We all deal with a certain amount of stress and anxiety at our places of employment, it is a normal part of our daily lives. When our anxiety becomes overwhelming our work suffers and self esteem plunges. Most anxiety sufferers I know feel the need to hide their anxiety from others and go it alone. It is difficult to employ most relaxation techniques while on the job. Instead we need to modify our techniques to help us through our anxiety. One of the first things we can do is talk to a supervisor and explain what we are going through. You may not want to do this but it is something that can help. People can't help if they do not know what's wrong. Your supervisor is bound by confidentiality not to disclose health issues to others so this may be a positive way to look at it. The danger with this however is that we may become dependant on co workers too much and it may affect your job performance. You will have to decide whether this is a good choice for you. There are a few other things we can do at the workplace to help with our anxiety. Avoid drinking too much coffee and if you feel the need to drink decaffeinated. Avoid colas for the same reason or find a suitable alternative. We need to prioritize our workload responsibilities , we can't do it all ourselves. Do what needs to be done today. Delegate some of the workload to others. Ask for assistance in completing tasks. Show up for work early and complete some relaxation techniques before beginning. Use this early start to get some exercise before work. Ensure that you are eating a balanced breakfast before work. Blood sugar levels can play havoc on your anxiety for the day. It is best to eat a balanced diet to keep these levels on a consistent basis. Schedule your appointments for the beginning of the day as this is when we are at our best. Ensure that you are getting a restful sleep by organizing everything you need for work the night before so you are not rushing out the door in the morning. With some of these common sense approaches to treating our anxiety we can find relief.
January 10/06 Part Two In the last article we were at the point where we completed out assessment and identified problem areas. The nest step we need to take is to prioritize what problems we need to look at first. In our example we can see 4 problem areas. At this point you will have to make your own decision on what problem should be given first priority. For this example we are going to prioritize in this order: 1)current alcohol use 2)chronic stress 3)death of loved one 3 years ago 4) Employment problems. Now we can clearly see some of the causes of our anxiety and can formulate a plan to address these issues. Our first problem we identified is the current alcohol use. For this example we will say that this person is currently consuming 3-6 drinks per day and more on the weekends. Their use has been gradually increasing and it is probable that they have an addiction. Now we have to look at ways to deal with this problem area. There are many options one can look at such as a) Detox b) 12 step program c) Self Help Group d) Medications e) Professional Counseling Service. The key is to tackle one problem at a time. Often dealing with one problem area will help us solve another related problem at the same time. In our example taking care of the addiction will impact the other identified problems and give us a good head start on the total picture. As time goes on we can re organize and re evaluate so that we can achieve optimum wellness. By completing this exercise it will impact us in a positive way and aid us in decreasing our anxiety.
January 7/06 Part One Insight into your
anxiety is probably one of the most important keys to getting relief. There may be many reasons we suffer from anxiety so we will have to look at all aspects of our lives. Many things can be the cause of this condition such as stress, chronic pain, depression, medical issues, alcohol/drug abuse and traumatic events in our lives. Maybe you fit into one of these categories or maybe a combination of them. It is important to reflect on our current lifestyle and past life experiences to find the answers. So what happens when we find these answers. Well we can use a problem solving approach to deal with each of the issues. How is it done? The first phase is the assessment phase which involves what was just described earlier in this article. We need to look back at our current lifestyle and past experiences. It is very helpful to write down these thoughts for easy reference when moving to the next phase. Once we have completed the assessment phase what do we do with all of this information? The next step in exploring our causes of anxiety is to identify problem areas from this information. You should be able to see the problem areas quite easily. Some areas may be work related, medical, stress load, family, past traumatic experiences etc as discussed earlier. Make a list of these problem areas keeping them as simple as possible. Try to use only a couple of words to identify each problem if possible. So if you complete this exercise properly your list should look something like this: 1)chronic stress 2) Employment problems 3) current alcohol use 4) death of loved one 3 years ago. Of course this is an example and you will make your list out of the problems you have discovered in your assessment phase. This is a good start and may be time consuming to complete so the rest of this article will be posted in upcoming Anxiety Tip of the Day column.
Anxietyhelponline is a website dedicated to fighting anxiety without the use of medications. So why are we talking about medication? It is important to know information about these medications if we decide this is a right choice for us. This is general information regarding this classification of medications and any info should be obtained from your doctor or pharmacist before you start any medication regime. These medications are used to treat symptoms of anxiety. They are not a cure all for anxiety and have an addictive nature to them. A drug tolerance can develop after using these medications for approximately 4 months or they will become less effective. If you find this happening to you, your doctor may slowly wean you off, reducing the dosage a little at a time. These medications are abused by some individuals and the user must be aware of the problems arising from the use of these medications. These medications aid the individual by producing a calming effect and can sedate the person causing sleep. Short term use of these medications is best for treating your anxiety due to their addictive nature and side effects. Some of the side effects you may experience are: drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, slurred speech, muscle incoordination, nausea and heartburn. These side effects do not affect all people and vary in degree. These side effects may disappear with time. If we look at this website and how to treat your anxiety, the goal is to identify the problem areas, formulate a plan to deal with the cause and go forth and fight it. If we can complete this plan consistently our anxiety will decrease without any medications. January 5/06
Anxiety Tip of the Day
January 2/06 Stress can affect you both physically and mentally. We may feel uptight, anxious, irritable and edgy. Physically we may experience problems sleeping, headaches, indigestion and chest pain or shortness of breath. Why do these things happen? It is our bodies natural response after receiving too much stress that can lead to anxiety. How can we manage our stress? It is not a quick fix but completing some of these activities may help. Some people will look for the quick fix in the form of self medication (alcohol or drugs) There is an article on this site dealing with anxiety, stress, and depression and why self medication with drugs and alcohol is not a good choice. Take some time off work for a short trip or vacation. Take breaks during the day from your work if possible and go for a walk. Talk it out. Access your friends and spend time doing a fun activity, plan a family outing. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Prioritize what needs to be done and what can wait. Learn to say NO. The world will keep on moving whether you take it all on yourself or not. Make time for yourself away from any distractions enjoying your favorite hobby. Keep on a daily routine, even on the weekend. Avoid sleeping during the day as that can throw off your sleep schedule. All of these things are common sense when dealing with stress, anxiety and depression we just need to get motivated or push ourselves to complete them so we can feel better.
