Evidence shows that using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat anxiety works. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on replacing maladaptive thoughts and behaviors with positive, healthy ones. Patients are taught to recognize, question, and refute negative behaviors and thought patterns, and then to replace them with more adaptive versions. By learning to do this, we engage in new ways of thinking and acting. Using CBT to treat anxiety helps us more effectively manage our anxiety symptoms. 

Anxiety can affect decision-making. Anxiety is a fact in the lives of many individuals, but for some it is much more present and even crippling (What is Anxiety? Anxiety Definition). For the extremely anxious, making decisions can be both difficult and burdensome.

Dating is awkward and many feel anxiety about dating. Throw some clinical anxiety into the mix and you've got a disaster on your hands. But you can minimize anxiety about dating.

Anxiety, to put it simply, is apprehension over the unknown but you can reduce your anxiety in 10 minutes or less. Whether you are anxious about possibly leaving the oven on, or your five year plan, anxiety manifests itself as both physical and emotional responses in the body. This may leave you feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and desperate for relief (Why Am I So Tired? Anxiety And Fatigue). Check out these 10 ways to reduce your anxiety in 10 minutes or less for help.

Empaths are often anxious. Empathy is described as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. All humans have the ability to empathize in moments of tragedy, even if they have not experienced a similar situation. However, empathy is an innate trait that is more acutely developed in certain members of the population (Intense Anxiety And The Highly Sensitive Person). Empaths are individuals who are unconsciously affected by other people’s moods, desires, thoughts, and energies. They can, literally, feel the emotions of others in their bodies and attempt to carry these emotions on their shoulders without ever being asked. It's for this reason that there are often anxious empaths.

As 2015 winds down, let me start by wishing all of you a Happy New Year in 2016 from the Treating Anxiety Blog. 2015 was difficult for me, and I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. But, I also end it on a hopeful note due to all I've learned about myself, living with anxiety, and simply being human. Which, sadly, leads me to my second wish. I also wish you all a fond farewell. This will be my last post from Treating Anxiety.

Managing our anxiety about terrorist attacks is hard. It's so abhorrent and baffling that it's difficult to get our minds around it. It's extremely upsetting. Terrorist attacks in Western countries like France and the United States are a very recent phenomenon. Here in the West, we're still adjusting to the fact that terrorism has become part of our experience, too. It's no longer something that only happens in far-away places that we've never heard of, or know very little about. As we're managing our own anxiety about terrorist attacks, we're also having to learn how to discuss war and terrorism with our children.

I've been reading the Debunking Addiction blog lately, and it's gotten me thinking about how my early sobriety triggered my anxiety. Early sobriety generally refers to the first year of not drinking after sobering up. My experience has been that early sobriety will trigger anxiety, especially if you already have an anxiety disorder, which I believe many problem drinkers do (Addiction and Mental Illness: The Struggle to Stay Sober and Sane).

Sleep deprivation can be a real danger to those of us with anxiety disorders, especially in the long term. Chronic lack of sleep has been linked to everything from poor concentration and being more prone to accidents, diabetes, heart disease, and early mortality. The irony is that mood disorders, like anxiety, increase sleep deprivation, which, in turn, increases anxiety. Here is some important information about the dangers of anxiety-related sleep deprivation, and some steps you can take to increase the quality of your sleep.

One important skill to acquire when you you have anxiety is learning how to avoid future-tripping. Future-tripping, also called anticipatory anxiety, is part of the human condition of peering into the imagined future and anticipating the outcome. Everyone does this to some degree or other. It's one of the blessings (or perhaps curses) of having a human brain with a frontal cortex. A person without an anxiety disorder may see a pleasant outcome, while an anxious person will likely imagine the worst outcome possible. The truth is, we don't know what's going to happen. That's why future-tripping when you have anxiety is a good thing to avoid.