Managing Your Anxiety - Treatments for Anxiety

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

ogramare: I recently had surgery and found it very helpful to tell all involved in my care that I suffer from anxiety disorders. It was a tremendous help and a very different experience than when I kept it a deep dark secret.

Mucky: I have a service dog that alerts to my panic attacks. I got him so that I could get out of the house but I am so afraid of being confronted about him that I still don't go out.

nino123: My husband and I went to Tennessee from Maryland and I made him take our trailer for my "safe" place.

Dr. Carbonell: Yes! In general, secrecy hurts, self disclosure will help. And, since most panic attacks involve a feeling of being "trapped", giving yourself an out is a good strategy.

David: Here's a question about "being alone":

camilarae: I cannot be alone any time of the day. I always need someone home. How do I handle this? My husband is really getting frustrated.

Dr. Carbonell: You could evaluate how realistic the need is. If you're like most people in this situation, it's because you fear having a panic attack, not that you need him to keep you alive or sane. And perhaps then you could work with him to gradually increase the amount of time you can spend alone. Getting some help from others to ease the burden on your husband will help too!

nino123: My husband is frustrated also which is a source of my anxiety. It is a trigger for me.

linda_tx: With the Christmas holidays, I find that I'm more anxious in the stores. How do I handle this?

Dr. Carbonell: I think everybody gets more tense during Christmas shopping! Recognize it's an unusually crowded and stressful situation. A few techniques you can use is breathing, relaxation and take breaks.

dak75: Can the dizziness and hand numbness last for days or weeks?

Dr. Carbonell: Certain symptoms, like dizziness, numbness/tingling, and shortness of breath, can last as long as you engage in short and shallow breathing. These aren't harmful, but they are uncomfortable, and the best way to manage them is with diaphragmatic breathing. Most of the most distressing panic symptoms come from short, shallow breathing and hyperventilation.

I mentioned tricks earlier. Here's an important one:

When you set out to take a deep breath, you actually have to start with an exhale. Not an inhale, an exhale, even though that is the opposite ofwhat you expect.

The reason is, you need the exhale, or a sigh, to relax your upper body enough that you can breathe deeply.

RiverRat2000: Along panic attacks and anxiety disorder, I suffer from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and agoraphobia is there any help? I'm afraid of people.

Dr. Carbonell: The treatment for agoraphobia, (lots of avoidances caused by fear of panic attacks) depends on getting better at managing the attacks, then gradually re-entering the feared situations.

In your case, dealing with people - a little at a time. With PTSD, where there are flashbacks and recall of a traumatic event, effective treatment involves ways of dealing with the traumatic memories of the past. This is often difficult, but there is help.

Mistymare4: My anxiety totally revolves around going in public and driving like work, grocery shopping etc..

David: Would you say that agoraphobia is the most difficult anxiety disorder to recover from?

Dr. Carbonell: Well, I would say no, but I realize it's easy for me to say. I find others more difficult to treat. But I think the most difficult one is the one you have.

Lexio: What if the fear of going crazy causes your panic attacks? What do you do then?

Dr. Carbonell: You could start by reviewing your history with panic, and considering why you haven't gone crazy yet. If you're attributing your sanity to support people, support objects, limiting your travel, and so on, this can maintain your fear of insanity, even though a panic attack cannot make a person crazy. You may feel like you're going crazy, but it passes! So you need some coping techniques to help you pass the time until the attack passes.

David: Here is a comment, then a question on generalized anxiety disorder:

ogramare: Anxiety medications have pretty well eliminated my panic but I am left with a giant case of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I can feel really nervous with no mental stimulation, no panic and no apparent reason. This may be off-topic for this discussion as I have not been here before.

mclay224: I was wondering what are some ways of coping with and eliminating the generalized anxiety?

Dr. Carbonell: In my experience, when someone with GAD also has a history of panic, the generalized anxiety is usually a form of anticipatory anxiety. They're no longer having the panic attacks, but they're constantly "on guard" against them. So it's usually important to discover the ways you have of being on guard, and replace them. Physical tension, limiting your movements, all manner of "self protective" measures like these can maintain the generalized anxiety.

cosset: Little humor: I've found that the fear of going crazy is overwhelming, but once you get past the fear of going crazy, nuts isn't that bad :)

David: And on that note, I know it's getting late. Thank you, Dr. Carbonell, for being our guest tonight and for sharing this information with us. And to those in the audience, thank you for coming and participating. I hope you found it helpful.

We have a very large and active community here at Healthyplace.com. Also, if you found our site beneficial, I hope you'll pass our URL, www.healthyplace.com, around to your friends, mail list buddies, and others.

Dr. Carbonell's website is here.

Dr. Carbonell: Thanks very much for having me!

David: Thanks Again, Dr. Carbonell, for being here tonight. Good night, everyone.

Disclaimer: We are not recommending or endorsing any of the suggestions of our guest. In fact, we strongly encourage you to talk over any therapies, remedies or suggestions with your doctor BEFORE you implement them or make any changes in your treatment.

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