Here we will go over how to explain your feelings of anxiety to your family and friends.
Anxiety is a serious mental health condition that affects nearly 300 million people worldwide. Although anxiety is common, few understand how the symptoms associated with the condition impact the lives of sufferers.
Keep reading If you have anxiety and are looking for information on how to help your family and friends understand your emotions.
Understanding Anxiety
Before you can explain your feelings of anxiety to others, you must understand the condition yourself.
Anxiety is a mental health disorder characterized as; intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Find aa meetings in new york for you or a family member to recover from drug addiction and alcoholism.
Anxiety disorders may or may not be caused by an underlying condition. Most commonly, anxiety stems from stress from work, social interactions, emotional trauma, personal relationships, physical health, or financial situations. Additionally, anxiety can also be a side effect of new medications.
Common symptoms of anxiety are:
- Feeling nervous, tense, or restless
- Feeling weak, or fatigued
- Trembling
- Rapid breathing or inability to catch your breath
- Increased heart rate
- Feelings of impending doom or danger
- Sweating
- Worry that you have or will upset someone
- Trouble concentrating
- Frequent worry about past or future situations
- Trouble sleeping
- Avoidance
As you may know, anxiety has many symptoms that interfere with everyday life. When attempting to explain your condition to your loved ones, start by educating them on these common symptoms.
Write Down Your Thoughts
Talking about your emotions can be just as difficult as feeling them, making educating others on your condition a hard task to complete.
If you struggle with communicating about your condition, try writing your thoughts down. Write down any anxious thoughts or feelings that you have, and when you’re ready, you can present your notes to your loved ones.
Writing down your thoughts is a great way to express your feelings because it allows you to put ample thought into your explanation. This method also provides a way to be vulnerable without needing to be present. You can offer your notes to loved ones for them to read on their own time, which is helpful for those who struggle with confrontation.
Additionally, getting your thoughts down on paper can help alleviate your anxiety, so you may want to take up journaling even if you don’t plan to share the pages.
Have a Face-to-Face Conversation
If you have the strength and courage to speak face to face about your anxiety, let your family know you want to discuss your condition.
During this open and honest conversation, you may want to bring a list of topics, feelings, and key points you want to touch on during the discussion.
A list is not necessary, but it is helpful. Otherwise, you may be overcome with emotion and find it hard to express your feelings verbally.
If able to communicate in a face-to-face conversation, you will find that your explanation of anxiety is well heard because you can share raw and personal emotions.
Speak Your Thoughts Out Loud
Speaking your thoughts out loud is similar to having a face-to-face conversation because it requires intimate interactions. However, this unconventional method is different because there is not much planning involved.
You can help your family and friends understand your feelings of anxiety by speaking your anxious thoughts out loud as they come to mind.
For example, if you are having a conversation with a loved one and are triggered, let them know what is going on in your head.
Sometimes, anxiety sufferers will have a sudden onset of negative emotions denoting that something bad will happen. If you have these feelings, try to put your thoughts and emotions into words.
By speaking these feelings out loud as they occur, your family and friends will obtain a tighter grasp of the condition and what it entails. Additionally, talking about your feelings as they occur is a great way to work through your anxiety. Holding in these thoughts and emotions can make your symptoms worse since nobody is helping you think rationally or ease your mind.
Seek Help
When anxiety goes untreated, physical and additional mental health conditions like heart disease, depression, and schizophrenia can develop.
Therefore, if anxiety is interfering with your ability to complete everyday tasks like work, go outside, and have conversations, you must contact your doctor to seek help.
Your doctor will help you determine the best treatment plan for your condition which, may include:
- Medication
- Medical Marijuana
- Therapy
- Cranial electrotherapy stimulation
- Nutrition changes
- Self-care
Getting treatment for your mental health can be a difficult step to take. However, treatment is essential to your quality of life.
