While most people feel anxious from time to time, the Mayo Clinic reports that when anxiety interrupts daily activities and causes severe stress, resulting in adverse consequences, patients may be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. Symptoms of anxiety include constant worrying, restlessness and fatigue. Physical symptoms may manifest and include muscle tension, sweating and rapid heart beating. Rather than suffer and tough it out, there are steps that you can take to overcome anxiety.
Step 1
Keep a diary of how often you experience anxiety. Include the number of days that you felt unusually anxious and worried about future events. Consider how severe each attack was and what you did during the episode.
Step 2
Make an appointment with a mental health provider, a counselor, psychologist or psychiatrist and bring your diary. According to the Mayo Clinic, criteria to help diagnose anxiety disorder includes excessive worrying most days of the week for at least six months and anxiety that interferes with daily activities, accompanied by at least three of the physical symptoms.
Step 3
Take medication prescribed by your doctor. The most common drugs used to treat anxiety are antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications and sedatives. Prepare to wait a few weeks or months for the medication to begin relieving the symptoms.
Step 4
Attend psychotherapy sessions on a regular basis. By talking about your feelings and reactions, you can begin to uncover the reasons for your anxiety and learn how to recognize triggers. Cognitive behavior therapy helps patients learn new coping skills and how to replace negative thoughts and emotions with positive ones.
Step 5
Find a new counselor or psychiatrist with whom you feel comfortable talking if you cannot speak openly with your current mental health care provider. The National Institutes of Health recommends that patients with anxiety should seek help elsewhere if they are dissatisfied with their treatment.
Tips and Warnings
- Exercise on a daily basis to help manage your anxiety. The Mayo Clinic reports that exercise is a powerful way to minimize stress and improve moods while helping to improve self-esteem and general feelings of well-being.
- Avoid alcohol or illegal drugs because they have a tendency to magnify symptoms of anxiety and distort the problem, making it difficult to diagnose and treat. Do not stop taking your medications abruptly without medical supervision. Anxiety medications can have severe withdrawal side effects if not weaned slowly.
Things You'll Need
- Diary
- Psychiatrist
- Medication
- Therapy
