How Anxiety Therapy Is Effective In Overcoming Fears
A person suffering from anxiety disorder goes through panic attacks, unrelenting worries, phobias, or obsessive thoughts. Living with anxiety affects a person's life at a significant level, including their personal, professional, and social life. Therapy can help in treating anxiety disorder. Anxiety therapy is considered as an effective way to treat the condition because it helps the patient more than just reducing the symptoms. Anxiety medications are used only to minimize the symptoms of the condition, while the therapy helps identify the underlying causes of the person's fears and worries. With the treatment, a patient can learn how to look at things with a positive perspective and developing better problem-solving and coping skills. Let's see why cognitive behavioural therapy is considered as one of the most effective anxiety therapies.
Cognitive behavioural therapy: It is considered as the most effective anxiety therapy[] to reduce the symptoms of anxiety disorder by identifying and examining the roots that caused it in the first place. CBT is considered most effective in treating panic disorders, social anxiety, phobias, and general anxiety. CBT addresses the negative pattern in our views towards ourselves and the world. There are two main components of CBT: â—?Cognitive therapy: involves examination of how negative thoughts are contributing to the condition. â—?Behaviour therapy: Involves examining how we react and behave in different anxiety-triggering situations. CBT works on the basic premise of finding the solution internally. It considers our thoughts as the prime reason for what we feel and the way we feel things, rather than any external events. It does not focus on the situation but on our perception of the situation. For example, an invitation to a party can trigger different emotions in different people, depending on the individual's beliefs, attitude, and expectations. People suffering from anxiety disorder have often developed a negative perspective for the situations which boosts anxiety and fear. CBT aims to identify and correct these negative thoughts and beliefs.
Challenging the thoughts: With thought challenging process, negative thinking patterns that contribute to anxiety can be replaced with realistic and positive thoughts using these three steps. Identify: A person suffering from anxiety disorder perceives situations as more dangerous than they are. For example, a person with germ phobia considers handshakes as life-threatening. The therapist asks the patients to observe their thinking when they start feeling anxious. Challenge: In the second step, the therapist asks the patient to analyze thoughts that provoked anxiety. It involves questioning the negative thoughts, analyze them, and try to learn how realistic they are. Challenging negative thoughts include, experiments can be conducted, focusing on the pros and cons of worrying about the things that patient fears and shifting the focus towards the realistic outcome of the situation. Replace: Once the source of negative thoughts is identified, it can be replaced by new positive thoughts. In this step, the therapist may help you to develop positive and realistic statements that you can say to yourself when you are facing a situation that known to send your anxiety levels at the top. Things you should consider to make anxiety therapy work for you:
Anxiety cannot be treated overnight. It takes time and commitment to overcome anxiety disorder. The therapy helps you to face your fear and not to avoid them, and so you may feel worse before you start feeling better. The patient needs to follow the therapist's advice and continue therapy. In case you feel disappointed at any stage of the process, then discuss it with your therapist and remember that it will help you in the long run. You can make anxiety therapy works best for you by making positive choices in daily life. Several factors contribute to anxiety, such as activity levels, social life, etc. In your everyday life, you should develop a positive outlook by making conscious decisions that lead to improved vitality and relaxation.
It is also essential to understand the problem to overcome anxiety disorder. You should learn as much as possible about anxiety. Educating yourself with such knowledge will help you to get the most out of therapy. You should also focus on developing new connections with people and also fixing the current ones. Loneliness and isolation should be avoided. You should meet with your friends regularly, or you can join a support group where you can share your concerns. You should also discuss your worries and fears with your loved ones. Be more physically active. Make changes in your lifestyle that keeps you fit. Physical fitness will help you to reduce tension and anxiety. Avoid consuming alcohol or drugs to cope with your anxiety symptoms. You should also avoid an overdose of caffeine as it can boost your anxiety. Give yourself sufficient time and examine your stress and find different ways to minimize it. Avoid meeting negative people who make you feel nervous. Invest your time in doing activities involving fun and relaxation.
Summary: If you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, then find a reliable therapist to help you out. The type and method of treatment depend on the therapist you choose. You should consider reviews of previous patients about the therapist and then make the decision. It is not difficult to overcome anxiety disorder with proper therapy.