Anxiety Help For Alcoholics

Anxiety can be very troubling in and of itself. I believe that anxiety can lead many people to self medicate with drugs and alcohol. Because anxiety causes such an unpleasant effect in those who suffer from it, it is not at all unusual to find people who suffer from anxiety who are alcoholic or drug addicted.

Now, I am not sure that they became an alcoholic because they drank so much or that they just triggered a condition (alcoholism) that they were likely to encounter with or without anxiety. Regardless, the two just go together often. So, I'd like to offer some tips for people that have anxiety and are alcoholic.

First, you need to stop wondering whether you drank alcoholicly because you have anxiety. It's really pretty irrelevant whether you have always been alcoholic or drank to bury your anxiety. It is simply not the point. The thing you are going to want to consider, however, is how will you be able to treat anxiety if you are not going to be able to drink alcohol to alleviate the anxiety symptoms. This is a problem, no?

I have some bad news for ya. For a little while you are just going to have to endure your anxiety on its own. You'll have to sit in the anxiety and feel its terribleness because there just isn't a good other option. Benzos are not a good idea for alcoholics, though I do know some who have taken benzos for years and not developed their drinking anew. But, I also want to inform you that having anxiety is not the end of the world. So, you won't be able to obliterate your anxiety with alcohol. Is that really the end of the world. I think you might find, that being able to face your anxiety sober will allow you to actually get over it more quickly.

Stay tuned for part two on anxiety and alcohol.

What Keeps People in Anxiety

Without a doubt the thing that I think keeps people in anxiety for long periods of their life is their failure to accept their condition. Now, I don't know how to cure anxiety. But I do know that I am not ashamed and I know that one of the ways you can defeat it is to accept it. Now, some things, there is just no answer to and I have to always remind people that they don't have an anxiety problem they have a defective brain problem. What do I mean?

Let's look at death. Suppose thinking about death gives you a panic attack. You simply can not stomach the idea that you are not going to live forever and you do not believe in an after life. Therefore every time that you think about the fact that you are going to die you become extremely panicked and anxious. Does this mean that you have an anxiety disorder?

No it absolutely does not. It means that you are human! Of course you are afraid of death. If you do not believe in an afterlife and you have a spirit of self preservation every time that you think about the fact that one day you will cease to exist you are going to get anxious. This is not the kind of anxiety that there is a cure from. This is a normal, human reaction to a set of circumstances. No technique is going to get you to accept an after life and no technique is going to get you to live forever. So, if you have fear of death, you either need to accept it or prepare to have a disturbed life. I don't know of a way to cure causation. And Xanax or drugging yourself just puts a blanket over the problem.

Welcome to humanity, pal!

Anxiety Stories You Can Learn From

I think that one of the reasons that I have been able to overcome my anxiety disorder is that I realize that my story can help so many other people from struggling with anxiety. But, I think I need to make a certain clarification up front: When I say that I don't have anxiety any more I actually mean something very specific, I mean that I rarely worry anymore. Now, what does that actually mean, let me explain.

I struggled with a very profound anxiety disorder for more than a decade. However, the thing that was always the biggest bother to me was the shame that I felt about my anxiety. But, I also had physical symptoms. My palms got sweaty, I lost confidence, my stomach turned, I felt nervous. And, just to be clear, I sometimes still get those symptoms today. But I say that I have overcome my anxiety because they do not haunt me. In fact, I can usually just turn them off as if I had a switch in my brain. I don't feel any shame or guilt because I have come to the point where I accept that I have an anxiety disorder. Therefore, I don't worry about my anxiety anymore. It doesn't rule me. And for that I reason alone I can declare that I have defeated anxiety once and for all.