Human beings are intelligent creatures. But human beings also have instincts, and these instincts can be difficult to control. One of these instincts is known as the "fight or flight" system. When faced with an event that breeds any type of fear, your body goes into a fight or flight response, and you experience a variety of physical and emotional symptoms including, but not limited to:

• Restlessness
• Worry/Dread
• Disorganized Thoughts
• Nausea or Stomach Discomfort
• Headaches.

You may find yourself with problems sleeping, or focusing too your concerns and unable to focus on the moment. All of these and more can be symptoms of very real mental health issues, known as anxiety disorders.

What Are Anxiety Disorders?

The DSM-IV-TR lists several types of anxiety disorders that affect millions of Americans. Some of these include:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder – Generalized anxiety disorder is anxiety that you experience without any obvious causes. The anxiety may have triggers, but generalized anxiety is a type of lasting, persistent anxiety that can affect your relationships and your work life.
• Social Anxiety Disorder – Social anxiety disorder is anxiety that manifests itself in social situations. Those with social anxiety disorder have trouble making and building on relationships, because of a persistent fear of social situations.
• Panic Disorder – Panic disorder occurs when the individual suffers from recurring panic attacks – a feeling of intense physical panic with no underlying physical cause.

There are numerous other types of anxiety disorders as well, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias.

How Anxiety Disorders Affect Relationships

Anxiety disorders can reduce your quality of life. When suffer from anxiety, you often find that your thoughts are overwhelming negative or cynical, and that you are less likely to engage in activities that would otherwise bring you joy and happiness.

Anxiety disorders can also damage relationships. Anxiety causes couples and families to do less activities together. They can cause stress and irritability which affects how close you feel to each other. They can create excess stress that leads to even more worry, and they can make it harder to cope with relationship problems and other issues.

Suffering from anxiety disorders can be a serious problem for both your own happiness and the health of your relationships, which is why it is so important to treat your anxiety with effective clinical therapy.

Therapy and Anxiety Coping

By using carefully structured and empirically validated anxiety treatment techniques, you'll learn new and effective coping strategies, and find better ways to deal with your anxiety. There are several effective treatment options for anxiety without the use of medications, and integrating these treatment options into your life will help improve both your quality of life and your relationships.

Marriage and family anxiety treatments will help you:

• Find Cohesive Coping Options – You'll learn how to help not only yourselves, but also how to help others cope, and find strategies that will help your relationships grow rather than have you work out your anxiety independently.
• Learn to Handle Anxious Thoughts – Worry can be a serious issue with anxiety, and one that can easily affect your relationships as your thoughts drift to worst-case scenarios. But with an effective treatment choice, you'll have fewer anxious thoughts and your relationships can thrive.
• Understand – Couples and families rarely talk about their own anxiety and mental health issues, so treatment will also revolve around understanding – giving others the first opportunity to hear what goes on inside your mind, so that they too can understand you better and find ways to reduce stress and anxiousness.

There are numerous ways to combat anxiety as both an individual and as part of a larger relationship. By combining therapy, every relationship will benefit and each of you can fight anxiety once and for all.

Receive Treatment Improve Your Life

Anxiety disorders are no laughing matter. While they may seem normal and may not appear at first glance to interfere with your life and your relationships, the truth is that anxiety disorders show themselves in numerous different ways.

Learning to cope with anxiety and reduce your overall stress and anxiety symptoms is an important part of both living a happy life and maintaining happy relationships – with your family, with your friends, with your workplace, and with your significant other. That's why if you find yourself dealing with anxiety, whether it's mild, moderate, or severe, you should strongly consider enrolling in evidence based therapy. You'll find that not only are you happier in your everyday life, but you're also happier in your relationships, and those around you will find themselves happier as well.

About the Author: Ryan Rivera is a strong supporter of evidence based clinical practice, and has information for those that want to learn more about anxiety at www.calmclinic.com.

 

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