Lynne S. Gots, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Working With Your Doctor to Manage Your Health Anxiety
By Lynne Gots, posted on October 28th, 2014.
Health, or “illness anxiety disorder,” as it has been newly termed in the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, can be a highly disruptive condition. For those who suffer from it, seeking medical attention can be an almost addictive process. Sometimes getting the advice of a medical professional can bring relief. But, more often, it opens the door to unnecessary diagnostic testing, an escalating need for reassurance, over attention to benign physical symptoms, and greater anxiety in the face of uncertainty.
In a post published today on the medical website, KevinMd, I’ve outlined some important guidelines for physicians to follow when treating a patient with health anxiety. Although I usually discourage people with health anxiety from using the Internet to diagnose themselves, I’d recommend you check out my suggestions if you think you might have Illness Anxiety Disorder. (It’s a credible source, unlike many of the ones you may be reading.) And, the next time you see your primary care physician, bring along a copy. With most health matters–and, especially so with health anxiety–collaboration is the best medicine.
Posted in Anxiety, Cognitive-behavior Therapy, Health Anxiety |
The Best Technique to Manage Anxiety: Start Living!
By Lynne Gots, posted on October 13th, 2014.
When people come to me for help with anxiety, I explain to them why relaxation won’t be part of the treatment plan. The typical response is often less than enthusiastic: “I don’t like feeling this way. Aren’t there techniques you can teach me so I can feel better?”
It’s understandable why someone with anxiety would want to alleviate the symptoms, which can be extremely uncomfortable–debilitating, even. But when avoidance is used to cope with the distressing feelings, the solution becomes the problem.
Avoidance is a natural response to a threatening situation, even if the threat is only a figment of a hyper-vigilant imagination. So if you’re given to worry or panic, you’re likely to steer clear of the places or events that set you off. Maybe you’ve stopped riding the Metro or declined career-advancing opportunities requiring public speaking or travel. Maybe you’ve stopped meeting friends for happy hour, taking vacations, or exercising (because you don’t want to risk elevating your heart rate). Maybe you’ve even put major life events–changing jobs, committing to a serious relationship, getting married, starting a family–on hold until you feel better.
You know you need to get your life back. But how?
The answer doesn’t involve a technique like relaxation. It requires a seismic mental shift: instead of moving away from anxiety, seek it out.
Scary, I know. And hard to execute, especially when you’ve gotten accustomed to organizing your actions around avoidance. But reclaiming all the activities you’ve relinquished in order not to rock the boat can be exhilarating.
I’m not suggesting you go full-tilt at first like the hapless character depicted in this classic Far Side cartoon, using “Professor Gallagher’s controversial technique” to overcome his fear of heights, snakes, and the dark by hanging from a high window in an enclosed chamber crawling with vipers. No need for total immersion (or “flooding,” as it’s called in behavior-therapy parlance). A gentler approach will work just as well–better, even–as long as you allow yourself to feel some discomfort.
If it’s too hard for you to execute such a plan on your own, consider enlisting the help of a cognitive-behavior therapist to help you bolster your resolve.
You have nothing to lose but your fear.
Tags: anxiety, behavior therapy, exposure
Posted in Anxiety, Behavior Change, Techniques |
Why I Don’t Teach Relaxation Anymore
By Lynne Gots, posted on October 6th, 2014.
If you’re a worrier, you’ve probably heard more times than you can count, “You need to relax.” And you’ve probably given yourself a mental smack on the forehead and thought, “Duh.”
Relaxation exercises in which you alternately tense and relax each muscle group in the body or breathe from the diaphragm to create a calming response used to be standard components of my clinical repertoire. But these days I almost never recommend them except to manage chronic pain (which is aggravated by muscle tension) or, on rare occasions, hyperventilation (which can be controlled with belly breathing).
Although using relaxation to counteract anxiety and stress may seem intuitively to make sense, it almost always backfires. You can’t force yourself to relax, no matter how hard you try. In fact, trying to relax makes most people—especially those prone to tension—more stressed when they can’t achieve the mental calmness they’re seeking. Not only is it hard to summon relaxation on demand; it’s also a particular challenge for tightly wound people to let go because the sensations of relaxation can feel alien and even unpleasant to someone who values feeling in control.
And there’s another reason I don’t teach relaxation. Learning to tolerate negative emotions like anxiety is much more beneficial in the long run than trying to eliminate them.
So the next time some well-meaning friend or family member advises you to relax, you can respond with an enigmatic smile and say, “Actually, I’m trying to get more anxious.”
In my next post, I’ll tell you how.
Tags: anxiety, relaxation exercises
Posted in Anxiety, Behavior Change, Cognitive-behavior Therapy, Techniques |
