Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
If you are dating someone withanxiety, its understandable that you might have some concerns.
You might also have concerns about the future of your relationship.
How will your partners anxiety affect your day-to-day life together?
Verywell / Theresa Chiechi
What can you do for them if they begin to experience ananxiety spiral or a panic attack?
Will you be able to cope with it all?
At a Glance
Dating someone with anxiety can come with some challenges.
Learning more about the condition and finding healthy ways to support your partner can help.
Some things you might do include recognizing triggers, listening with an open mind, and providing comfort.
Therapy can help people with anxiety find relief, so consider encouraging your partner to seek help.
Understanding anxiety will also help make youmore empathetic.
Having an anxiety disorder is not a weakness, nor is it something brought on by poor choices.
Anxiety is not all in your head, either.
Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety manifests in different ways for different people.
Not everyone who has anxiety comes across as a “nervous” person.
Some people who experience anxiety may even appear calm on the outside but experience their symptoms more internally.
Symptoms of anxiety can be physical, mental, and emotional.
Not everyone with anxiety experiences panic attacks, for example.
And while some people with anxiety havetrouble socializing, others do not.
It all depends on what anxiety disorder you have and how you experience it.
Do you tell them this?
How do you make them feel better without minimizing their emotional experience?
Below are a few tips.
Yes, its something that colors their life, but its a disorder, not a state of being.
Anxiety also isnt something that they are adopting to bemanipulativeor to ruin plans.
Understand That They Have Certain Triggers
Getting a handle on your partners anxiety meansunderstanding their triggers.
Usually, someone with anxiety knows the kind of things that set them off into an anxiety spiral.
It can also help you to understand why your partners anxiety is heightened at different times.
Keep in mind thatavoidancecan ultimately make anxiety worse in the long run.
Managing an anxiety disorder can be isolating and humiliating.
You dont want to say anything that will make your partner more anxious, after all.
However, the research also shows that addressing anxiety with communication and support can help considerably.
You want to frame this as kindly andempatheticas possible.
The two mosteffective treatments for anxiety are therapy and medication.
Some people benefit from therapy alone; but often, therapy combined with medication is most helpful.
The most common types of therapy used to treat anxiety arecognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)andexposure therapy.
Medications used to treat anxiety include anti-anxiety medications such asbenzodiazepines,antidepressants (SSRIs), andbeta-blockers.
This is normal and understandable.
Taking some moments to practice someself-careand empathy for yourself is vital.
Sometimes you might need a little outside help to work out the kinks in your communication.
Group therapyor counseling is a great choice for this.
Dont let an anxiety disorder stop you from pursuing a promising relationship.
National Institute for Public Health.Any anxiety disorder.
2016;29(1):56-63. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000223
Cleveland Clinic.Anxiety Disorders.
National Alliance on Mental Health.Anxiety Disorders.
2010;119(1):163-173. doi:10.1037/a0018473
