Anxiety can put a lot of strain on relationships and that can become very isolating. Friends and family may feel strained or stressed by your anxiety as well because they don’t want to see you suffer, but they don’t always know how to help.
We want you to know that there are ways to cope with anxiety and nurture your relationships, both by yourself or through professional treatment options.
Let’s start by talking about anxiety and what that looks like. Then we’ll go over how anxiety can impact your relationships.
What does anxiety mean?
There are many different types of anxiety and each can affect your relationships differently. We want to focus on generalized anxiety disorder and the impact it has on your social, work, and family life.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is having an excessive or persistent worry about multiple aspects of your life for a prolonged period of time. These worries can be related to finances, work stress, family, or any number of other things. Unfortunately, you might not always know the cause of your worry, which can make this condition all the more frustrating.
More than 6.8 million people (or 3.1% of the U.S. population) are affected by GAD each year, and women are twice as likely to be impacted by this illness.
While there isn’t an exact cause of GAD, there are several factors that can attribute to the development of someone’s anxiety throughout their life, including:
- Family history of anxiety
- Prolonged or recent exposure to stressful situations
- Excessive caffeine or tobacco use
- Traumatic childhood events
You might have GAD if you show any combination of the following symptoms:
- Excessive worrying
- Restlessness
- Get startled easily
- Difficulty concentrating
- Difficulty sleeping
- Rapid heartbeat
- Chronic stomach aches
- Muscle tension
- Irritability
- Sweaty palms
- Fatigue or exhaustion
- Shaking
- Numbness or tingling in different areas of your body
How can anxiety impact your relationships?
Anxiety can impact your relationships in a number of different ways depending on the symptoms that you are experiencing. For some, it might cause them to become overly dependent on their loved ones while others might isolate themselves for fear of embarrassment or becoming a burden.
We’ll go over some of the common ways that general anxiety disorder impacts relationships.
Being overly dependent
Sometimes anxiety can cause a person to become overly dependent. Their anxiety might make them nervous to be alone or to face certain situations on their own. Anxiety can also cause a person to question every decision they make, which can also result in this overdependence.
Because of this, someone with anxiety might have a constant desire for closeness to their friends, family, or partner, and crave constant reassurance and support from them.
This overdependence can cause overthinking around social interactions, leading them to worry when someone doesn’t respond quickly via phone or social media.
People who are overly dependent on their relationships may struggle with effective communication and lash out in ways that are destructive to their relationships. This might cause friends and family to keep their distance physically and emotionally.
Social isolation
On the other hand, some people with anxiety isolate themselves and become avoidant of relationships to avoid negative feelings (like being disappointed by or frustrated with a friend or loved one).
It can be difficult to open up and be vulnerable with those you are closest to. Because of this, others might perceive you as cold, stand-offish, or emotionally unavailable even though you long for closeness. That makes maintaining and creating new relationships extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible.
Chronic tension
People who have anxiety frequently feel tense or restless and those around them can feel that tension. When someone is exhibiting tension, others often don’t know how to respond to it and might feel like they need to walk on eggshells around that person.
This tension can cause problems with connecting and communicating in relationships.
How can you cope with your anxiety and nurture your relationships?
Anxiety is not an easy thing to overcome and it may even be something you deal with throughout your life. However, there are still ways that you can maintain and nurture your relationships despite suffering from anxiety.
Let’s focus on the three situations we mentioned earlier: being overly dependent, social isolation, and chronic tension. In each of these situations, you can learn to become aware of your behavior and develop methods of combating them.
If you find yourself becoming overly dependent, you can develop ways to cope with your anxiety on your own to help relieve the pressure from your loved ones. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t ask them for help when you need it, but try to find ways that you can become more independent and manage your anxiety. You might also choose to resort to depending on a professional counselor who can provide ways for you to develop increased independence in healthy, personalized ways.
If you find that you tend to isolate yourself and often feel alone due to your anxiety, therapy could be a great solution for you. A mental health therapist can help treat your anxiety and help you find new ways to share your emotions with others and learn to let people in. They can also refer you to local support groups that can help you make connections with other people who are experiencing similar problems.
If you find that you often feel tense or restless due to your anxiety, finding ways to relieve that tension can really help. Stress-relieving techniques such as meditation, breathing exercises, and relaxing hobbies can help you manage that tension.
No matter the symptoms or circumstances of your anxiety, there is no shame in not being able to handle it on your own. Anxiety is a mental illness that you can’t always control and sometimes the best option is to seek professional treatment options.
What treatment options are available for generalized anxiety disorder?
When someone has anxiety, there are two main treatment options that may be prescribed (and more often than not it’s a combination of the two): counseling and medication.
Counseling
There are several forms of counseling that can be helpful for someone who has anxiety. Psychotherapy, also known as psychological counseling or talk therapy, is one method that is frequently used. This involves talking to a therapist to reduce your anxiety symptoms.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most common forms of psychotherapy that is used in treating anxiety. During this type of therapy, your therapist will work with you to develop skills that will help you manage your worries and stress.
Medication
When seeking treatment for anxiety, you should always start by consulting a professional. Your primary care doctor or a therapist are both good places to start. Your care provider can help you determine if medication is a viable option for your anxiety and give you direction on the best prescription to start with.
Sometimes you may have to try a couple of different medications before you find the one that works best for you.
The medical professionals at Alvarado Parkway Institute are available to help. If you feel you are experiencing anxiety and would like to speak with a medical professional to get the best treatment to help you feel like you again, reach out today at 619-333-7050.
Sources:
https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad
