UNDERSTANDING AND DEALING WITH ANXIETY

Anxiety-related problems are among the most common that psychologists deal with.  Fear is common to all people, and is designed to protect us when in danger.  This mechanism frequently runs amok, causing a more prolonged or exaggerated reaction, often to situations that do not warrant it. Anxiety can contaminate lives, making it difficult to think clearly, and interfering with normal life functions.  

Anxiety can be categorized, for purposes of understanding how it functions:  

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is probably the easiest category for most people to relate to.  It consists of a general sense of dread, anticipating that something bad is just over the horizon.  When one concern is resolved, another inevitably replaces it.  Worry is perpetuated because it seems to ward off actual disaster.  Letting go of worry begins to seem careless, unwise.  
• Panic Disorder is a more acute form of anxiety, such as you might experience in a life-threatening situation.  The body suddenly prepares for threat to life:  the heart pounds, breathing is rapid, heat is dissipated quickly through sweat.  For many, the source of the fear is mysterious.  They begin to avoid anything that might trigger even low levels of anxiety:  going to work, riding in a car, even leaving their home.
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often includes panic attacks.  In the case of PTSD, the stimulus is more rational.  The person has experienced situations in which danger to life seemed very real.  The experience was so intense, or frequent, that stimuli that mimic it become triggers.  As with panic disorder, the tendency is to find ways to avoid the triggers rather than finding ways to cope with the body’s reaction.
• Phobias are unrealistic fears of something that doesn’t warrant fear.  The most common phobias involve things like public speaking, flying, animals, or medical treatment.  Phobic objects or situations can often be effectively avoided, and consequently many people don’t seek treatment for them.  One exception is social phobia, a fear of most social situations.  It causes discomfort that limits relationships, enjoyable activities, or careers.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety-based disorder that is often not associated with anxiety.  However, OCD is actually an unproductive, and often crippling way of coping with anxiety.  As with GAD, panic disorder, and PTSD, it can become a pervasive influence in a person’s lifestyle.  People with OCD find that by going through mental or behavioral rituals their anxiety is temporarily reduced.  But because it is temporary, the rituals must be repeated indefinitely.  Rituals can consume large amounts of a person’s life, and may become nearly impossible for others to live with.

Although we think of anxiety as an emotion, the emotions are closely related to mental images and thought processes.  Fear begins with the perception that something is a threat.  Disorders are the result of dealing with the threat in a way that is temporarily effective, but over time creates larger problems, such as chronic worry, avoidance, or rituals, that consume attention, and perpetuate the unproductive behaviors.  

Regardless of which anxiety disorder a person is struggling with, I have found it important to cultivate an aggressive attitude.  People who experience pervasive anxiety are accustomed to feeling that their attempts to fight the anxiety are futile, and come to see themselves as passive and hapless.  They need encouragement, and partnership with another from whom they can appropriate strength to attack the fear.  

Christians and non-Christians, and those around them, are troubled that they can’t simply "get over it."  Christians in particular are conscious of the many biblical references to the absence of fear that they seem unable to grab hold of:

    "Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts." (Colossians 3:15)
    "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  (John 14:27)
    "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6,7)

I have found that treatment for anxiety disorders becomes a two-pronged focus.  One focus involves facing rather than avoiding fear, in a controlled manner.  By developing fear tolerance, confidence increases and the power of the fear diminishes.  The second focus is to develop a realistic understanding of the source of fear, and begin to trust what you believe to be true over what feels true.  

Biblical admonitions give direction:

    "Be still and know that I am God."  (Psalm 46:10)
    "Seek peace and pursue it."  (Psalm 34:14)
    "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Therapy for anxiety is a process that involves designing and practicing the application of peace in the face of fear, a worthwhile, if not easy undertaking.