Anxiety Disorders | Understanding Coping and Seeking Help

Anxiety Disorders: Understanding, Coping, and Finding Help

Anxiety disorders are common psychological disorders that cause patients to have persistent, excessive worry and fear. This emotional state may affect a person's daily life and work, including social, academic and professional performance.

Treatments for anxiety disorders include medication and psychotherapy. Medication usually requires a doctor's prescription, while psychotherapy can be provided through counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, etc. Psychotherapy is one of the effective methods for treating anxiety disorders, which can help patients understand and control anxiety symptoms and reduce stress and worry.

How to Communicate with Someone with Anxiety Disorders

When we communicate with people with anxiety disorders, we need to pay special attention to the following points:

1. Listen and understand: We need to listen to the patient's feelings and thoughts and try to understand their inner world. Do not rush to interrupt or judge, and make them feel accepted and understood.

2. Avoid offering solutions: When we communicate with people with anxiety, we may feel the need to offer some solutions to help them. However, for people with anxiety, they may need our support and understanding more than specific solutions. Therefore, we can tell them that we understand their pain instead of trying to solve their problems.

3. Give positive and proactive suggestions: We can give some positive and proactive suggestions to patients with anxiety, such as suggesting them to maintain a healthy lifestyle, participate in some relaxing activities, seek social support, etc. These suggestions can help them relieve anxiety symptoms and improve their emotional state.

4. Avoid using irritating language: When communicating with people with anxiety, we need to avoid using irritating language, such as "You look nervous", "You should relax", etc. These words may trigger their negative emotions and aggravate anxiety symptoms.

5. Encourage them to seek professional help: Anxiety is a disease that requires professional treatment and management. We can encourage people with anxiety to seek professional help from a doctor or psychologist in order to better manage symptoms and recover.

Image by: Li Fulin

Article reviewer: Wang Huiqiu (chief physician, professor, master's supervisor, national psychotherapist, director of the Rehabilitation Center of Shenyang Anning Hospital, executive deputy director of Shenyang Mental Psychological Rehabilitation Clinical Medicine Research Center, and head of Shenyang Psychological Counseling Hotline.)