Anxiety Disorder Diagnosis: 5 Tips for Family and Friends

Living with a mental health disorder, such as an anxiety disorder, doesn't just restrict the daily life of the affected person—it also impacts the lives of their closest relatives, such as family, friends, or partners. As a family member or friend, you are an important part of the treatment process for the mental health condition. However, the disorder of the affected person can also bring challenges and be burdensome. We want to support relatives by educating about the disorder and relieving you in daily life, to help the affected person regain independence.

In this article, you'll learn how to better master the balancing act between support and your own health.

Communication

As a trusted person, you are especially important to someone with a specific fear of something. Always take the affected person's anxious feelings seriously and don't respond with mockery or lack of understanding. Please avoid phrases like "Don't be like that" or "Pull yourself together." Instead, try to show understanding and listen.

In an acute anxiety or panic situation, the person may not be able to communicate clearly. If you're wondering how to help someone with panic attacks, consider the following tips:

Speak in short sentences that can be answered with a nod or shake of the head.
Ask the person to share their experience by, for example, asking: "Would it help if I sat next to you?" or "Should I accompany you?"

Help Through Therapy

It often takes several years before affected individuals seek help from a therapist. This is mainly due to the stigma of mental illness and seeking psychological help. If the affected person cannot or doesn't want to use support services, you can try to start a conversation. You can be honest and share your assessment and observations. However, make sure to remain calm, understanding, and respectful. Make it clear to the affected person that seeking psychological support is not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it takes a lot of courage and strength to seek help and address one's own problems.

Finding a therapy spot is often not easy. To bridge the waiting time, you could recommend the prescription app "Mindable: Panic & Agoraphobia" to the person close to you. Mindable is covered by health insurance and provides daily support. You can find information about the app and the prescription process here.

The Right Support

When a family member or partner suffers from an anxiety disorder, the immediate environment often has to adjust their plans or behaviors. For example, a detour may need to be taken during a car ride to avoid a tunnel, or joint outings and leisure activities may be canceled. The entire daily routine suddenly revolves around potentially dangerous situations and how to avoid them. It's absolutely essential not to unconsciously reinforce avoidance behavior when making these adjustments. Don't take over all tasks from the affected person, but try to encourage them to face anxiety-provoking situations. Concrete goals can help gradually work toward overcoming the anxiety. Keep in mind not to put the affected person under pressure and appreciate even small achievements. Only through direct confrontation can fears be reduced long-term.

Make it clear to the affected person that you're always there when needed. But at the same time, encourage them to be independent.

Gathering Information

To better understand the challenges of an anxiety disorder, it's helpful to familiarize yourself with the disorder. Here you'll find an overview of different anxiety disorders.

If you still have open questions, schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist or therapist. Be sure to get the consent of the person close to you if you want to participate in a therapy session as a companion or attend the appointment alone. Learn about symptoms, medications, and the course of treatment. Helpful information about social phobia or tips for panic attacks can be found here. Some clinics and associations also offer free information events or hotlines for relatives. When you understand the anxiety disorder, you can perceive behavioral changes and better assess them. You'll also learn to better understand the affected person and may better comprehend why they're suffering and possibly unable to control their behavior themselves.

Taking Care of Yourself

The diagnosis of a mental disorder can trigger very different feelings in you as a family member or friend: From confirmation and understanding to uncertainty, helplessness, and shame. Whatever you feel, take the time to process it.

Your support and understanding are of great importance to those affected. However, as a family member or friend, you can also be exposed to many challenges and burdens. If you regularly reach your limits or may have already exceeded them, it's time to protect yourself.

This can be difficult because you might feel like you're abandoning the affected person. Be aware that no one is helped if your reserves are increasingly depleted. You have every right to set boundaries when the effects on your health, your quality of life, or your well-being become too great. Also take care of yourself by maintaining contacts and integrating things into your daily life that bring you joy. Always ensure that you handle your energy mindfully.

Seeking Help

You can also protect yourself by sharing responsibility. Accept professional help, which some clinics, for example, provide. Some facilities even offer discussion groups for relatives where you can exchange experiences with people in similar situations. Self-help groups can also provide comfort, as can telephone counseling services. But of course, you can also contact therapists yourself, who can help you deal with and cope with this situation.

Here you can search nationwide for self-help groups

You can also use telephone counseling services:

Are you or the affected person having difficulties finding a therapy spot? Our Mindable apps are excellent for bridging the waiting time, but also as a tool during therapy or as aftercare. Learn more about the apps: Mindable: Panic & Agoraphobia and Mindable: Social Phobia.