Helping a Loved One Deal with your Anxiety?

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Hi all,

I have GAD.

Like many with GAD, I've grown accustomed to my "low-grade" anxiety, worry and rumination. I've been through years of therapy and learned to function well managing my thoughts and exposures, so much so that I forget the non-anxious people close to me still observe me as anxious in a lot of situations. Even though I no longer define it as feeling anxious, it is affecting someone close to me. She feels a bit helpless and doesn't know how to act around me at times. I told her that anxiety is irrational and she can't fix it...and that all I need is for her to be an anchor. But, it is hard to convince someone who is affected by your anxiety that what you're suggesting will work....especially for person I speak of, who thrives on being the leader and taking control of a situation. :eek:

My only idea here is family therapy.

Any other ideas/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[danni]

I think family therapy is a great idea!! It can be very helpful to talk together about how she can best support you.

In general, I think education is one of the best things she can take part in. It's hard for people without these difficulties to understand what you are going through. Reading and learning about what GAD is and how it affects you and others could be helpful to her too.

It should also be comforting to you that people feel helpless in situations like this because they care. That's a really important part of what you just told us.

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Thanks for your feedback, Danni! I really appreciate it! We haven't started any family therapy yet, however, I've located a few places we can look into that accept my insurance. It is so hard for me to explain and teach about something that I'm use to people discounting.

Thank you again, so much!

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