Deciding when to see your doctor about anxiety is a personal decision. I help people to naturally fix anxiety in their lives but if you need extra help to make anxiety symptoms go away, seeking medical help can be a very brave and empowering step.
Facing the anxiety can be terrifying and you’re never really sure what to say. This article details 3 questions you need to ask yourself when you think your anxiety might need medical attention.
Related: Grounding meditation
Watch the video or continue reading below…
And that question is, “When is it time to see your doctor about anxiety? When is it time to go and see a doctor about it?” Or, “Is my anxiety bad enough to warrant getting medical attention for it?”
And some people think that because I’m an energy healer, that I’d be against going and seeing a doctor or against going and getting medication for anxiety.
That’s not the case at all.
I understand that anxiety is a very serious and also very treatable mental health issue.
It affects so many people all around the world and one of the saddest things is that it makes you feel really isolated and alone when you’re going through it.
So, I think, a lot of people feel shame when they’re trying to figure out whether to go and see a doctor or go and see medical attention and I think a lot of people are also told things like, “Pull yourself together,” or, “Get it together,” or, “You’re just not tough enough,” or, “You just need to try a little bit harder.”
And although those things are often said by well-meaning people, they’re often not the right thing to be saying to a person with anxiety at all and they add to the confusion and the guilt that a person with anxiety feels in trying to just navigate this maze.
I guess, the number one thing is you can’t help the way you’re feeling.
You don’t decide to have anxiety.
This is your body’s reaction from being too tired and too overwhelmed for too long.
The good news is that anxiety is completely treatable not only though medication but also through things like what I do – which is reiki energy healing for people with anxiety.
The best news is you don’t need to choose one or the other.
You can do mediation as well as energy healing as well as cognitivebehavioral therapy as well as mindfulness.
Your treatment regime can be as much or as little as you want and it’s really up to you to decide which is the best treatment option for you.
That’s fantastic, there’s so many ways that you can heal anxiety in your life.
But getting back to the point about when to seek medical attention for anxiety, I generally ask three questions:
If it is a repeat pattern, not just a 1-off, it’s time to see your doctor about anxiety
Number one question, “Is what you’re experiencing with these feelings of anxiety and panic and worry and overwhelm, is it a regular pattern? Is it happening again and again or is it just a one-off? Did you just have a bad day?”
Or, “Is this something that seems to be coming back again and again?
So, the same time every month or are you experiencing it all day every day, for example?”
It’s time to see your doctor about anxiety if it is interfering with your ability to enjoy life
Second question, is anxiety interfering with your ability to enjoy and perform and function in your daily life?
So, I know for most people that I speak to with anxiety, they say, “Absolutely. Like, I can’t live a full functioning life with this issue that I currently have. There is no question, yes, it intrudes on my life.”
But there are people that I guess, experience varying levels of stress and they feel that although they do have times of increased stress and less stress, overall, they’re still able to engage with and enjoy life unimpeded.
So, that’s really a question for the individual as well.
At what point does anxiety become so intrusive into your life that you feel that it’s getting in the way and it’s enough for you to do something about it?
Go to see your doctor about anxiety only if you are ready to take charge and do something to get your life back
Third question, and this is the big one, are you expecting to go to your doctor expecting that they can click their fingers and magic you better?
Be prepared to talk about things that make you feel very uncomfortable, often highly emotional.
Be prepared to answer questions that can feel a little bit intrusive and above all, be prepared to be follow through and take action on what the doctor recommends.
Often, they’ll recommend going to see a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
Sometimes, they might recommend some medication.
These days, doctors are getting better at recommending things like mindfulness, meditation and even reiki for anxiety as well.
As I said before, you don’t have to choose one or the other.
You can pick as few or as many treatment options as you want.
Going to see the doctor is an important step and it take a lot of courage and a lot of bravery.
I speak to people who feel like going to see their doctor is something that will make them feel like a failure, like they’ll feel judged, like they’ll somehow make things worse by going and speaking to someone about it and I’m here to say that’s not the case at all.
If you like and you trust your doctor and you feel those things, you feel that your anxiety’s becoming more of a pattern and it’s getting very intrusive in your daily life and you’re willing to follow through and take action on what the doctor recommends, then, absolutely, go and open up that conversation with your doctor.
It takes a lot of courage to get it started but believe me, once you get started, you’ll feel a lot better that you’re taking your power back from anxiety, you’re taking your control back.
You’re saying, “No way anxiety, get out of the driver’s seat. I’m driving now. Move over. You can sit there, you can be a passenger in my life but you can’t drive the vehicle.
And one final thought: Deciding to see your doctor about anxiety doesn’t mean this is the end of the road for you. It’s only the beginning.
Love + light
Eva xo