Helping Someone With Anxiety

March 22, 2024

You can help someone with anxiety and there may be more relatives or friends suffering from anxiety thank you think.

Nearly one in 25 adults has serious mental illness whether it is anxiety, depression, OCD, bipolar disorder or another condition. Shame still surrounds mental illness, an inheritance from when people believed such conditions were character flaws and can make it hard to seek help.

It’s common for all of us to sometimes feel anxiety. Clinical psychologist, Judy Ho, says “When anxiety becomes a big problem is when it starts to interfere with the relationships in your life, your job, or your routine at large. If the person feels greatly distressed on a daily basis, or if they’re very concerned by their own reactions to the stresses around them when they occur, that’s a sign that their anxiety may rise to the level of a diagnosable disorder.”  

Anxiety can manifest itself as indecisiveness or intense feelings of restlessness. There can be physical symptoms such as  chronic stomach aches or abdominal pains, chest tightness, sweating, and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. The result can be an inability to do basic daily activities or think clearly at any given time or an irrational fear of dealing with other people.

We would stress that anybody who has such symptoms should seek medical help or consider therapy.

You may know someone who suffers from anxiety and there are ways you can help.

Practice empathetic listening

Taking time to listen to someone’s concerns (without responding with judgmental statements or questions) is immensely helpful. For someone suffering from severe anxiety, part of what they’re fearful of is being judged.

Allow them to voice their concerns freely

 If you are a close family member or a friend, give the person with anxiety the space to speak about their anxiety or their triggers.

Be flexible and lower the stakes when you can

Offer to do what you can practically so the person suffering can take time for themself. It might doing their shopping for them or some other errand.

Be watchful for signs of anxiety

If you suspect that your loved one is experiencing a bout of anxiety, ask them in a non-accusatory way if they are and what you can do to help, if anything at all.

Empower them to handle their own challenges

While it’s important to provide support and encouragement, it can be easy to overstep, and it becomes a type of dependency. The more someone learns that they can handle their anxiety on their own and that it will pass, the better they will feel.

If you have had to deal with anxiety whether it be yours or someone else’s and you feel you can share the experience, it may be helpful to someone else.

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