Читать книгу Ten Steps to Relieve Anxiety - H. Michael Zal - Страница 7

Author’s Note

This book on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is unlike other books on the topic that promise a cure. Based on over forty years of experience working with people with anxiety, I maintain that anxiety and worry are due to a genetic vulnerability. GAD may run in families and may grow worse when people are under stress. Its symptoms cannot be eradicated completely. They will always be there to some degree as part of the person’s makeup. However, they can indeed be modulated and helped. Ten Steps to Relieve Anxiety will show you some proven ways to do this.

Although all the names have been changed, my cases are about actual people and real suffering. I look at clients from a holistic point of view, involving the whole person and his or her life history from childhood to adulthood. I take an eclectic approach to therapy, using aspects of everything from psychoanalytic psychotherapy to cognitive-behavioral therapy. This book explores the skills and insights that you can learn in therapy to help you feel less stressed and anxious and gain more control over your anxiety symptoms and your life. It will also point out common personality traits often seen in anxious people. At times it will take you inside the therapy session and allow you to see the interplay between therapist and client. It will review the various psychiatric medications that are available to help anxiety where appropriate. It is my firm belief that although psychiatric medications can facilitate improvement in mental disorders, it is people working with people on a sustained, long-term basis that is equally or even more important in maintaining recovery and producing emotional growth.

In writing this book, I asked many of my GAD clients to write their responses to two questions: “My anxiety is…?” and “What helps my anxiety?” Some of their honest, heartfelt responses form the authentic vignettes found in each chapter. Specific people have been chosen to illustrate various points relevant to the anxiety-ridden person. The core of each chapter involves their individual life stories. Then both the client and I discuss what we feel has helped his or her anxiety. I have received written permission from each client allowing me to publish their written material and their treatment charts.

If you have anxiety, the stories in this book will show you that you are not alone. They will offer choices that you can use to help yourself be calmer and feel more in control. GAD is not a character flaw. It is a serious and treatable disorder from which millions of adults throughout the world suffer.

Ten Steps to Relieve Anxiety will also be helpful to your family members, friends, caregivers and others who want to understand and support you. It will offer support to professional mental health and medical audiences, social workers, teachers and those who work with the general public and want a better understanding of this common but complex disorder, so they can be of assistance to their patients, clients, students and others.

This book is based on the author’s research, personal experiences and clients’ real life experiences. In order to protect privacy, names have been changed and identifying characteristics have been altered except for contributing experts. For purposes of simplifying usage, the pronouns his/her and s/he are sometimes used interchangeably. The information contained herein is not meant to be a substitute for professional evaluation and therapy with mental health professionals.

The suggestions in this book as to what can be done to solve your psychological dilemma are only suggestions and options. They should be discussed with your own physician, who knows your medical and family history and your emotional dynamics. Only he or she can put together an individualized treatment plan tailored to your specific medical and psychological needs. If your physical work-up is negative, you may be offered other treatment possibilities, such as therapy and/or medication, to help you feel better and improve the overall quality of your life. Hopefully, your physician will be direct in his or her recommendations but also empathetic and nonjudgmental.

If your physician suggests psychiatric treatment, don’t be afraid. If you are troubled and feel that you need help, take the risk and make an appointment. We will not embarrass you. We will not criticize you. We will not diminish you. We are just going to talk. Give it a chance. If you just come and tell us about yourself and your life, whatever has to come out will come to the surface. We can help you connect the dots. You may just find out that you are not alone and perhaps more normal than you think. Hopefully you will realize that your parents did the best that they could and that you have more control over your life than you think. If anything, this experience may start you on the road to emotional maturity, allow you to live up to your full potential and be more content with yourself and your life. Sometimes even the strongest people need someone to talk to, someone who can offer support and light the way. Let a psychiatrist be your guide.