Anxiety may look different from one man to another. So what are the signs?
Anxiety is the most common type of mental illness in men. The reality is, a lot of men all over the world have anxiety these days. The statistics shows that up to 20% of men suffer from anxiety disorders during their lifetime. And of course, psychologists are deeply concerned about these numbers.
It’s important to know that men and women deal with anxiety attacks differently. Anxiety can cause different symptoms in men. Men feel nervous, have sleep disorders, experience headaches or worry a lot when they suffer from intense anxiety attacks. However, there are also other signs of anxiety in men. Anxious men may experience muscle aches. Anxiety symptoms in men also include alcohol and drug abuse. Oftentimes, anxiety disorders in men result in anger. It’s important to note that anxious men often express anger over insignificant things.
It goes without saying that anxiety always has to be taken seriously. If left untreated, anxiety can make things even worse. In the worst case scenario, anxiety can even result in suicide. Recent studies have found that there is the link between anxiety disorders and suicide attempts. According to the opinion of the famous psychology professor from Harvard, Matthew K. Nock, anxiety disorders are a big problem for panicky people. When facing difficult situations in their life such individuals usually try to escape instead of trying to find the way to deal with hard times.
Another well-known professor of psychology, Michael Addis, points out that the vast majority of anxious men choose not to seek for medical help when dealing with tough situations in their life. The problem is that men tend to consider getting this type of assistance as weakness. As a result, men with anxiety disorders don’t contact mental health professionals for help and, therefore, they don’t get the necessary treatment for their issues. If this happens, things will most likely get worse. However, men usually agree to receive a treatment for anxiety when they face a work crisis.
The big question is – how to convince a man to get a treatment for anxiety? The psychology professor, Dean McKay, says that it’s not a good idea to use ultimatums for this purpose. The professors say that ultimatums are likely to result in the resistance to treatment. He recommends loved ones to tell anxious men that the quality of their life will improve dramatically after treatment. It’s incredibly important to explain men with mental disorders that anxiety has a huge negative impact on the quality of their life. Also, you need to show an anxious man that you take care of him.
Actually, it’s normal for people to feel anxious or nervous. However, things are likely to go wrong if a person can’t keep the situation under control. Anxiety often goes hand in hand with depression. It’s worth noting that anxiety disorders as well as depression negatively affect the entire people’s life (family life, relationships, work and many other aspects).
Anxiety disorders can be effectively treated. Treatment for anxiety is about changing the way of thinking and taking antidepressants. Medications such as Lexapro and Prozac are widely used for anxiety treatment these days. Using the words like “anxiety” and “depression” should be avoided during the treatment process. It also makes a lot of sense to replace the words like “treatment” and “therapy” with the words such as “coaching”, “performance improvement training” and so on. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy takes approximately 12 – 15 weeks.