Anxiety meetings near me

Many people find peer support a helpful tool that can aid in their recovery. There are a variety of organizations that offer support groups for consumers, their family members and friends. Some support groups are peer-led, while others may be led by a mental health professional.

Who should use support groups?

Support groups are offered as a space where individuals can come together to share their stories, experiences, and lives in a way that helps reduce isolation and loneliness. Oftentimes, we think we are struggling alone, but support groups help us see that there are others who may dealing with similar situations and who in turn can help us get better.

Support groups are open to anyone, but they are often focused on specific topics (i.e. depression, family, divorce, grief, etc.). So, take some time and do some research to find the right one for you and your current situation.  

Finding the right support group can be helpful. Do not be discouraged if the first support group you find doesn't quite feel right. You should feel comfortable in the support group space that you choose, so trying different ones may help you determine the best fit. 

We also encourage you to also take a look at Mental Health America's LiveYourLifeWell program to learn more about the value of connecting with others and other helpful wellness tools.

Can I access support groups online?

Some organizations now offer online support groups, discussion boards, blogs, and online communities as additional ways to connect with others in similar situations. These can be helpful additions to in-person support groups and can be especially helpful if there are no groups in your area.

Mental Health America has its own support community through Inspire which enables individuals to connect on a variety of issues and topics related to mental health. 

Where can I find a support group to attend locally?

Your local Mental Health America affiliate is an excellent resource to assist you in finding support groups in your area.  

The National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Group Clearinghouse also maintains a Directory of Consumer-Driven Services which includes peer-run organizations throughout the United States that offer a variety of supportive services and activities, including peer-run support groups.

Additional resources 

In addition to the resources listed above, the resources below are divided into three main sections - Specialized support group resources, Other helpful resources, and National Toll-Free 24 hour hotlines. We encourage you to take a look at all of these sections since there are many helpful resources in each of them.

Specialized support group resources include:

• Adult Children of Alcoholics
• Al-Anon/Alateen
• Alcoholics Anonymous
• AlcoholScreening.org
• Alzheimer's Association
• American Association of Retired Persons Grief and Loss Information
• American Association of Suicidology: Support for family/friends that have lost a loved one to suicide
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Anxiety and Depression Association of America peer-to-peer support group
• Attention Deficit Disorder Association
• Autism Society of America
• The Balanced Mind Foundation
• Brain Injury Association of America
• Caregiver Action Network
• Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder  (CHADD) In addition to support groups, CHADD has a section for parents which includes many helpful resources  (look at list of options on right-hand side of the page) and a link that explains their Parent to Parent Family Training classes. For more information about these on-line training classes, review the information at the link we've provided or contact the CHADD national resource center at 1-800-233-4050.
• Co-Dependents Anonymous or sign up for their email list. You can also visit http://www.codependents.org/
• The Compassionate Friends Grief Support: After the death of a child (Use this link to find groups in your area)
• CoSLAA Support groups for family and friends of people who have a sex addiction 
• Crisis Text Line
• Debtors Anonymous
• Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
• Dual Diagnosis of Oregon, Inc. (Although based in Oregon, offer support to those in other areas who wish to establish groups to help those who have both a mental health and alcohol/substance abuse condition)  
• Dual Recovery Anonymous: Support for those who have both a mental health and alcohol/substance abuse condition
• Emotions Anonymous: Modeled after the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program, Emotions Anonymous is open to any individual dealing with emotional difficulties.
• Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, a parent support and advocacy network
• Gamblers Anonymous
• Hospice Foundation of America (Grief and Loss section includes link to find a local hospice office using link from left-hand side of the page; many offices offer grief support groups. National hospice office can be reached by calling 1-800-868-5171.)
• International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation
• International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
• Male Survivor (Discussion board and chat room for men who have been sexually abused can be accessed from Survivors tab on left hand side of the page)
• Narcotics Anonymous
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): A family support and advocacy organization
• National Eating Disorders Association
• Overeaters Anonymous Offer in-person, telephone, and on-line meetings
• Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
• Postpartum Support International and link to support resources in your area (National 24-hour Postpartum Depression Helpline 1. 800.944.4PPD)
• S-Anon International Family Groups Support groups for family and friends of people who have a sex addiction 
• Self Mutilators Anonymous
• Sex Addicts Anonymous (description of organization) and find a meeting link https://saa-recovery.org/meetings/
• Sidran Institute (Extensive information and resources on ptsd, dissociative disorder, trauma, and self injury; e-mail or call 1-888-825-8249 to request support group information)
• Survivors of Incest Anonymous  (Use the SIA Groups and Intergroups options on the left-hand side of the home page to find meeting information)
• The Arc (Support and information for people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities and their families) To find a chapter near click here.
• Tourette Syndrome Association, Inc.
• TARA Association for Personality Disorder: National Borderline Personality Disorder Resource and Referral Center
• The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
• Well Spouse Association Support for spousal caregivers.

Other helpful resources include:

• "After An Attempt" A practical guide developed for individuals who have attempted suicide, their family/friends, and for mental health professionals.
• Air Compassion for Veterans for injured veteran's ongoing healing process.
• American Association of Caregiving Youth gives support to individuals under 18 years of age who are caregivers.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has chapters around the country and offers a variety of information and support resources for those who have lost a loved one to suicide.
• ARCH National Respite Network
• Armed Services YMCA
• ATTACh at 866-453-8224 (Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children)
• Behavioral Tech, LLC (Information and resources for people with borderline personality disorder and their friends and family)
• Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (formerly known as NARSAD, has information about schizophrenia and depression for individuals and their families)
• Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center
• Cause USA Comfort for America's Uniformed Services (help for those wounded in military service)
• Families for Depression Awareness (Information about depression and bipolar disorder including how to help someone who is depressed seek treatment and manage treatment, information for friends and family members about taking care of themselves, downloadable Wellness Guides, as well as free brochures including "Helping Someone Who Is Depressed")
• Geriatric Mental Health Foundation offers information on caregiving, mental health topics relating to older adults, and a Depression Recovery Toolkit.
• GLBT National Help Center  at 1-888-843-4564 (adults) and 1-800-246-7743 (adolescents) Provides telephone and e-mail peer counseling as well as information and resources.
• Hazelden offers a helpful question and answers section for friends and family members who care about someone who has an alcohol or substance abuse problem. 
• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a service provided by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. JAN's mission is to facilitate the employment and retention of workers with disabilities by providing employers, employment providers, people with disabilities, their family members and other interested parties with information on job accommodations, entrepreneurship, and related subjects.
• National Center for PTSD offers "Returning from the War Zone: A Guide for Families of Military Personnel"
• National Center for Trauma Informed Care (NCTIC)
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network
• National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
• National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder 914-835-9011
• S. A.F.E. Alternatives (Information and resources for help with self injury)
• Schizophrenia.com
• Self Inflicted Violence (Website includes link to sample newsletter The Cutting Edge)
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center
• Survivors Art Foundation (For trauma survivors)
• U.S. Vets (A non-profit organization that helps homeless veterans access mental health and substance abuse services along with housing and other community supports to achieve successful reintegration into the community.)
• Yellow Ribbon offers information and resources about suicide prevention for teens, parents, and others. Has chapters in many states and some other countries as well as support resources for those who have lost a loved one to suicide.

National Toll-Free 24 Hour Hotlines:

• Child-Help USA at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) Assists both child and adult survivors of abuse, including sexual abuse. The hotline, staffed by mental health professionals, also provides treatment referrals.
• Covenant House Nineline at 1-800-999-9999 Crisis counselors are available to talk to homeless individuals and at-risk kids; also offer an on-line forum.
• Boys Town at 1-800-448-3000 Crisis, resource, and referral line that assists both teens and parents.
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Line at 988 connects you with 24-hour crisis support by calling, texting, or chatting on the website.
• SAMHSA's Treatment Locator at 1-800-662-4357 provides you with information about local mental health services.

6 ways to overcome anxiety in a relationship

1. Gradually get used to insecurity

Intimacy means that you open to another those corners of the soul that you hide from the world. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, then you may worry: what if your partner stops loving when he sees you with flaws, oddities and character complexities? If you are truly dear to a person, he will accept all facets of your personality.

“You don't have to talk about all the dark experiences right away,” says psychologist Stacey Rosenfel. “Try to open up gradually, practicing openness and insecurity in communicating with a partner, gradually gaining confidence, over time, fear will weaken.”

2. Be direct about what you expect from a relationship

Any person with an anxiety disorder is familiar with endless thoughts about the same thing, you can not free yourself from obsessive thoughts, although you understand their stupidity. The problem can be especially damaging to relationships. For example, a friend used to call you after work, but now she doesn’t call you for several days.

You begin to be tormented by the thought that she is tired of you, in fact, she has a project deadline. Of course, you should not constantly ask your partner if everything is in order, but if something has been bothering you for a long time, you need to say so. For example: “I know how busy you are, but every day I expect you to call in the evening. If you do not call, I am tormented by doubts whether I am tired of you.

“Anxious people's brains tend to get stuck on thoughts,” says Los Angeles psychologist Jenny Yip. “Usually they represent the worst option. To save a relationship, you need to explain from the very beginning what you expect, so that there is no uncertainty, because of which there are gloomy forebodings.

3. Separate your "anxious self" from your "true self"

One person on Twitter wrote: "Anxiety is conspiracy theories about yourself." Don't let negative self-hypnosis ruin your relationship. “Instead of listening to her voice, listen to the inner voice,” says psychotherapist Jennifer Rollin.

"Anxious Self" can say: "If I open up to him, tell him about my anxiety and work with a psychotherapist, he will leave me or consider me unbalanced." We often begin to imagine frightening scenarios, many of which are unrealistic.

In this case, it is useful to practice responding to anxiety on behalf of the "true self," explains the psychologist. It will certainly try to calm you down, for example: “Working with a psychotherapist does not mean that you are crazy, you want to become better in every way. At worst, if he thinks you're crazy, it will say a lot about him and nothing about you. You deserve a partner who won't judge."

4. Recognize that you cannot control your partner completely

When learning to cope with an anxiety disorder, it is important to let go of the need to control everything, including things that are out of your control, such as your partner's shortcomings. It can annoy you that during the football season he spends half of every Sunday with friends. But you can’t deprive him of any freedom because of anxiety, can you?

“Anxious people often want to control the situation, which is not always possible. You can explain what you want, but if a partner cannot fulfill all your desires to the smallest detail, this does not mean that he is not suitable for you. It is important to respect and appreciate his individuality - you and him are different people, not Siamese twins, ”says Jenny Yip.

5. Tell your partner about your anxiety disorder and how it manifests.

You don't have to fight it alone. Open up to your partner, tell how anxiety manifests itself. For example, you often blush and sweat because of social phobia. You can understand how best to deal with this disorder. A partner can become an ally, helping to maintain balance in stressful situations.

“Sometimes when we try to hide anxiety from others, fearing their reaction, it starts to build up. Telling your partner will save you a lot of stress because you won't have to hide your symptoms anymore. Sometimes you can defuse a tense situation by talking about anxiety,” says Stacey Rosenfeld.

6. Agree on dispute rules

Anxious people have a hard time with arguments. “Let’s imagine that you had a fight and the partner left, slamming the door. Anxious people have a hard time tolerating uncertainty,” says Jenny Yip.

To make your life easier, agree on rules for resolving conflicts. For example, that you can always postpone an unpleasant conversation, provided that you definitely return to it within a day. “Discuss the rules ahead of time so you have a plan of action. When you know what's going to happen next, anxiety decreases,” Yip explains.

How anxiety distorts reality

• Bobby Azarian
• BBC Future

17 January 2017

Image copyright Thinkstock

Anxiety tendencies can have a profound effect on how we perceive the world. Columnist BBC Future wondered if a new treatment would help get rid of constant anxiety.

You have a variety of disturbing thoughts rushing through your head, your pulse quickens and your breathing gets out of hand. Anxiety gives way to fear, and then you suddenly panic.

You feel confused and overexcited. If these symptoms are familiar to you, then know that you are not alone.

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Actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone, musician Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and singer Taylor Swift, artist Vincent van Gogh and poet Emily Dickinson suffered from paralyzing anxiety attacks.

Everyone knows that anxiety affects the emotional state of a person and prevents him from interacting with the outside world.

However, few people know about the impact that anxiety has on our attention in everyday life. Because of it, the priorities of attention are shifted, which entails a change in the information entering the brain and, consequently, our perception of reality.

This can have far-reaching consequences. By influencing attention, anxiety can shape a person's worldview and value system in a certain and predictable way. It can also affect our beliefs without our knowledge.

To avoid the distortion of reality caused by anxiety, you first need to understand the mechanisms that regulate attention and how to control them.

According to a metaphor inspired by the work of a talented and progressive American psychologist 19century William James, our visual attention system is much like a searchlight "scanning" the world around us.

This "spotlight of attention" is a limited area of ​​space that is the focus of attention at a certain moment. What gets into it, the brain consciously processes, but what remains outside it does not.

Looking at the world around, a person focuses his attention on the subject that he would like to examine better. Our brain is not able to process in detail an object, text or environment if they are not in the center of attention.

Image copyright, iStock

Our mind works like a searchlight, helping us notice important details

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You can understand how this works by looking at a person reading a book in a crowded train car. His eyes move across the page from left to right, line by line. At the same time, the "spotlight of attention" moves from word to word.

The word on which a person focuses attention is clearly perceived by his consciousness, while the words that lie outside the "spotlight of attention" seem blurry and mostly illegible.

Such localization is necessary because the simultaneous perception of all visual information about the environment would lead to "overload" of the brain, which is a system with limited resources, like a computer.

"Spotlight" allows the brain to focus only on the important, ignoring all unnecessary information. Thanks to this, we are able to perceive the reality around us.

In most cases, we consciously choose where to focus our attention, but this process is not always under our voluntary control.

At the same time, not all objects and phenomena around us are perceived by us in the same way. So, for example, a bright flash of light or a sharp movement where it should not be, automatically attracts our attention, and it moves to the point where they arose.

Few people like it when something abruptly distracts their attention, but this does not happen by chance. The involuntary switching of attention is necessary in order to immediately notify a person about what is vital for his survival.

For an ancient man, the reason for automatic switching of attention could be a prey running by, or, if less lucky, an approaching danger - a predator or a dangerous enemy, for example. Image credit: iStock

Snakes, spiders, angry or frightening faces, threatening postures, and weapon-like objects are all capable of drawing our attention. We can say that visual attention prioritizes threats in the interests of self-defense.

Undoubtedly, this function helps a person to survive, but anxiety can make a system for quickly and effectively detecting threats hypersensitive, as a result of which the "spotlight of attention" begins to work to the detriment of a person.

So, for example, you can lose some control over your own attention, because it focuses too quickly on what the brain perceives as a danger, regardless of whether it really is or not.

And when a person focuses only on danger, negative information takes over his consciousness.

To understand exactly how anxiety can completely change a person's worldview, changing the priorities of attention, think about what it is like for a person with a high level of anxiety to travel by train through a densely populated metropolitan area.

Imagine that you are standing on a crowded subway platform, looking out into the crowd around you. Your attention is automatically attracted to people with an unfriendly expression, while you simply ignore cheerful faces.

As a result, you feel that everyone around you is a little upset, and your mood deteriorates.

While you are waiting for your stop on the train, you notice that a large man in a hooded sweatshirt sitting next to you is suddenly putting his hand into his pocket, as if trying to get a weapon.

Luckily, he pulls out a mobile phone from his pocket, but the whole situation makes you wonder what would happen if it was a gun.

As a result, you become even more convinced that the subway is a dangerous place, full of dubious characters and irritated people.

Image copyright, iStock

Through evolution, we have evolved the ability to spot potentially dangerous objects in our environment, such as spiders, which can be poisonous

Now imagine this happening all the time. Due to the fact that the threat is a priority, we filter out all the good and perceive only the bad. The cognitive system is overwhelmed with excitement and fear.

This causes anxiety to have too much of an effect on how we evaluate our environment. In fact, to anxious people, the world literally seems to be a frightening and dysfunctional place.

These radical changes in perception can shape a person's worldview, including their political and ideological beliefs.

For example, a 2009 study showed that anxiety can affect a person's attention in such a way that all people from the Middle East begin to seem dangerous to him. This undoubtedly influences his political views regarding immigration.

As part of the experiment, the researchers asked participants from Western countries with different levels of anxiety to take a computer test. It consisted of pressing a key in response to visual stimuli appearing on the screen.

First, the subjects saw a word flashing on the screen, and then two faces - an Arab and a European, on each of which a dot from the sight could appear.

The results showed that people with high anxiety responded more quickly to the dots that appeared on the faces of people with an Arab appearance, if they were previously shown a word associated with terrorism - for example, "bomb".

This means that when an anxious person was made to think about terrorism, the faces of people from the Middle East were at the center of his visual attention, which indicates the expectation of danger.

Research findings explain why people with high levels of anxiety often side with politicians who promise to protect the country by banning immigration and imposing tough national security measures.

This is confirmed by the results of another study conducted in 2012 by a group of scientists from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

They found that people who pay more attention to negative images tend to lean towards the right politically.

In one experiment, researchers showed liberal and conservative participants computer-generated collages of pictures with positive and negative connotations.

At the same time, they tracked the subjects' eye movements to understand what they were paying attention to.

Image copyright, iStock

If a person is prone to anxiety, the whole world can seem dangerous to him

They found that those whose attention was immediately and permanently attracted to unpleasant and repulsive images - for example, traffic accidents, dead bodies and open wounds - more often identified themselves as conservatives.

The authors of the study find it logical that people who are more alert and receptive to threats often support centre-right politicians who promise to protect society from external threats by strengthening military power and national security, introducing tougher penalties for criminals and discouraging immigration.

In its extreme manifestations, anxiety can have a serious negative impact on human health, but you can change the situation by training your attention.

What's more, today this can be done with convenient computer programs and even smartphone apps.

The most popular training method is Attention Bias Modification Training (ABMT for short), also commonly known as Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM for short).

It can include different tasks united by one goal. In standard training, patients see pictures with positive and negative images on the computer screen. As a rule, these are happy and gloomy faces, replacing each other hundreds of times.

Since anxiety is related to focusing on negative stimuli, patients are asked to select positive images by pressing a key or screen.

By doing this over and over, and ideally - for several days or weeks in a row - they get into the habit of paying attention not to the threat and negative information, but to what is positive.

Image copyright, iStock

Can we find a way to correct this skewed threat perception and get rid of anxiety?

Dozens of studies have confirmed the effectiveness of this method. Of particular interest is one published in the Journal of the Association for Psychological Sciences, Clinical Psychological Science.

It showed that a 25-45 minute session of ABMT therapy played on a mobile phone reduced threat alertness, subjective anxiety, and observed stress sensitivity.

Patients suffering from anxiety disorders who are unable to receive treatment at the clinic can now also receive psychological help with just a few minutes of an exciting mobile game on the way to work.

However, some scientists are skeptical about ABMT. In some recent studies, the effectiveness of this type of therapy has been called into question.

Scientists have proven that single sessions of ABMT are no more beneficial than other cognitive-based treatments for anxiety disorders, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and in some cases even placebo.

Scientist, professor and licensed psychologist Per Carlbring of Stockholm University acknowledges that these criticisms are valid, but notes that mindfulness training should not be abandoned entirely.

He explains that, according to a meta-analysis, attention-priority adjustment works very well for patients under 37 years of age, especially when it is done in a clinic or laboratory rather than remotely.

Carlbring noticed that the only time ABMT did not reduce anxiety levels was if it failed to adjust the attentional priorities associated with danger.

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