ANXIETY AND PANIC

What is anxiety?

It is a general feeling of worry or a sudden feeling of panic or a fear of a certain situation or a response to a bad situation.

What causes anxiety disorders?

Your body feels anxiety when there is or is not a real danger. However, it feels the same. It can be due to an imbalance in your body, a memory or side effect of medicine or an illness.

How is it treated?

You doctor can help you form a plan and may also prescribe medicine.

Tips for coping with anxiety

Control your worry-spend 30 minutes thinking on your concerns and what you can do about them. Try not to dwell on what might happen. Focus on what IS happening.

RELAX-an easy technique is muscle relaxation. Begin by choosing a muscle and holding it tight for a few seconds, then relaxing that muscle. Do it with all your muscles. Another technique is counting backwards.

Confront the things that have made you anxious in the past. Picture yourself confronting these things and after you feel comfortable, you can begin to actually face these issues.

Exercise regularly-exercise can give you a sense of well being and help decrease your feelings of anxiety.

Get plenty of sleep.

The feelings of anxiety are scary but they won’t hurt you. Label the level of your fear from 0-10 and watch it go up and down. Notice that it does not stay at a high level for more than a few seconds. When the fear comes, accept it. Wait and give it time to pass without running away from it.

Talk with your doctor, to make sure your plan is working. If it is not working, there are other treatment options.

The most important thing is to take action. Any action will help because it will give you a sense of control over your anxiety.

TCIMC 10/00

Patient Education Codes:

GAD-DP, GAD-HM, GAD-C, and GAD-LA