The Impact Anxiety Disorders Have On You As A Friend Of An Anxiety Sufferer
Being nearest and dearest to someone who working on overcoming anxiety symptoms must be very difficult. You may have noticed over time that he or she has changed because of the attacks, leaving you bewildered and confused.
They may have modified their life quite drastically to accommodate the attacks, and you may have felt the impact of that on yourself. It is understandable that as the panic attacks have continued, with perhaps few signs of progress, the person you know has begun to withdraw into his- or herself, and even begun to appear to you to be quite self-centered.
Their concern about how situations will affect them, how anxious they are feeling, what they can and can’t do, can be difficult to accept. Although it may look like self-indulgence, it has, in the past, been their attempt at trying to cope and make life livable.
Your reaction to this may have been to withdraw and ‘let them get on with it’. You may also have become angry with them, faced with what you might interpret as ‘not trying’, sheer self-pity or even bloody-mindedness. With both of you previously being in the dark about the anxiety attacks, this is understandable. But for them, your attitude may have had the effect of making them feel guilty about the impact their attacks have on you. They may also have begun to feel weak, pathetic and ineffectual, even that they might be imagining the attacks.
People who have panic attacks tend to accept blame only too easily.
