Coping With Anxiety
Living with anxiety disorders is not mean task – when each and every moment of your daily life is strewn with thoughts which spell doom and negativity. You can not talk coherently, think straight or even breathe normally, as your mind is somewhat frozen in a time capsule … you are terrorized every moment of your waking hours.
Anxiety attacks can completely take control of your daily activities and jeopardize whatever you are doing. Imagine waking up every morning thinking there is danger lurking round the corner; imagine being overwhelmed by strong negative thoughts which does not allow you to concentrate on your job at hand, which in turn puts your job in the office at stake. There are of course tell-tale signs which announce the arrival of an anxiety attack. Is there anything you can do to stop one from attacking you?
How to control anxiety attacks: While there may not be any short cut therapy option for anxiety attacks, the situation can always be brought under control. Medical intervention is often necessary for extreme cases where the doctor often called a psychiatrist or a psychologist can offer counseling or drug therapy to bring the situation under control. These professionals have the requisite expertise to get to the root of the problem and prescribe just verbal counseling or anti-anxiety medication or both to give relief to the patient.
A psychotherapist has a lot of therapy solutions for controlling anxiety attacks. Practicing deep breathing when the attacks are imminent is one common therapy option. Physical exercises like walking, yoga, aerobics, jogging, etc are also prescribed as these exercises increase the serotonin levels in the brain which makes one feel good.
The drug therapy options for controlling anxiety attacks consist of both anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs. The whole idea is to calm and soothe the patient and bring about some sort of stability of the brain functions. Ativan, Lorazepam, Xanax, or Valium are popular anti-anxiety medications which are often combined with anti-depressants like Lexapro, Effexor, or Zoloft. These drugs help in the control of some of the deeply obsessive and negative thoughts which recur in the patient’s brains and help him to calm down.
Managing Day-to-Day Anxiety: The options for a person who is repeatedly coming under anxiety attacks is to take the prescribed medication and do physical exercises regularly. The dark and negative world which he is so used to can actually start to brighten up and life can once again be cheerful. Proper medication can hold the key to successfully coping with the problem.
To keep the daily attacks under check, and prevent the attacks as soon as it starts to overpower, practicing relaxation techniques, learnt from the psychotherapist can come very handy. This can then be followed by the prescribed medication. While there is no cure for anxiety disorders, these simple techniques, if practiced regularly, can keep the situation under control and life can be brighter and better.
Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for CaffeineZone.com, MyLowCarbPages.com, and HomemadeWine.com.
