Wednesday, July 15, 2009

How Can Anxiety and Intrusive Thoughts Be Overcome?

By Gordon Dalwood

If panic attacks are something you deal with, you're all too aware of how powerful thoughts can be. A panic attack can be set in motion by a single intrusive thought that gets you worrying about your health, your family, your job; whatever it may be. Before you know it you're overwhelmed with panic and anxiety.

We all worry about things sometimes, but when you can't stop those intrusive thoughts from taking over, that's when the real trouble begins. If you suffer from anxiety or panic disorders, it's hard to just shrug these thoughts off and they push you towards panic or depressive symptoms. The longer you allow these thoughts to control you, the more likely they are to develop into a serious obsession.

As these thoughts continue to plague your, your body reacts. You lose sleep and you lose the taste for food. Other people may find it difficult to understand your behavior and dismiss your fears as impossible quirks. You may discuss your fears endlessly with family but those intrusive thoughts won't go away fast enough. As you lose weight and experience dreaded symptoms, your panic increases and your panic attacks become frequent.

A lot of people who suffer from panic attacks or anxiety disorders fear being institutionalized or stigmatized as different if they seek help. Unfortunately, this keeps many people from getting the help that they need. Panic and anxiety disorders can usually be managed, attacks often prevented and in some people, the disorder can actually be cured! The first step is to start asserting control over those intrusive thoughts.

Banishing these intrusive thoughts often starts with lifestyle changes. By keeping occupied with your career, with volunteer work and spending time with friends, you can keep things a little more under control. By taking your focus off of yourself and placing it elsewhere, you may see those intrusive thoughts causing you problems less and less often. These thoughts can cause a lot of trouble and while no one has total control over what crosses their mind, we all have the ability to change the way we react to these thoughts.

Try telling yourself that your intrusive thoughts and negative patterns of thinking have never done you a bit of good and that they've always been wrong about their dire predictions. You can also take their power away by imagining cheerful, pleasant images in their place. This takes the fear away and lets you start taking control away from your intrusive thoughts.

Loneliness and fatigue nourishes negative thoughts. Spend more time with your loved ones and your dearest friends. Work and laugh together to let off steam. The adage that laughter is the best medicine still holds true these -- the more you have fun and laugh along banishes those intrusive thoughts in time.

If you intend to begin therapy to help treat your anxiety and panic attacks, you should see out a local support group to augment your one on one therapy sessions. These group therapy settings provide people struggling with anxiety a lot of emotional support. Once you meet others who are dealing with the same problems as you are, the burden of managing your anxiety seems like a much lighter one.

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