When to Get Long-Term Treatment for Severe Anxiety and Reclaim Your Life

No one should have to live in a state of constant distress. While mental health disorders like anxiety are real and common, so are treatment options. A holistic treatment program can help people with different types of anxiety find freedom from the isolation and fear caused by their anxiety.

Here are some signs that your anxiety is severe enough to warrant professional treatment:

When Worry Won’t Go Away

It makes sense to feel worried about challenging or distressing situations. But worry usually makes way for other emotions in time. If it doesn’t, and especially if it gets worse, you may need help to process your anxiety and develop more effective ways of managing it.

When Anxiety Influences Your Health

Anxiety isn’t just an emotional experience. Your body responds to anxiety as if you’re in real danger. Physical effects may include shortness of breath, a fast heartbeat, headaches, dizziness, sweating, stomach problems, chest pains, and more. These physical symptoms are not just side effects of anxiety. They are real health issues that require medical attention.

When Anxiety Leads to Self-Medication

Whether addiction or anxiety came first, the two often co-occur and tend to feed off of each other. However, substance use is an ineffective method of self-medication for anxiety. It can also lead to dangerous physical and emotional results. When anxiety and substance abuse co-occur, it’s important to seek dual diagnosis treatment to address both concerns together.

When Anxiety Gets in the Way of Your Life

If your anxiety weighs down your everyday life, it is time to find treatment options for your anxiety. Time alone is not the best medicine for anxiety disorders. Anxiety causes real physical and mental imbalances that require expert medical care. You are not bound to live in the grip of anxiety. Your real life still exists just through the treatment door.

There is no true cure for anxiety. Treatment is a long-term team effort. It requires your ongoing participation as well as a support system of peers, family, and friends. While intensive residential treatment won’t be necessary forever, it is an effective way to start building new, healthy ways of coping with anxiety.

In an inpatient mental health rehabilitation center, you get to take a closer look at the anxiety triggers in your daily life. While a total commitment to your recovery is a tall order, it’s all you need to focus on at this time. The extended time in treatment will help you develop trust and openness with a therapist. This will allow you to begin addressing even your most difficult triggers and coping patterns.

Again, anxiety won’t simply go away. Long-term mental health treatment is about developing your own coping strategies as well as medications and therapy. You can begin to see your anxiety for what it is—a reaction that you can adapt and take control of. In a residential setting, you can change negative thought patterns and begin practicing positive habits. Even after the end of inpatient treatment, therapy and learning continue with an aftercare plan designed to work seamlessly with your life and needs.