Did you know that according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) over 18 percent of adults in the United States have problems with anxiety? That’s about 40 million Americans. Did you also know that according to the ADAA nearly 1/3 of all the money spent on health care in the United States is spent on anxiety and related disorders?

Anxiety is a wide spread problem throughout America. Perhaps it’s because of the fast-paced lives we all, or maybe it’s because most of us feel the need to compete with each other in every facet of our lives. Whatever the reason may be, if you have problems with anxiety, you just want to be cured.

Though anxiety affects everyone differently and is caused by a variety of stimuli, the basic problems with anxiety are created by negative thoughts which lead to fear. That fear – fear of the unknown, fear of failure, etc. – cripples us and causes us to think and feel things that should be very rarely thought or felt.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Can Help

To help yourself overcome anxiety, you should begin using what is known as Cognitive – Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT helps us learn to change the way we think, act, and feel from negative to positive.

Change Your Thoughts

Too often those of us who suffer from anxiety think something bad is going to happen or we worry about something that we have no control over. The first step to overcoming anxiety is to train ourselves to stop our negative thoughts. We need to identify when the negative thoughts begin and then stop them. We need to let go of the things we don’t have any power over and we need to think positively about the things we do have power over.

Change Your Actions

The next step with CBT is to change the way we act.

If we are crippled by anxiety and shy away from people or situations, we need to get into the game and overcome our anxiety. Of course, we need to have the first step (positive thinking) under control before we attempt this second step. We also need to realize that this step is very difficult at first but it’ll become much easier the more we overcome our fears.

Change Your Feelings

The final step in CBT is to change the way we feel.

This step will be greatly helped by the first two steps. If we realize there’s no reason to dread the future and we begin to think positive thoughts, and if we find a way to be stronger than our fears when we face unknown people and situations, then we will automatically begin to feel better.

However, we also need a way to de-stress ourselves. Some people need to de-stress in the morning, some people need to do it at night, and others need to de-stress at both times of the day. In fact, some people prefer to de-stress several times a day. Whatever works best for you is what you should do.

There are different ways to de-stress. Most people like to use some sort of visualization technique. Others like to use one or two of the many relaxation techniques that can be used. Again, whichever you find works best for you is what you should do.

There is no easy cure for anxiety. However, there are ways that you can help yourself stop feeling anxious. We’ve just discussed CBT and the three steps it uses. Completing each of the steps is easier said than done but once you master each of the steps, you’ll find that your anxiety no longer has the power it once wielded over you.