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Honestly the first thing I'd do is educate myself about anxiety; how it manifests itself, what sorts of treatments exist for it (and I mean what sorts of therapies exist, what sorts of self help exist, what sorts of medications exist....as you said she uses it sometimes so you need to understand what it can and can't do). By learning more about the condition it could lead you to be the best friend you can be. Once you know more about it the less anxious you will be around her and that may make all the difference.
Honestly the first thing I'd do is educate myself about anxiety; how it manifests itself, what sorts of treatments exist for it (and I mean what sorts of therapies exist, what sorts of self help exist, what sorts of medications exist....as you said she uses it sometimes so you need to understand what it can and can't do). By learning more about the condition it could lead you to be the best friend you can be. Once you know more about it the less anxious you will be around her and that may make all the difference.
One thing that comes to mind is to help her learn to negotiate her Mental Health System. It can be confusing and frustrating, plus you will learn about the services offered in your area.
Encourage her to establish a relationship with a Mental Health Provder (if she hasn't), offer to accompany her on those appointments (you can wait in the waiting room).
It would certainly be beneficial to both of you to have her "contact" number just in case you can not "talk her down".
Also acquaint yourself with the emergency numbers in your area, let her know that you have done this because you care about her.
One thing that comes to mind is to help her learn to negotiate her Mental Health System. It can be confusing and frustrating, plus you will learn about the services offered in your area.
Encourage her to establish a relationship with a Mental Health Provder (if she hasn't), offer to accompany her on those appointments (you can wait in the waiting room).
It would certainly be beneficial to both of you to have her "contact" number just in case you can not "talk her down".
Also acquaint yourself with the emergency numbers in your area, let her know that you have done this because you care about her.
You are a very good friend.
I'm going to have to ask if she is seeing anyone for this. Thanks
Pharmaceutical interventions for anxiety are either addictive and can make it worse and the so called 'non addictive' drugs really don't work.
Very common they give you anti depressants 'off label' for anxiety, then when you get 'manic' so the bipolar label gets added and so do the drugs for that. Then the bipolar drugs have you feeling like a tired zombie all the time so you quit taking them. Then you get the withdrawal reactions they then call "symptoms of the illness" and are used as proof you 'need' more drugs.
Psychiatry harms more people then it helps, search that online, but the way to beat those odds is to read up what critics have to say and don't make the common mistakes.
I am sorry to be negative but I have a strong suspicion your friend is already getting made worse by psychiatry because you mentioned medication.
The best advice I can give you is never forget your starting point. what were you like, what was your life like before before psychiatry and medications and what is it like now ?
Most people get on medication and only think about how they feel at the moment and seek more treatment to fix that and never look back and remember how they were alot better before any of it and just walk away and go back to that. They will spend years in psychiatric wasteland "looking for the right meds" when the meds themselves were screwing them up. That is the worse mistake.
I would really like to know was she having bouts of severe anxiety BEFORE taking any medication or did it start with general anxiety and only progress to sever bouts after the pills she is taking ?
Pharmaceutical interventions for anxiety are either addictive and can make it worse and the so called 'non addictive' drugs really don't work.
Very common they give you anti depressants 'off label' for anxiety, then when you get 'manic' so the bipolar label gets added and so do the drugs for that. Then the bipolar drugs have you feeling like a tired zombie all the time so you quit taking them. Then you get the withdrawal reactions they then call "symptoms of the illness" and are used as proof you 'need' more drugs.
Psychiatry harms more people then it helps, search that online, but the way to beat those odds is to read up what critics have to say and don't make the common mistakes.
I am sorry to be negative but I have a strong suspicion your friend is already getting made worse by psychiatry because you mentioned medication.
The best advice I can give you is never forget your starting point. what were you like, what was your life like before before psychiatry and medications and what is it like now ?
Most people get on medication and only think about how they feel at the moment and seek more treatment to fix that and never look back and remember how they were alot better before any of it and just walk away and go back to that. They will spend years in psychiatric wasteland "looking for the right meds" when the meds themselves were screwing them up. That is the worse mistake.
I would really like to know was she having bouts of severe anxiety BEFORE taking any medication or did it start with general anxiety and only progress to sever bouts after the pills she is taking ?
I believe she was having these before medication. She tries too hard to help her kids and mom and it just becomes very stressful for her.
I would offer practical advice (delegating tasks) - also EFT is free (YouTube, I like Brad Yates) - essential oils work, B vitamins help. I would be careful about putting yourself in the position of being too involved or trying to "fix" her. People have to figure out their mental health issues by themselves (meaning no one else CAN really do much).
Ask the person if they have had a panic attack before, and what they think might help them.
Encourage them to breathe as slowly and deeply as possible.
Ask them to count backwards slowly from 100.
Help them to get comfortable (have them sit or lie down).
Reassure them that they’re experiencing panic and that it will go away.
I basically told her that everyone suffers from this at one time or another.
I'm not here to damn you. You seem to be a good friend who genuinely wants to be there for someone you care about. And I'll just talk about how I feel if (more like when, because it happens) when someone tells me that.
It makes me feel like they are trivializing what I am going through. I don't want to hear that my problems are not unique and that everyone goes through them. Depending on how bad her anxiety is, she may be one of only a few people who has t that tough. My main problem is depression, though I do have anxiety also. If someone tells me, "Oh, everyone gets depressed," they are ot going to stick around long. I'm either going to move them toward the door or hang up on them because they have no idea what I am going through or if anyone else goes through it, too. If nothing else, I am moving that person from the "has my back" list to the "don't know sh*t" list.
I am on a good website where this kid of topic is talked about a lot called The Mighty It's a website and an app. You can go there and look up #anxiety to find what others are saying. Some are professionals and some are like me, just someone who suffers from anxiety and depression.
A Google search on the title of this thread would probably yield many useful links. This one lists "Educate yourself" as the first thing to do to help. How to Help Someone With Anxiety
Everyone gets stressed sometimes—this is so normal.
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