Did you know that patients who have been diagnosed with personality disorders are four times as likely to develop anxiety disorders? Many people feel frustrated when their therapist diagnoses one condition on top of the other, but these kind of problems oftentimes go hand in hand. On the bright side though, you can usually improve one condition by adopting strategies meant to improve the other. In other words, you may heal your personality disorders as you start healing your anxiety issues, and vice-versa.
Many people rely on their therapist as their personal savior; I think this is not a healthy approach. There’s nothing wrong with seeing a therapist if you’re looking for someone to help you deal with your anxiety but the role of a good therapist is helping you look into yourself, not just giving you labels and pointing out you have personality disorders. Unfortunately, most therapists out there aren’t very talented when it comes to actually understanding your premise and situation, as opposed to merely sticking a label upon you and looking up the appropriate remedy in the manuals.
If you want to see a therapist, by all means go ahead… but you must think of that as an ingredient towards your recovery. Not the main ingredient though: that is none other than yourself. Sure, you may have personality disorders and anxiety… but it’s your personality and it’s your anxiety. There is no one in the world who’s better qualified then you are, when it comes to understanding what went wrong in your own development. Sure, a good therapist can definitely help you see into yourself more clearly: but you will only start getting a chance of redemption when you start piecing out your own puzzle.
In my opinion, the best way to deal with personality disorders is meditation; the best way to deal with anxiety is through breathing exercises. But that is just me, and you should know that different tactics work better for different people. But you should also know that meditation can be instrumental to help you understand why you have these problems, and practicing deep breathing exercises can go a long way towards promoting your relaxation and well-being, and appeasing your anxiousness.
Stop waiting for someone else to fix your problems for you. Stop feeling that you can’t possibly put yourself together. Those kind of thoughts are brought about by your anxiety, and they only make it stronger. If you are looking for a big change in your life, you must begin by making small changes that will build up on one another. You must realize that you’re in a better position to help yourself than any other person in the world.
