Anxiety is an issue with a wide range of causes, manifestations and effects, and can be simply divided into: anxiety at the level of diagnosis (such as separation anxiety disorder commonly seen in psychiatry, selective mutism, specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, place-specific phobia, generalized anxiety disorder). Anxiety that affects the quality of life without reaching the level of disease diagnosis (tired easily, the head keeps spinning, the body cannot relax, procrastination, always thinking for a long time without taking action, wanting to concentrate on things but thinking about things).
When anxiety is overwhelming, the world seems to be destroyed. When anxiety drops, life returns to normal, as if the previous state was another world. Next, we can observe ourselves from three angles and four symptoms:
Anxiety Intensity: How often do you feel your own anxiety to an unbearable level? Even your friends around you think you’re too nervous or making a fuss?
Persistence: People have certain worries from time to time, but doesn’t your anxiety seem to stop? Almost occupy most of the day? Can’t even stop the anxiety for days at a time?
Interfering: Does your anxiety situation interfere with interpersonal, work or life functioning? Keeping you from completing your responsibilities or plans well? Or even make you have to cut back on certain anticipated activities to avoid anxiety (eg: avoiding gatherings with friends, going out less because of difficult decisions)?
Anxiety can be divided into four main symptoms, including:
Physical symptoms: Rapid heartbeat (palpitations), rapid breathing, shortness of breath, chest pain or tightness, dizziness, chills with sweats, dry mouth, nausea Other gastrointestinal symptoms, body tightness or numbness, body tightness and stiffness, weakness.
Cognitive symptoms: Fear of losing control, fear of going mad, fear of certain people and things, difficulty concentrating, easily distracted, poor memory, poor thinking flexibility, Judgment declines.
Behavioral symptoms: Restlessness, inability to speak, hyperventilation, procrastination, avoidance, persistent meaningless habitual behavior, seeking reassurance.
Mood Symptoms: Nervousness, fear, restlessness, nervousness, impatience, frustration.
So, how are anxiety disorders generally treated? Treatment for anxiety disorders or illnesses can be roughly divided into the following categories:
One. Behavioural therapy
Anxiety distress may be the result of certain environmental hazards or the body’s visceral messages (the fatigue that accumulates in a state of constant energy-intensive anxiety alone may cause the body to continue to send tension signal). Therefore, identifying these specific internal and external environments that cause anxiety, and directly dealing with, avoiding or adjusting its influence under reasonable circumstances can further reduce anxiety.
Experiencing anxiety for a long time will put the body in a state of continuous release of tension signals. Relaxation through the physiological state is also a way to reduce anxiety. These methods can be specific relaxation. Methods (eg, adequate and appropriate sleep, bathing, massage, electrotherapy, etc.), or specific relaxation training techniques (eg, auto-suggestion relaxation training, self-hypnotic therapy, progressive muscle relaxation training).
Second, Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy focuses on the causes of anxiety and distressing thoughts, and focuses on how thoughts affect anxiety. People with anxiety problems often have some symptoms that make them prone to anxiety. Therefore, the treatment will first learn the relationship between thoughts, emotions (anxiety) and behavior, and then try to adjust the thinking mode in different ways by noticing the specific influence of the thinking mode, and finally in the treatment and life. Continue to practice these ways to adjust your thinking and change your behaviors, habits, and emotions.
Third, drug therapy
Drug therapy is a way to quickly improve anxiety symptoms. When anxiety symptoms seriously affect the overall living conditions, drug therapy can temporarily interrupt the aforementioned vicious cycle of brain anxiety-body tension, assisting To restore or maintain the original function and stability of life, but most of the time you may still worry about the side effects of the drug, the need to increase the dose of the drug again and again, or the possibility of relapse after stopping the drug.
4. Parallel drug therapy and psychotherapy
In general, some drugs are designed to completely eliminate or avoid feelings of anxiety, while cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy are designed to learn to tolerate anxiety or adjust the intensity of anxiety . If you want to try non-pharmacological ways to deal with your anxiety first, or if you want to gradually reduce the use of medication, you can discuss non-pharmacological treatments (behavioral therapy and cognitive treatment) to help yourself.
At this time, it is also a way to find a professional person for relevant consultation. Psychological consultation can compare your medical history, drugs you have taken, methods you have tried, and successful The experience of failure is sorted out and analyzed. Analysis and understanding of the experience of failure is a very important thing in the treatment. If you can gain experience from it and fine-tune the way of doing it, on the one hand, it will be easy to adapt and integrate into your life, and on the other hand, it will not bring too much. Change, add new sources of anxiety.