Get out in nature. Take a warm bath. Get a massage. Pet an animal. Make a ritual out of having a cup of tea or cocoa. Visit a bakery just to enjoy the aromas. In short, use your senses in positive ways. You'll find more details about this approach at: Anxiety Disorders Treatment.

Just these two tips will go a long ways toward the treating anxiety disorder. Other lifestyle changes that are of great benefit is to engage in an exercise program and take up the practice of meditation. Obviously each of these is a huge subject in itself, but there's definite proof that both are remarkably effective in alleviating not only worry and anxiety but depression as well.

One of the most distressing aspects of anxiety disorder for many people is that they feel as if their thoughts are somehow out of their control. Therefore one way to obtain relief is to demonstrate that that isn't true. You can do this by limiting worry to a specific times. How often and how long you allow yourself will depend on what feels right to you.

The idea is to give yourself permission to fully engage in worry during a specific, predetermined time but not at any other time. Then, when (and you undoubtedly will) you find yourself worrying at any other time, you simply remind yourself that "this isn't my worry time" and let the worrisome thoughts go. People find this easier to do because they know that they've given themselves their worry time.

This accomplishes two things. First it reduces the overall time spent in worry, which reduces the negative physical impact of worry. Secondly, it demonstrates that the person worrying does have control over their thoughts.

Another very effective treatment for anxiety disorder is cognitive restructuring. Most worrisome thoughts are actually not very accurate. They're based on flawed premises, exaggerations, unrealistic expectations and foolish assumptions. Cognitive restructuring teaches people how to challenge inaccurate thoughts and replace them with clear perceptions.

You can work with a therapist to learn cognitive restructuring. You can also learned on your own. There many books on the subject. A good one is: The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns, M.D.

I hope you've found these ideas on treating anxiety disorder helpful. Another excellent approach is to use the method taught by Panic Away. You can read my review of the panic away system at: Panic Away Review or click on the links below to find out more about this program has to offer.

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