Some people are fortunate to experience anxiety disorders only for a short period, possibly at a specific stressful part of their life. For many more people, though, anxiety and phobias are chronic.
Perhaps you first suffered panic attacks in college, facing the stress of being away from home and a heavy workload. Maybe you found yourself frozen at the door of an airplane, unable to board, caught in a powerful new phobia. Or it could be that you feel anxious all the time. Sometimes you don’t even know why.
No matter when you first started experiencing your anxiety disorders, they may have turned into a chronic, even terrible, part of your daily life. Whether you’ve sought anxiety treatment in the past or not, it’s essential to know that you can still make great strides and even fully recover from them.
1. Effective Therapies
Several approaches to treating anxiety have shown to be particularly helpful:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Although it’s a mouthful, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is scientifically shown to be useful for many mental health issues. With CBT, you learn to carefully examine and reframe the thoughts you have about yourself and your experiences with anxiety. The ultimate goal is for you to actively learn to replace your unhelpful thoughts with ones that can move you forward.
Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy often goes hand-in-hand with CBT. If you have specific phobias, such as air travel, exposure therapy might involve small steps to help you face your feeling of fear. You could watch videos of planes and airports, park somewhere to watch planes taking off and landing in person, and possibly even enter the airport. You might also work up to a full flight simulator. It’s not comfortable, but if you take baby steps, it can help significantly.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is another treatment that is very helpful for anxiety caused by trauma. Therapists receive specialized training to guide clients through this approach. It works by alternating stimulation between both hemispheres of the brain, usually by sight, sound, or small “tappers” held in the hands.
Mindfulness
If you utilize any CBT skills in your fight against anxiety, there’s a good chance you’ll also draw upon various mindfulness techniques. With mindfulness, you can learn to listen to your body. The thoughts and emotions you experience are directly connected to and experienced in your body. You’ll learn to notice the signs that your body is giving you when you feel anxious.
2. Practice Continually
As with learning anything new, recovery from anxiety disorders involves practice. Your fears and phobias have probably created strong pathways throughout your brain. They’re easily triggered. But the more you practice using the techniques and skills you’ve learned, the stronger the new neural pathways will grow. With time, they’ll start to override the anxiety-connected networks in your brain.
3. Self-Compassion
As with so many mental health issues, those struggling with chronic anxiety may feel tempted to beat themselves up. You might take positive steps forward, only to find yourself a few steps backward in a month or two.
Belittling yourself, however, doesn’t do you any good! While it can definitely be a challenge to learn how to stop criticizing yourself, it is necessary. Draw upon the wisdom of cognitive behavioral therapy and learn to stop untrue beliefs in their paths.
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Of course, reaching out to a therapist is also something very worthwhile that you can do if you’re struggling with chronic anxiety disorders. Often, the outside perspective and professional guidance of a therapist opens up the door to a deeper understanding of yourself. A therapist can walk you through these steps. They can help you if you find yourself stuck at a particular point.
With many years of experience treating anxiety disorders, I am well-suited to journey alongside you. Please contact my office to learn more.