For someone who’s never had serious anxiety problems, understanding someone who does have such problems can be difficult. Sometimes people will try to push their friends and family members to be confrontational towards their anxiety disorders and face the source of their fears… it may seem like a great idea, but it would very unlikely be any worse. Confronting anxiety directly will only make a person feel more anxious, and for someone whose problems are already overwhelming, such a thing can be unbearable. The best way to avoid anxiety is staying away from its causes, rather than rushing towards them.
Things that make anxiety worse vary from patient to patient, but it’s usually related with scary thoughts and irrational fears. As much as possible, anything that triggers anxiousness should be avoided by patients. Only then should the actual treatment begin…and the focus should remain on seeking relaxation therapies that promote well-being and prompt consistent recovery. Only after the patient has achieved some recovery and inner peace should they start trying to confront their anxiety though desensitization therapies, which basically means getting immersed in their fears little by little until it doesn’t feel so overwhelming like it used to.
If you’ve been dealing with anxiety for a long time, your priority should be keeping it from getting worse. You may feel like you have hit rock bottom, as far as desperation goes… but there’s no bottom to hopelessness. You can keep falling and falling until you lose yourself in the darkness. As such, your first priority should be arresting your fall. You need to locate sources of anxiety in your life, and either try to remove them, manage them or accept them. Anything that makes your anxiety worse must be avoided at all costs, until you feel like you finally have gathered the will strength to climb back towards the open skies of well-being.
Remember, it doesn’t mean that you should pretend you don’t have a problem. In a way it’s just the opposite: you must realize you have a very serious problem, and your first line of action should be containing it and keeping it from getting worse. Only then should you think about getting better. When it comes to that, anything you can do to pursue peace of mind and well-being will build up and take you away from anxiety. Maybe it will take months, or even years until you completely vanquish your anxiety disorder… but does that seem any worse than living a life of increasing despair and panic?
