Treating Anxiety

About that anxiety.

It referred to as a disorder because those feelings of fear are either unfounded or far greater than what is reasonable to the trigger.

Given an anxiety disorder, the saying, “trust your gut,” just doesn’t hold.

The nature of the disorder is to be held hostage by feelings that don’t fully fit the situation. Hence those feels are betraying you and it doesn’t make sense to trust your gut.

That’s where cognitive behavior therapy comes in (CBT).

CBT is all about learning to think things through to facilitate your decisions and actions. You learn to set those feelings aside to be more objective in figuring out your situation and a reasonable course of action.

In CBT there are strategies to learn, cognitive or thinking strategies to help better sort things out and allow you to move forward.

All of this is different from a fear that comes about where an actual danger remains.

One still must learn to manage that fear too to truly be safe, but that signal of danger is tied to a current and real threat.

Such is the case when living with someone who loses their temper, has anger issues, drinks to excess or uses drugs that alter their disposition or is otherwise out to cause harm.

Managing in that situation may require a safety plan.

That is when you are better prepared in the event something bad does happen and you can take action to protect yourself and be safer.

In this scenario, it is reasonable to trust your gut, although we don’t want you to be paralyzed by fear.

As such it is also helpful to learn how to remain calm under duress and again, to have a safety plan in place.

For some people, both issues may be at play. This brings a greater complexity to figure out what is going on and several responses or treatment options may be necessary.

As for medication, typically those referred to as SSRIs are helpful for an anxiety disorder. They are taken daily and usually long term.

As for fears tied to a real and present concern, those medications tend to be taken as necessary for a very short duration. They are used with caution as they can be habit forming.

These are two very different kinds of medication and both must be used exactly as prescribed.

---

Are you following me on Facebook yet? If not, you are missing many more posts!

I am Gary Direnfeld and I am a social worker. Check out all my services and then call me if you need help with a personal issue, mental health concern, child behavior or relationship, divorce or separation issue or even help growing your practice. I am available in person and by video conferencing.

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW

gary@yoursocialworker.com
www.yoursocialworker.com for counseling and support

www.garydirenfeld.com – to build your successful practice

Gary Direnfeld is a social worker. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert in social work, marital and family therapy, child development, parent-child relations and custody and access matters. Gary is the host of the TV reality show, Newlywed, Nearly Dead, former parenting columnist for the Hamilton Spectator and author of Marriage Rescue: Overcoming the ten deadly sins in failing relationships. Gary maintains a private practice in Georgina Ontario, providing a range of services for people in distress. He speaks at conferences and workshops throughout North America. He consults to mental health professionals as well as to mediators and collaborative law professionals about good practice as well as building their practice.