Anxiety disorders are more common than any other category of mental health disorder effecting an estimated 15% or adults in the United States.
Nevertheless, most people with an anxiety disorder are not willing to accept that they may be one of the 15%.
These two facts alone would lead one to assume that most people with anxiety probably have at least one friend or acquaintance that has the same condition, and YES, who you spend time with does matter.
Most research supports the assumption that spending time with positive, supportive, and loving people reduces the risks of any number of common illnesses.
On the other hand spending time with hostile or negative people tends to make an individual feel tense, anxious, sick, upset, and less confident.
Being around people who make you feel stress causes your body to produce excessive amounts of adrenaline, which leads to anxiety and nervous tension.
Increases in the stress hormone cortisol may disrupt neurons in the hippocampus, one of the main memory centers in the brain.
Well documented research studies over many years have told us that living with a person who suffers with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Panic Disorder, ADHD, or Borderline Personality Disorder has a direct negative impact on their physical and emotional health.
The chronic stress for family members trying to cope with these illnesses on a daily basis can be devastating.
For example mothers of ADHD children have a much higher rate of depression are sick more often, have higher incidences of anxiety and/or depression, and struggle with mental sharpness.
Unhappy anxious people will tend to have a social network consisting of negative anxious people, people who do not believe in them or their abilities, people who talk down to them, and people who discourage them from their dreams.
If you feel like this is even partially true now is the time to make a change.
Are you choosing to surround yourself with people who believe in you and convey a positive message or negative people that are only creating more anxiety and holding you back? Ask yourself, who are the four or five people you spend the most time with, and then ask whether they are a positive anxiety reducing influence or a negative influence.
To break loose from anxiety and avoid the potential of anxiety turning into severe depression you must make some changes.
As long as you are surrounded by negativity, negative self worth, and negative people in general, it will be difficult if not impossible to break free.
Additionally, many anxiety riddled individuals finding success in the form of two step approach.
First they evaluate and make changes to minimize the amount of negativity and anxiety they are exposed to.
The second is implementing the use of all natural alternative remedies for anxiety.
This combination of reducing negative stimuli and implementing anxiety reducing herbs such as Saw palmetto and Passionflower has proven to be an affordable treatment alternative that can produce lasting results.
If you have been searching for a simple two step self help approach this option is one worth considering.