How to Gain Control Over Anxiety: Dialectical Behavior Therapy - Humantold

How to Gain Control Over Anxiety: Dialectical Behavior Therapy 

Shayne Snyder MHC-LP September 26, 2024

DBT can help you manage your anxious emotions and behaviors while also aiding in supporting external problems, such as relationships and chronic stress.

Anxiety, while a human experience and common emotion, can feel overwhelming.  Anxiety can cause problems in relationships, managing emotions, and work/school. While some nerves before a big test or a first date are part of the human experience, when anxiety feels like it is taking over your life, it is time to break the pattern. Anxiety can present as excessive worry that is difficult to control, restlessness, feeling on edge, irritability, struggling to concentrate, and struggling with sleep. While anxiety presents differently for everyone, the intense sense of worry of feeling nervous is a core part of anxiety. 

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) focuses on mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal issues through skills and worksheets that you can adapt to your needs. These areas can build an understanding of anxiety. For example, identifying triggers, understanding how the body reacts, managing emotions and thought patterns, and identifying behavior urges are all essential parts of Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Similar to Cognitive Behavior Therapy, DBT is focused on emotions and behaviors but can aid in managing external problems, such as relationships and chronic stress.

Mindfulness

An essential part of DBT and mindfulness is increasing awareness of emotions and the body's reactions. While raising awareness, there is a focus on observing nonjudgmentally. The goal is to be present in the moment for both internal experience and the environment. For managing anxiety, mindfulness can aid in grounding and centering oneself to challenge anxious thoughts. Mindfulness can be breathing exercises, or it can be skills to heighten awareness of yourself. These skills can benefit in understanding triggers for anxiety and approaching oneself in a nonjudgmental manner. While mindfulness skills can be very similar to a yoga class, mindfulness can also look like building an understanding of experiences and the environment.

Distress Tolerance

Anxiety can be best friends with panic and spiraling. The increase in the sense of doom and feeling out of control can feel impossible to manage the moment. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills in distress tolerance aid in managing the spiral and feeling stable. The skills can help calm down your system and manage the emotions that can feel uncontrollable. The goal of distress tolerance is to slow down the body and emotions while getting out of fight or flight mode. Another essential aspect of distress tolerance is radical acceptance. Radical acceptance can look like finding ways to roll with the punches or to learn how to accept the things that are not in someone’s control. It is an extremely difficult skill to learn but can be essential in managing anxiety. While it is not approval of the painful moment, it is building an understanding, so the pain does not shift into suffering. 

Emotional Regulation

There is a common cliché that when it rains it pours. Anxiety can feel that much more unmanageable during the times that it is pouring, such as finals week or a busy season at work, and anxiety is building up. When anxiety feels unmanageable, it can be easy to feel extra irritable or prickly. Snapping at friends/family or noticing everything feels extremely bothersome are signs of emotional dysregulation. Emotional regulation skills are beneficial during periods of high stress. Emotional regulation skills focus on managing emotions so that emotions feel under control. When anxiety is turning into a panic attack, especially when managing uncertainty, emotional regulation skills can aid in challenging the spiraling thoughts. 

Interpersonal Issues

Relationships take work, no matter if it is romantic, friendship, family, or professional. Whether there are repeating patterns in relationships, struggles with boundaries, or building/maintaining relationships, DBT’s interpersonal skills can give assistance to all of these problems. Anxiety can also create problems in relationships and increase feelings of loneliness. One of the focuses to manage anxiety surrounding relationships is working on deepening connections and developing skills to maintain relationships. It can be difficult to break these patterns and be assertive, and DBT skills can help build a foundation to break these patterns. 

Anxiety can feel unmanageable and uncontrollable. Racing thoughts can lead to actions that do not feel genuine or aligned with core values. Dialectical Behavior Therapy's strength is re-establishing control and validating the emotions, such as nervousness or anxiety. Taking back control of emotions is essential in managing anxiety as it can be associated with worry about what has not happened yet. Through building a nonjudgmental understanding of anxiety and the behaviors caused by the anxiety, the anxiety can become manageable and bring back a sense of control. 

There are two types of formats for DBT, group and individual therapy. Group therapy is a structured setting where there is weekly homework and check-in calls with a therapist in between group therapy. Dialectical Behavior Therapy groups can be great for those who want an overview of skills and develop a support network while going through treatment, while still getting some individual support. Individual treatment can be more personalized to your specific needs. Individual therapy can be great for deeper dives into behavior patterns and tailoring the skills to your current stressors. 

Doing a quick Google search, DBT and suicidal thoughts or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) frequently come up together. While originally designed for BPD and suicidal thoughts, DBT skills can work on a variety type of issues. Clients who tend to respond well to DBT are seeking a therapist to give homework, skills, and worksheets to do in between sessions. While in session, clients who want to better understand their emotions, such as anxiety, and break repeating patterns will benefit from Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Specifically for anxiety, clients who want to explore their anxiety and develop their toolkit in methods for managing their toolbox. 

Anxiety can be daunting to manage, especially when it can trigger racing thoughts that turn into worst-case scenarios. Dialectical Behavior Therapy can be extremely effective in building a toolkit and embracing kindness towards oneself. Through developing methods to manage anxiety, it can bring back a sense of control. The ability to challenge anxious thoughts and behaviors while breaking repeating patterns can provide that well-deserved relief.

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