Living with Anxiety Disorders

by: AimyD
Total views: 20 | Word Count: 596

Living with an anxiety disorder is never fun. I have moderate anxiety and have had for about a year now. It wasn’t until recently that I have been able to control it. Symptoms of anxiety disorders vary with each case. Symptoms may include but are not limited to hot or cold flashes, headaches, chest pain and shortness of breathe.

Symptoms for me were chest pain which made me feel like I was having a heart attack and shortness of breathe. At first I didn’t think anything of either symptom because I am usually a very active person, always on the go so I thought I just needed to take a break. My symptoms began to worsen and I could no longer ignore them. So I made a trip to the doctor, who told me that anxiety can be very harmful to your body if not treated in a timely manner.

I then began taking an anti-anxiety medication to help relieve some of the anxiety and it worked for a while. Unfortunately these anti anxiety medications that are prescribed by so many doctors each and everyday are only good for short term use. This is because they are meant to relieve or calm down your anxiety immediately, yet they still have no long term affect. There are medications that have long term affects but have to be taken precisely to the doctor’s orders.

So now that I know I have moderate anxiety and that my prescription has no long term affect, I need to find out how I can control my anxiety attacks and keep going with my life. Well, coincidentally I have found some ways to control it long term, and here they are.

First I had to realize that I was avoiding places that caused my anxiety to worsen, so I went back to these places to try to get over it. Slowly but surely it is working. I just had to realize that fear of certain things and places triggered my anxiety but I am learning to get over all that.

I then had to find something that helped me relax. Being relaxed helps take off a lot of the pressure of everyday life. For me to relax I would take my dogs out for a nice long walk, or I may even sit down with a nice book to read, or as a last resort if I had time I would take a hot bubble bath. This will also help relieve stress and joint pain.

Lastly, I had to be aware of when my anxiety attack hit first. If my chest started to feel tight or by breathing was harder than usual, I knew what I had to do. I had to find a spot to relax and take in a deep breathe. Trying to take my mind off the attack didn’t always help, in fact it at times it made it worse. When I could feel the attack coming on like a freight train at full speed I knew I had to do something, it didn’t matter what it was I just had to do something to keep the attack at a minimum. Everything I have tried has helped.

Once again, living with an anxiety disorder is not fun and can cause harm to your body, take each step you need to live a happy and healthy life.

I am not a doctor and the statements written in this article are me speaking form experience. Like always, you should see a doctor as soon as possible if you have any symptoms to anxiety or any other life threatening disorders.