Question
Dr.Braccio: I don’t know silifke escort numaraları what’s been happening to me. I’ve always been anxious but now I seem to be worrying about everything. I even worry about my worrying. My mother and her sisters are just like me. My kids and husband have told me to try to settle down, but I can’t. I seem to be worrying about a lot of things and can’t get the worries out of my mind. It’s nothing in particular but can be anything. I worry about the health of my family, my husband’s job, the education of my children and even the effects of global warming on us. I get tense, irritable, can’t concentrate and focus on my worrying and often can’t sleep well. This makes me feel down and immature. I feel I’m getting worse. What do I have and what can I do about it?
Answer
You appear to have “Generalized Anxiety Disorder”. This is an anxiety disorder that covers a wide range of concerns. It is often written as GAD. It can make one feel uneasy and worrying about various things or just a kind of foreboding that something will go wrong. “What Iffing” and “catrastrophising” are common characteristics. The present is often ruined as the person worries about the future.
GAD is quite common with a frequency rate of around 3 to 4%. As you can see, you are not alone as millions suffer the same condition.
The cause is debatable, but probably ranges from bad learning and being around worriers to a chemical makeup that gives one a tendency to worry or a combination of them. The reaction is physical and the result is an ongoing anxiety that is draining on the person and those around him or her. As in your case, this can lead to some level of depression because the constant worrying and physical uneasiness can make one feel down, hopeless and plain worn out emotionally and physically.
Some key things to do to address your anxiety would be as follows:
1. Learn to relax to reduce anxiety. Just breathing in and out deeply for a few minutes can be helpful. Humans have done this over the centuries to help them relax. You also can use self-hypnosis, yoga, meditation or any other system to help you relax. Just to slowly say the word …..r—e—l—a—x….. can be relaxing.
2. Medication can help to calm you down. While this can be helpful in the short run, the key is to stop your anxiety naturally and it can be done for the most part by just changing how you look at life and its everyday occurrences.
3. Control what you think. This deceptively difficult task is very hard for most people to do. Begin by consciously not thinking about “what ifs “ and “catastrophic” thoughts. Recognize that all the worrying in the world will not resolve a problem. When you have a concern to resolve, plan a way to have the best chance for success. See life as having risks but put risks in perspective. Try to see life as an exciting and individual adventure for you to experience rather than worrying about everything that might happen.
4. Use cognitive restructuring statements to change anxiety producing statements to positive non-anxiety ones. For example, say “The kids are out and nothing bad will happen to them” versus “I know they will get in an accident”. Another would be to say, “I’ll do just fine when I present my job report” versus “I know I’ll get nervous and look stupid when I present my job report”.
5. Try to focus on enjoying the present and not worrying about yesterday or “what iffing” about the rest of the day and tomorrow. In an often unpredictable world, plan as best you can, prepare for problems and enjoy your life as you live it.
Expect change to come slowly as you reduce anxiety by trying the above strategies. Success will come and you will lead a much happier life.
If after trying the above, you feel you are not improving or improving to the level you desire, you may find it helpful to seek an experienced therapist with anxiety disorders.
Any questions and comments would be appreciated.