Treating Anxiety
Abstract: This article will discuss Anxiety is a psychiatric illness. Often, techniques used in counseling and or medication management can help reduce or eliminate symptoms. This article will outline two anxiety reduction methods that can offer relief from symptoms.
As a psychiatric nurse practitioner and as a Naturopath, I come across a number of clients who have anxiety issues. Anxiety can be paralyzing. When one is anxious, it is difficult to accomplish anything. The mind races; focused on worry about possible bad outcomes. It can cause people to do hurtful things like using a substance or attempting to hurt yourself. I counsel my clients several methods I have had great success with :
If you worry, you accomplish little. So you need a system to deal with the worry. There are two that I can offer. The first one, is the stop loss method. Those familiar with stocks may be able to related to this method. It works as follows: Lets say, you are worried about losing your job. You go to work each day and worry that your boss won’t like your performance, you worry that your associates are bad mouthing you; you worry about anything. What can you do? First you need to make a list of what would be the worst possible outcome if you did lose your job (of course this can be generalized to anything).
OK, so if you lose your job, you’re a computer programmer, for instance. What would be the worst thing. OK, so you will lose income. Is that the worst thing? Losing your income? OK, and you won’t have health insurance. Lets stop there. So if you accept that this is the worst that could happen, then you need to accept this. Take it for granted that you will lose your job. What does that do for you? It frees you to stop worrying and start thinking about how to make that worst possible outcome be less important. So, lets continue the exercise.
You don’t have a job, but is there something that you are good at, that you can get work in? Possibly, you like gardening. OK, there’s nothing wrong with that. Or, you like cooking food; it’s your hobby. Get the picture. So, now you can start to look at another career that you’ve only dreamed about, but were unable to seriously think about because you had this job that you were tied to. So, imagine you’re not tied down now. Can you start classes to become a chef? Can you start working on your off time in a flower shop? Of course you can.
So, what have we done here? We’ve taken all the energy that you were using to worry and focus it on something that ultimately will make you feel better. Lets face it, if you were fearing losing your job, it probably was more of a chore that a career that you enjoyed anyway.
Now, lets look at another possibility, and we’ll attack it from a different perspective. Lets say that you’ve just been told you have a terrible disease, like Cancer. OK, so you are already spending your days going to doctors, participating in treatments, but, again, you are spending all your time worrying about your cancer and the possibility that you’re going to die. This time, I want you to compartmentalized your worry, like a shipping container that goes on a ship. How do you do that? First, I need to tell you as a psychiatric professional, that I see many clients who have terrible diseases, but if they have a positive mindset their outcomes are much improved, but don’t listen to me, we have to find that compartment for you.
This time, you are going to decide how much time out of your day you are going to worry about your health. Lets say an hour, at 10 am. OK, so now, anytime, other than at 10am, you are not allowed to worry about your cancer. It doesn’t mean that you are going to spend the rest of the day in suspended animation, no, you are going to spend the time that you were worrying doing positive, enjoyable, interesting things. Now that you don’t have to use that time for worry, you have more available time to: pray, go out with friends, spend time on projects that you enjoy, go shopping, etc.
The benefit of changing your worry patterns is directly related to good health. Please read my article about depression and heart disease and you will see what I’m talking about.
For now, I will close with two thoughts. First, when considering alternative methods of dealing with anxiety, there are many. Several holistic methods are therapeutic massage, acupuncture, acupressure and herbal treatments. I recommend the purchase of mass marketed teas, such as those by Celestial Seasons, where purity are not in question. The second thought. There are other methods of dealing with anxiety, when it requires more than counseling, it is psychiatric intervention. There are safe, appropriate medications that I have used to help many overcome anxiety and panic symptoms. There are unsafe methods which lead to alcohol, drug abuse and self injury.
Summary:
Anxiety is a psychiatric illness. It has a range from mild to very severe. Often, techniques used in counseling can help reduce or eliminate symptoms. Use alternative methods as an adjunct, not replacement for therapy and treatment. If the symptoms become overwhelming, please consider seeking the services of a Psychiatric specialist or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, because the psychiatrist has many methods of helping that are beyond the scope of this article. If you have concerns that you’d like to address in this blog, please contact me Naturalpsych@hotmail.com.
As a psychiatric nurse practitioner and as a Naturopath, I come across a number of clients who have anxiety issues. Anxiety can be paralyzing. When one is anxious, it is difficult to accomplish anything. The mind races; focused on worry about possible bad outcomes. It can cause people to do hurtful things like using a substance or attempting to hurt yourself. I counsel my clients several methods I have had great success with :
If you worry, you accomplish little. So you need a system to deal with the worry. There are two that I can offer. The first one, is the stop loss method. Those familiar with stocks may be able to related to this method. It works as follows: Lets say, you are worried about losing your job. You go to work each day and worry that your boss won’t like your performance, you worry that your associates are bad mouthing you; you worry about anything. What can you do? First you need to make a list of what would be the worst possible outcome if you did lose your job (of course this can be generalized to anything).
OK, so if you lose your job, you’re a computer programmer, for instance. What would be the worst thing. OK, so you will lose income. Is that the worst thing? Losing your income? OK, and you won’t have health insurance. Lets stop there. So if you accept that this is the worst that could happen, then you need to accept this. Take it for granted that you will lose your job. What does that do for you? It frees you to stop worrying and start thinking about how to make that worst possible outcome be less important. So, lets continue the exercise.
You don’t have a job, but is there something that you are good at, that you can get work in? Possibly, you like gardening. OK, there’s nothing wrong with that. Or, you like cooking food; it’s your hobby. Get the picture. So, now you can start to look at another career that you’ve only dreamed about, but were unable to seriously think about because you had this job that you were tied to. So, imagine you’re not tied down now. Can you start classes to become a chef? Can you start working on your off time in a flower shop? Of course you can.
So, what have we done here? We’ve taken all the energy that you were using to worry and focus it on something that ultimately will make you feel better. Lets face it, if you were fearing losing your job, it probably was more of a chore that a career that you enjoyed anyway.
Now, lets look at another possibility, and we’ll attack it from a different perspective. Lets say that you’ve just been told you have a terrible disease, like Cancer. OK, so you are already spending your days going to doctors, participating in treatments, but, again, you are spending all your time worrying about your cancer and the possibility that you’re going to die. This time, I want you to compartmentalized your worry, like a shipping container that goes on a ship. How do you do that? First, I need to tell you as a psychiatric professional, that I see many clients who have terrible diseases, but if they have a positive mindset their outcomes are much improved, but don’t listen to me, we have to find that compartment for you.
This time, you are going to decide how much time out of your day you are going to worry about your health. Lets say an hour, at 10 am. OK, so now, anytime, other than at 10am, you are not allowed to worry about your cancer. It doesn’t mean that you are going to spend the rest of the day in suspended animation, no, you are going to spend the time that you were worrying doing positive, enjoyable, interesting things. Now that you don’t have to use that time for worry, you have more available time to: pray, go out with friends, spend time on projects that you enjoy, go shopping, etc.
The benefit of changing your worry patterns is directly related to good health. Please read my article about depression and heart disease and you will see what I’m talking about.
For now, I will close with two thoughts. First, when considering alternative methods of dealing with anxiety, there are many. Several holistic methods are therapeutic massage, acupuncture, acupressure and herbal treatments. I recommend the purchase of mass marketed teas, such as those by Celestial Seasons, where purity are not in question. The second thought. There are other methods of dealing with anxiety, when it requires more than counseling, it is psychiatric intervention. There are safe, appropriate medications that I have used to help many overcome anxiety and panic symptoms. There are unsafe methods which lead to alcohol, drug abuse and self injury.
Summary:
Anxiety is a psychiatric illness. It has a range from mild to very severe. Often, techniques used in counseling can help reduce or eliminate symptoms. Use alternative methods as an adjunct, not replacement for therapy and treatment. If the symptoms become overwhelming, please consider seeking the services of a Psychiatric specialist or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, because the psychiatrist has many methods of helping that are beyond the scope of this article. If you have concerns that you’d like to address in this blog, please contact me Naturalpsych@hotmail.com.
posted by Eric Malz at 12:51 PM
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