Overcoming Anxiety Disorders To Be Happy And Calm

Friday, December 3, 2010, 17:18

Overcoming anxiety disorders to be happy and calm, has become an absolute necessity in the modern days.

These days, when pressure tries to knock you down in relationships, work, money etc, it is indispensable to remain calm and happy, keeping anxiety at bay.

A book by psychologist Mark Reinecke"s, 'Little Ways to Keep Calm and Carry On: Twenty Lessons for Managing Worry, Anxiety and Fear,"helps understand latest psychological research and cognitive behavioural therapy with the view to reduce anxiety and lead a happier life, sans stress and fret.
"We live in an age of anxiety, whether it''s economic worries or potential terrorist threats, or how you are going to care for your aging mother," said Reinecke.

“There are a whole range of things that come at us as a society that make us feel more anxious than at any time in our recent history," he added.

One chapter in his book discusses the realistic assessment of whether a bad thing will happen.

"You should prepare for the most likely scenario, not the worst case, because it is statistically very unlikely," advised Reinecke.

"You should ask what is the probability of a bad event happening, how will you cope, are you able to protect yourself?"

The author uses 'whitewater rafting' as a metaphor for effective coping.

"When you are thrown from the boat, you cover your head, protect what''s important and go with the flow. You let the current take you to a calm eddy on the side of the river," Reinecke said.
He simply points out the the tendency in us to anticipate the possibility of the occurrence of bad things and our ability to cope.

Reinecke further categories worry as productive and unproductive; how to handle with recurring train of negative thoughts (which he likens to the flying monkeys in “The Wizard of Oz"), how to deal with anxiety, accepting an uncertain future, changing dysfunctional thoughts and strategies to relax. All of these skills can be learned, he noted.

"You don''t want to avoid the things you fear; you want to think about how to effectively manage them.
"The more you effectively cope with a situation, the more confidence you have. Then, when a threat arises in the future, you know you can manage it," he said.

"No matter the problem life brings us, we know we can manage and cope."
A helpful aid to overcome anxiety disorder to be happy and calm.