Living with a person who is suffering from an anxiety disorder can be a difficult process, especially if you are not equipped with the skills or knowledge to help you cope.

Anyone in relation with someone suffering from an anxiety disorder can feel the effects. This includes significant others, friends and work colleagues.

What are the best ways to support a partner with an anxiety disorder?

1. Forewarned is Forearmed

Yes, the first step to success is learning about the illness. If you're reading this article, you're already heading in the right direction. Simply knowing more about anxiety disorders helps you gain perspective and take someone's behavior less personally.

You begin to understand that your loved one is suffering from a condition and not purposefully or maliciously creating havoc in the household.

You can also take part in the recovery process, since you are more knowledgeable about the disorder and possible treatments.

2. Take a Good, Hard Look

Acknowledging the ways in which a loved one's anxiety disorder has affected you and your family's life is the first step toward a healthier home environment. Often families become accustomed to a loved one's erratic behavior. It's important to take a step back and realistically appraise the effects of the disorder in a non-judgmental manner.

Perhaps you and your family have been making special allowances for the affected family member by taking on the lion's share of work in household, such as driving, shopping, paying bills, meeting social expectations, etc. The affected member of the family may also be reluctant to take part in social activities, leaving you and your family feeling resentful, hurt or neglected.

The financial well being of a household may be affected as well. Symptoms can make it difficult or impossible for the sufferer to maintain consistent employment. These kinds of financial repercussions can add to the stress level of the household and compound the problem.

The members of the household or workplace may simply feel a constant state of "walking on eggshells" which in turn causes a general sense of anxiety for the rest of the household.

~ Write out the ways in which your life has adapted in order to "make room" for this illness and be as detailed as possible. This is therapeutic because it helps you specify exactly how this disorder has been affecting your life. It gives you a clearer picture of the areas in which you want change and growth.

Writing about how a psychological disorder is affecting you also serves as form of purging and cleansing. Often we can write about things that we have trouble saying. We allow ourselves to be as angry or hurt as we want without having to be concerned with someone else's reaction.

Here's Wesson's story:

"My mother became anxious and claustrophobic in any place that didn't have an open door. She could no longer take the train. Initially this may not have seem like such a crippling illness however when you are growing up in a major city like New York and can't afford a car, your major form of transportation is the train. So of course, this had a huge effect on our lives.

I was often frustrated and exhausted. As I got older and my school was farther away, my mother could not attend certain events or even parent/teacher night because this meant she would have to take the train. I felt lonely and like my family wasn't normal because we couldn't do the things other families did."

3. Don't Minimize

Nothing can be more damaging to someone suffering from an anxiety disorder than minimizing:

"Oh stop it! You're fine."

"Stop exaggerating. Can't you see what you're doing to yourself?"

"Calm down. You're being a drama queen!"

"Just get over it."

When someone is suffering from an anxiety disorder, it is important to remember that they are not exaggerating or being dramatic. Minimizing responses belittle or negate the experience of the sufferer. Minimizing often causes the sufferer to feel alienated or badly about their attack, often causing a greater spiralling effect.

Compassion, calmness and understanding are required. When the sufferer feels as if a loved one understands this condition, he or she begins to feel less alone and more connected.

In this article we only scratched the surface of different techniques used to help deal with family members suffering with anxiety.

To learn more about coping strategies for family members, please visit http://www.endanxietyforever.com