How can anxiety be controlled?
Anxiety can be controlled firstly by being aware of the fact that it is happening. Very often when you suffer from anxiety you're not certain that it is indeed anxiety which you're feeling. Very often people suffer a headache and it is diagnosed as a tension headache, but it's simply as a result of the increased muscle tension that a patient suffers as a result of anxiety. So the first situation is to be aware of the fact that you're suffering from anxiety. Once you're aware of that then you can begin to implement a number of practices which will help you relax. The first thing is to be aware of your muscles and to allow them to drop and to relax. Secondly, you can control your breathing. You can slow it down, you can breathe more deeply, and you can just allow yourself to breathe in a way which is far more normal and natural. And then thirdly, you should be aware of what is causing your anxiety, in order to be able to try and make certain changes to it, so that the anxiety becomes a more rational fear rather than a possibly irrational response to a relatively minor incident. And anxiety can also be treated with medications and there are essentially three different types of medications that we use for anxiety. The simplest form might be to use a type of medication that we call a beta blocker. They're called beta blockers because they block a certain type of effect of adrenaline in the system. Because we release adrenaline when we're anxious, beta blockers will often block those responses, and hence we will feel less anxious. But beta blockers lower blood pressure and slow heart rate, and therefore they must be controlled by doctors. The second type of medication is what we call anxiolytics or minor tranquilizers. These will usually have a fairly rapid response in the body to relieve anxiety, and they're normally extremely effective. But they do have a problem in that they are habit forming, and therefore the patient that needs long term treatment may need a different type of medication that is not a minor tranquilizer because of the addictive type potential of these medications.And then the third type medication are in fact antidepressant medications, which have anxiety relieving properties. And therefore antidepressants may sometimes be prescribed not because the patient is depressed, but because the patient is suffering a more chronic or long term form of anxiety. And these are often extremely effective, but they do take time to work. They don't work for the first two weeks and they don't develop their maximum effect before about six weeks. And therefore the patient has to be patient to continue to take it, so that they can develop their maximum effect and not think that they're doing nothing.
