Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a mental health disorder that causes intense feelings of worry, fear, or panic over everyday situations. While anxiety is a normal part of life, if you have anxiety disorder, these persistent feelings can negatively impact your quality of life.

For many people with anxiety, feeling constantly worried and fearful interferes with their ability to work, go to school, relax, and maintain relationships.

Are there different types of anxiety?

Anxiety is not a one-size-fits-all disorder. There are many types of anxiety disorders that can impact your mental, physical, and emotional health, such as:

• Social anxiety
• Separation anxiety
• Substance-induced anxiety
• Specific phobias

Generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder refers to persistent worry or fear over everyday activities or routine problems.

Selective mutism

Children with selective mutism may communicate normally around certain people, such as relatives and friends, but fail to speak at all in other circumstances, often at school.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder causes sudden, intense anxiety that’s difficult to control. Panic attacks typically develop within minutes, leading to a rapid heart rate, shallow breathing, and even chest pain.

What are the symptoms of anxiety?

Anxiety symptoms vary from person to person, but telltale signs of this potentially debilitating disorder include:

• Trouble concentrating
• Intense feelings of worry, fear, or impending doom
• Gastrointestinal (GI) problems
• Insomnia
• Trembling
• Increased heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Nervousness
• Restlessness
• Feeling tense
• Sweating

Traumatic life events increase your risk of developing anxiety, as can having another mental health condition, such as depression. 

In some cases, an underlying health condition can trigger anxiety. Talk to your primary care doctor if you frequently experience anxiety and have diabetes, thyroid problems, a respiratory disorder, or heart disease.

How does therapy for anxiety work?

Worrier 2 Warrior specializes in anxiety treatment. Steven has developed a special program that can help reduce your anxiety symptoms in as little as 30 days. Treatment is individualized, so the techniques Steven incorporates into your anxiety treatment depend on your unique case.

Steven and the team take an eclectic approach to care, meaning they draw techniques from several types of therapy to create your personalized plan.

The most common treatment for anxiety disorder is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on eliminating unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. 

During CBT, Steven helps you develop helpful coping strategies and problem-solving techniques to replace these unhelpful thoughts and behaviors with more positive, objective responses to anxiety triggers.

To learn more about Steven’s individualized anxiety program, call Worrier 2 Warrior or schedule an appointment online today.