When to Seek Professional Help for Anxiety
While self-help coping strategies for anxiety can be very effective, if your worries and fears have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to seek professional help.
If you’re experiencing a lot of physical anxiety symptoms, you should start by getting a medical checkup. Your doctor can check to make sure that your anxiety isn’t caused by a medical condition, such as a thyroid problem, hypoglycemia, or asthma. Since certain drugs and supplements can cause anxiety, your doctor will also want to know about any prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies, and recreational drugs you’re taking.
If your physician rules out a medical cause, the next step is to consult with a therapist who has experience treating anxiety disorders. The therapist will work with you to determine the cause and type of your anxiety disorder and devise a course of treatment.
Here are a few ways to find a qualified professional who treats anxiety problems:
* Search online at the anxiety disorder website listed to the right
* Ask a doctor, nurse, or school counselor for a referral.
* Call local hospitals, counseling centers, or mental health clinics.
* Contact the psychology department of a local college or university.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
Below are some examples of mental problems which cause anxiety.
Phobias
A phobia is a fear that is out of proportion to the real danger posed by the thing that triggers it. They interfere with your ability to lead a normal life. Common specific phobias are fear of heights, spiders, mice, blood, injections or enclosed space (claustrophobia).
Social phobia is also one of the more common, but complex, phobias. If you are affected by this, meeting people causes anxiety, and you’re overly worried about what others think of you. One form of social phobia is severe anxiety about speaking or performing in public. It’s common to feel nervous in these situations, but people with social phobia find these activities impossible.
Agoraphobia, another common phobia, is a fear of various places and situations, such as crowds or public places, and is frequently associated with panic disorder (see below).
For more information, please see the separate Bupa health factsheet, Phobias.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
This anxiety disorder consists of recurring obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions are recurring thoughts or images about specific things that trigger feelings of disgust. Common obsessions include fears around germs, dirt or violence. Compulsions are thoughts or actions that people feel they must do or repeat. A compulsion is usually a response to ease the anxiety of an obsession. For example, repeatedly washing your hands to deal with an obsession about dirt.
For more information, please see the separate Bupa health factsheet, Obsessive compulsive disorder.
Panic disorder
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder whereby sufferers live in “fear of fear”. This causes panic attacks - a sudden sense of anxiety that occurs without warning and with no apparent trigger. The symptoms of the anxiety (see Symptoms of anxiety) can be very severe and may feel like a wave of panic. Panic attacks usually last five to 10 minutes but they can last longer.
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
Anxiety can be a long-term disorder where you feel worried most of the time about things that might go wrong. This is called GAD.
Self-help for Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders
Not everyone who worries a lot has an anxiety disorder. You may be anxious because of an overly demanding schedule, lack of exercise or sleep, pressure at home or work, or even from too much coffee.
The bottom line is that if your lifestyle is unhealthy and stressful, you’re likely to feel anxious—whether or not you have an anxiety disorder. So if you feel like you worry too much, take some time to evaluate how well you’re caring for yourself.
* Do you make time each day for relaxation and fun?
* Are you getting the emotional support you need?
* Are you taking care of your body?
* Are you overloaded with responsibilities?
* Do you ask for help when you need it?
If your stress levels are through the roof, think about how you can bring your life back into balance. There may be responsibilities you can give up, turn down, or delegate to others. If you’re feeling isolated or unsupported, find someone you trust to confide in. Just talking about your worries can make them seem less frightening.
Do You Have an Anxiety Disorder?
If you identify with several of the following signs and symptoms, and they just won’t go away, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
* Are you constantly tense, worried, or on edge?
* Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities?
* Are you plagued by fears that you know are irrational, but can’t shake?
* Do you believe that something bad will happen if certain things aren’t done a certain way?
* Do you avoid everyday situations or activities because they make you anxious?
* Do you experience sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic?
* Do you feel like danger and catastrophe are around every corner?
Dealing Emotionally with Miscarriage
Suffering from a miscarriage or stillbirth can be very traumatic. Not only is it taxing on you physically, but emotionally as well. While a woman’s body can heal and recover relatively quickly from a miscarriage, emotionally, the healing process can take much longer. Although many women do not want to deal with their feelings after a pregnancy loss, facing them can help you pull through and emerge a stronger person.
As with any loss, it is normal for couples to feel grief after a miscarriage. Unfortunately, far too often, outwardly displaying signs of grief is seen as a sign of weakness, causing some to be tempted to bottle up this emotion. Though you may want to appear emotionally strong to those around you, it is important to keep in mind that entering a grieving period after a significant loss is a perfectly normal human emotion.
There is no specific amount of time that a couple is expected to grieve after a pregnancy loss. How long a woman and her partner mourn for will vary from couple to couple and is not dictated by the length of a pregnancy. Whether you had an early miscarriage or stillbirth, the pain can be equally acute. Only you will know how long you need to grieve for.
Grief is not the only emotion associated with miscarriages. Other typical emotions reported by woman who have lost a pregnancy include depression, loneliness and isolation. Although these feelings are perfectly normal, if you are having troubles coping day to day because of your emotions, you may want to make an appointment with your health care provider. When your emotions begin to interfere with your daily activities, it can be a sign of major depression, a health issue that requires professional attention.
Another common emotional response to a spontaneous abortion is self-blame. Many women often feel that if only they had done something differently, if only they hadn’t had that glass of wine before they found out they were pregnant, they wouldn’t have miscarried. These thoughts can ring in your mind for weeks, making it even harder to get over your loss.
Here are some tips that may be useful in helping you deal with your miscarriage:
* Write it Down: Journal writing is an excellent method for people to air out their emotions. Because a journal is private, you can be honest with yourself and your thoughts, allowing yourself to reflect on just what it is that you are feeling. Furthermore, studies have found that writing in a journal can actually speed up the recovery period during sad times.
* Set Some Rules: It can be difficult for your friends and family to know whether you feel comfortable hearing about other women’s pregnancies and pregnancy losses. To help yourself and those around you feel better and more at ease, make it clear which topics, if any, are off limits with you.
* Go Away: If you don’t feel ready to face the world right after your miscarriage, then don’t. Take some time off of work to focus on yourself. If you can, arrange for your partner to also have some free time so you can be together.
* Remember: Finding a special way to commemorate your child can turn a negative situation into a positive one, helping you to let go of your grief. Some parents choose to hold a memorial service while others decide to plant a tree in a local park or their backyard. Some even choose to write about their experience or create a website in order to help others.
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