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Understanding Your Anxiety
Cognitive behavioral counseling techniques can be very effective in the control, reduction or elimination of anxiety symptoms. This is due in part because, at its root, anxiety is a, "disorder", of your thought process. Consider the following:
If you do believe you are also experiencing a mood disorder, visit the section on dealing with depression to learn more. There are groupings of anxiety type symptoms that are given the following diagnoses:
Each of these disorders has a its own unique set of challenges and issues. Working with a counseling professional is vital to coping with their impact. As with all mental health issues, each diagnosis will have individual groups of symptoms that range from mild to severe. To get a better idea of what is occurring, let's look closer at the first disorder listed above: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) EVERYONE WORRIES It is part of the human condition to think about the future. If this were not so, how could we plan, use tools, or even take our next step? Some people plan and worry a lot while others seem to hardly consider the future at all. This can be as much a function of someone's personality as it can be an anxiety disorder.
To understand what is happening with anxiety let's talk about 
Anxiety involves the thoughts part of the chain While your thoughts may result in emotions and responses of behaviors you don't want, the anxiety consists of concerns, fears, imaginings, distorted or irrational beliefs, etc. Anxiety is, in essence: thinking irrationally. The excessive (and unnecessary) focus is producing fear, frustration, depression, anger, etc. It can also set up a kind of loop where the anxiety produces further irrational thoughts. Anxiety is also thinking that predicts the future; which, I don't know of anyone who has developed that power to date. In certain instances, counseling alone may not be sufficient, and medication may be needed. To learn more about using medications and dealing with any side-effects, visit the Medication section. Additionally, anxiety can cause physical symptoms such as weakness, dizziness, or headaches. These can lead to further concern and anxiety about the individual's health conditions. For authoritative information and answers to questions about the neurological basis, visit Ask The Neurologist. There are steps you can take to reduce the impact of anxiety. You can get control of your thinking process a couple of different ways. You will find these methods explained on the next page: Counseling Techniques for Anxiety.
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