How do I Overcome a Fear of Anxiety?

A fear of anxiety is common, especially among those with an anxiety disorder, and can be overcome by undergoing behavioral therapy and sometimes taking prescription medication. Natural methods like diet and exercise may also be helpful. Learning coping techniques for dealing with anxiety when it occurs is also a good method of treatment, since seeing anxious feelings as being manageable and nonthreatening will take away some of the fear of having them.

Those with certain disorders are more likely to suffer from a fear of anxiety. If you have an anxiety disorder that has not been treated, you may find yourself fearful and even more anxious when you think of having an anxiety or panic episode. This fear is often as debilitating as the panic itself, and often leads to the very thing you are afraid of: anxiety.

One solution to a fear of anxiety is to avoid situations which may induce a panic attack. This may be easy if you are afraid of heights or spiders, but if you are anxious in social situations or find yourself anxious for no reason at all, this is generally not a good treatment method. You will do well to see a therapist who has experience treating anxiety disorders to learn coping techniques for dealing with panic when it occurs.

You may have found that your fear of anxiety actually makes panic and anxious feelings more likely to occur. By learning new ways to think about your disorder, however, you can regain power over these overwhelming feelings. Therapy will give you tools like breathing techniques, mantras to recite, and visualization techniques to help you to lessen your anxiety when it occurs. Knowing that you can handle your panic episodes will lessen fear, and in turn, making anxiety less likely to happen.

If your fear of anxiety is very severe, you may also be given prescription medication to help calm you down. Most times, medications will come in the form of an antidepressant. Commonly, selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) will be used, because they are often milder and come with fewer side effects compared to many other options.

You may find that joining a support group with other anxiety disorder patients is helpful for your recovery. This is a weekly or monthly gathering of people who all struggle with the same anxiety and fear issues, and help one another by discussing their successes and failures in a nurturing and non-threatening environment. Online versions are also an option, and these are available for you to use 24 hours a day via Internet forums and articles.