Treatment for Anxiety

Let Go of Anxiety and Embrace a Calmer Life

Do you feel overwhelmed before doing certain tasks? Do you question yourself – What if I fail? Or tell yourself – I’m not good enough? These racing thoughts make it difficult to go to sleep.

Anxiety feels like your mind and body are constantly on high alert. Your thoughts are buzzing endlessly and it’s hard to focus on anything else. Your muscles are tense, as if you’re bracing for something bad to happen, even though you’re safe at home. Breathing can feel shallow and fast, and sometimes, it seems like you can’t get enough air.

While all of us feel anxious from time to time, anxiety becoming a part of our lives isn’t normal. Feelings associated with anxiety are your body’s response to protect you. Therapies like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Narrative Therapy, EMDR, and Psychodynamic Therapy that address thought patterns, personal narratives, internal conflicts, and past traumas to manage anxiety.

Types of Anxiety

Anxiety is a common experience, but it manifests in various forms, each with distinct characteristics and symptoms. Knowing different types of anxiety can give you a better picture on how it affects day-to-day lives.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

In GAD, people experience chronic and excessive worry about various aspects of everyday life, including work, health, and personal relationships. It is persistent, often unrealistic, and makes you feel restless, tired, unable to concentrate, and experience muscle tension and sleep disturbances.

Panic Disorder

intense fear. During a panic attack, you also experience physical symptoms like racing heart, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, and a sense of impending doom. There’s no clear trigger for these attacks but can become the reason behind future attacks.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Also known as social phobia, those who suffer from this disorder feel an intense fear of social situations where they might be judged, embarrassed, or rejected. They tend to avoid social interactions, worry excessively about being scrutinized by others, and experience symptoms such as blushing, sweating, trembling, and nausea when faced with social situations.

Specific Phobias

Specific phobias is a general term used for phobia or irrational fear that leads to severe anxiety. It can be a fear of any object or situation including heights, spiders, or flying. Some common symptoms include panic attacks, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and an overwhelming desire to escape the situation.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is characterized by unwanted, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that cause a lot of anxiety. To avoid feeling anxious, people engage in repetitive behaviors or mental acts called compulsions. Some common obsessions include fears of contamination or harm, excessive cleaning, and counting.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

While PTSD is in itself a mental health condition, severe anxiety is one of its major symptoms. People experience uncontrollable thoughts about the event, while some experience emotional numbness, irritability, and difficulty sleeping.

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Although commonly associated with children, separation anxiety disorder can affect adults as well. You feel fear or anxiety about being separated from someone you’re attached to. Persistent worry about losing the attachment figure, reluctance to be alone, headaches, and stomach aches are some symptoms you may experience.

Health Anxiety

Also known as hypochondria, health anxiety involves excessive worry about having a serious illness despite medical reassurance. You may frequently check your bodies for signs of illness, visit doctors repeatedly, and seek constant reassurance, which only provides temporary relief.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable if a panic attack occurs. You tend to avoid crowded areas, public transportation, or even leaving the house altogether. Symptoms include intense fear, avoidance behavior, and relying on others for assistance.

Therapies for Anxiety

Narrative Therapy

Narrative therapy focuses on the stories you tell about your life. By re-examining and reshaping these narratives, this therapy helps you gain perspective and reduce the power of anxiety-inducing stories and form a positive, self-image.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT helps you accept your thoughts and feelings rather than fighting or feeling guilty for them. It encourages you to live in the present moment and develop a flexible mindset.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Focuses on understanding the underlying unconscious conflicts and emotions that contribute to anxiety and helps you bring these issues to light and address them.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

This therapy explores the different "parts" within your personality, understanding how they interact and contribute to your anxiety. Your therapist will help you find these parts and resolve conflicts between them.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR therapy is particularly effective for anxiety rooted in past trauma. It uses guided eye movements that mimic the movements during the REM stage of the sleep cycle to process and reduce distressing memories.

Resolving anxiety is a multi-faceted approach. A therapist will create a treatment plan that includes therapy, exercise, coping strategies, and lifestyle changes. I’m here to support your healing journey. Take the first step today.