I. How can social support and becoming more open with others be incorporated into treating anxiety?

A social support network may include family members, friends, spouses or partners, colleagues and any other people who can support you through your treatment of anxiety. A social support network can help buffer stressors before they become sources of anxiety, panic or worry. There is a library of research dedicated to the physical and mental health benefits of social support and overwhelmingly concluded how essential it is to have a network for stress reduction, prevention and improvement.

Your network should include a cross section of people who are able to provide emotional, informational, and tangible support as you go through the treatment process. If you feel that your closest family or friends may not be the most suitable, there are always alternatives which can include other support groups, counselors, therapists, and professionals trained to deal with your concerns. Ultimately, a willingness to pursue the most appropriate support for you is crucial.

You may feel very much on your own as you wrestle with your anxiety, but lack the know-how to find a support network. This lesson will guide you through the different steps necessary to find that support, and how to help each other in order to strengthen that network.

Sometimes, the anxiety comes from within us, and our shyness prevents us from meeting new people and making new friends easily. If such problems stop you from even trying to develop your social network, then you may wish to look at other therapies like Cognitive Therapy or Behavioural Therapy first. If you have a loved one constantly suffering from anxiety, or suspect someone you know who may have an anxiety disorder, you can play an important role in their treatment by being a carer or become a member of their social support network. For any person suffering from an anxiety disorder a carer can help a great deal. Breaking free of loneliness or social isolation can help reduce anxiety and build the necessary skills for it. There are tools here that you can learn to use to help encourage and cope with the person as well as provide support for yourself as the carer.

There are a number of social support exercises or techniques that can be used in the treatment of anxiety. The exercises you will learn about in this lesson include:

• Preparing yourself to accept social support
• Getting support for yourself to help with your own anxiety treatment
• Helping a friend or family member who has anxiety

Finding the best form of social support and the necessary tools to get support are based on your own personal experiences with anxiety and lifestyle preferences. You may find your best option by simply reading about the strategies and how to incorporate them in your daily life, or you may need to try some or all of them to find out which one works best for your level of anxiety. In the end, you have choices on how you wish to free your life from anxiety, the type of support you need and how to get that support. This is the self-help aspect in which it is entirely up to you to decide on the outcome: how best to get the most benefit for yourself.