Emotional Symptoms
The thoughts of an anxiety sufferer are characterised by worry, foreboding and apprehensiveness. The thoughts that go through our heads can play a major part in increasing or decreasing our anxiety. It has been suggested that many individuals increase their troubles by mis-reading their physical symptoms.
Common misinterpretations of physical symptoms can include
These frightening thoughts have a tendency to stoke the flames of our physical anxiety and cause a
vicious circle of thoughts and feelings. It serves us well to bear in mind that these types of
thoughts are an inaccurate reflection of what is happening in reality Generally, anxiety disorder sufferers believe that if their anxiety levels continue to rise,
something really bad will happen - they will faint, vomit, fall unconscious, have a heart attack, or go
insane. This fear is unfounded. Over time, anxiety levels will begin to decrease naturally but if we
run away from the situations that make us anxious then we will never find this out. A subliminal message gets stamped in 'The only way to cope with anxiety provoking situations is to
avoid them'. This can be observed if we look at the case of someone with agoraphobic tendencies who
will rush home from the shopping centre due to feelings of panic. When faced with a similar situation
in the future, the pattern of anxious feelings followed by avoidance will manifest itself once more.
The sufferer might think 'That was a close one. I might have collapsed in the shops' but if they had
stuck around, they would have realised that they could cope with the situation without avoiding it. By learning to progressively confront, as opposed to avoid, situations you will realise that you can
cope. The treatment for anxiety disorder should equip the sufferer to
'chip away' at these obstacles slowly. Gradually they will be ready to face any situation with a
renewed sense of confidence and contentment.
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