Anxiety Treatment
It’s common for people to feel anxious in response to stressful situations. However, if anxiety becomes a persistent, severe problem that you have a hard time controlling and if it affects your day-to-day life, you may have an anxiety disorder and need to receive care at one of the many anxiety treatment centers.
About 19% of adults in any given year in the U.S. have an anxiety disorder. It has been estimated that 31% of U.S. citizens have an anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. Typically, anxiety disorders are treated with psychotherapy, medication, or both. If you live in New Jersey, there is treatment available for you.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of dread, fear, and uneasiness. It might make you:
- sweat,
- feel restless and tense
- have a rapid heartbeat
This can be a normal response to stress. You might feel anxious when dealing with a difficult situation at work, before taking a test, or before making any important decision. In some cases, anxiety can actually help you cope. It may give you a burst of energy or help you focus. Nevertheless, for people with anxiety disorders, the fear can be overpowering because it isn’t just a temporary feeling.
Contact UsWhat Are Anxiety Disorders?
If you have anxiety that doesn’t go away over time and actually gets worse, that’s an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of an anxiety disorder can interfere with your daily activities such as work and school performance and relationships. Types of Anxiety Disorders
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
If you are suffering from GAD, you worry about ordinary issues such as health, work, money, and family. But you worry excessively and you’ve had them almost every day for at least 6 months.
People with GAD may:
- Excessively worry about everyday things
- Have trouble controlling their nervousness or worries
- Realize that they worry more than they should
- Feel restless and have a problem relaxing
- Have difficulty concentrating
- Are easily startled
- Have a problem falling asleep or staying asleep
- Feel tired all the time or tire easily
- Have muscle aches, headaches, stomachaches or other unexplained pains
- Have difficulty swallowing
- Twitch or tremble
- Feel “on edge” or irritable
- Feel lightheaded, sweat a lot, or feel out of breath
- Have to go to the bathroom frequently
The risk for GAD can run in families. There are several parts of the brain and biological processes that play an important part in fear and anxiety. Thus, people that suffer from general anxiety disorders should seek treatment at anxiety treatment centers.
Panic Disorder
Simply put, people with panic disorders have panic attacks. These are sudden, repeated intervals of intense fear when there isn’t any danger. Panic attacks come on quickly and can last for several minutes or longer. You might feel like you’re losing control. There might also be physical symptoms such as:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Stomach or chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Dizziness or weakness
- Sweating
- Feeling overheated or a cold chill
- Numb or tingly hands
Panic attacks can happen anywhere, anytime and without any warning. Some individuals live in fear of another attack and avoid places where they’ve had an attack. This fear takes over the lives of some people and they can’t leave their home.
This anxiety disorder is more common in women than men. Usually, it begins when people are young adults. It sometimes starts when a person is under a lot of stress. Most people that suffer from panic attacks get better with treatment at anxiety treatment centers.
Phobias
Individuals with phobias have intense fears of things that offers little or no real danger. The fear may be about flying, crowded places, spiders, or social situations (known as social anxiety).
There are a lot of specific phobias such as:
- Acrophobia–a fear of heights
- Agoraphobia–fear of public places
- Claustrophobia–fear of closed-in places
- Gephyrophobia–fear of tunnels and bridges
- Aquaphobia–the fear of water
- Aerophobia–fear of flying
- Hemophobia–fear of blood
People with phobias often try to avoid whatever they’re afraid of. It that’s not possible, they may experience:
- Fear and panic
- Rapid heartbeat
- Trembling
- Shortness of breath
- A strong eagerness to get away
Typically, phobias start in children or teens and continue into adulthood. The origination of specific phobias is not known, but sometimes they run in families. Most people with phobias are helped with treatment at anxiety treatment centers. Treatment options include therapy, medicines, or both.
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
With social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, simple, everyday interactions with others causes serious anxiety, self-consciousness, and embarrassment because of the fear of being judged negatively by others. SAD can be a chronic mental health condition, but learning coping skills in therapy and taking medications can help improve the ability to interact with others. See a mental health professional if you are afraid of and avoid normal social engagements because they cause you embarrassment, worry, or panic.
What Causes Anxiety Disorders?
The exact cause of anxiety is not known. But several factors play a role. They include:
- Genetics
- Chemistry
- Stress
- Brain biology
- Environment
Who Is At Risk?
The risk factors for the different types of anxiety disorders can vary. For example, GAD and phobias are more common in women, but social anxiety affects men and women equally. There are some general risk factors for all types of anxiety disorders, including:
- Certain personality traits, such as being shy or withdrawn when meeting new people or in new situations
- Suffering traumatic events in adulthood or early childhood
- Having a family history of anxiety or other mental disorders.
- Some health conditions such as thyroid problems or arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
Different types of anxiety disorders have different symptoms. Still, they all have a combination of:
- Beliefs or anxious thoughts that are difficult to control. They cause you to feel tense and restless and get in the way of your daily life.
- Physical symptoms like:
- a rapid or pounding heartbeat
- aches and pains without any reason
- dizziness
- shortness of breath
- Behavior changes, such as avoiding everyday activities you used to take part in.
Using caffeine, other substances, and some medicines can worsen your symptoms.
Contact UsDiagnosing Anxiety Disorders
To diagnose an anxiety disorder, your doctor will perform a physical exam, possibly recommend a blood test, and ask about your symptoms. All this is to help determine if another condition such as hypothyroidism could be causing your symptoms. They may also ask about any medications you’ve been taking. Some medications can cause symptoms of anxiety. These include:
- Levodopa–used to manage Parkinson’s disease
- Cyclosporine–treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis
Anxiety may also follow certain medical conditions such as:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Sleep apnea
- Schizophrenia
If no underlying causes of the symptoms are found, a psychological evaluation is performed. Your doctor may be able to do this or you may go to a psychologist or an anxiety treatment center.
Psychological Evaluation
During a psychological evaluation, a specialist will ask:
- If you have a family history of anxiety disorders or depression
- When your symptoms started
- How severe your symptoms are
- Whether they have happened before and if yes, how they were treated
- How the symptoms are affecting your life
Because other psychological conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and eating disorders may occur with anxiety disorders, your specialist will also ask questions to help determine whether another mental condition could be affecting you. After your symptoms and family history are evaluated, you and the specialist will discuss your diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment options.
Contact UsTreatments for Anxiety Disorders
The main treatments for anxiety disorders are psychotherapy (also called talk therapy), medicines, or both:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of psychotherapy that is used frequently to treat anxiety disorders. This approach teaches you different ways of thinking and behaving. It helps you change how you respond to the things that cause you to feel anxious and fearful. Often, it includes exposure therapy where you confront your fears so that you will eventually be able to do the things you were avoiding.
Medicines
The medicines used to treat anxiety disorders include anti-anxiety medications and some antidepressants. Some types may work better for specific types of anxiety disorders. You will need to work closely with your health care provider to find which medication is best for you. Occasionally, a person will need to try more than one medication before finding the right one.
Currently, researchers are exploring ways in which complementary and unifying approaches might reduce anxiety or help people cope with it. Some of the studies have focused on the anxiety people experience in day-to-day life or during stressful circumstances while others have pinpointed anxiety disorders.
Psychological
- meditation
- hypnosis
- relaxation therapies
- music therapies
Physical
- acupuncture
- massage
- spinal manipulation
Combinations, such as Physical and Psychological
The psychological and physical approaches include what used to be called mind and body practices.
- yoga
- tai chi
- dance therapy
- art therapy
- mindful eating (psychological and nutritional).
- Relaxation techniques can reduce anxiety in individuals with chronic medical problems and people who are having medical procedures. But, CBT may be more helpful than relaxation techniques in treating some types of anxiety disorders.
- Some studies imply that acupuncture can reduce anxiety but the research has been too limited to reach definite conclusions.
- Hypnosis has been studied and some research has shown positive results but overall evidence is not conclusive.
- Studies of people with cancer or other medical conditions found that massage therapy helped to reduce anxiety but there hasn’t been enough research on massage therapy for anxiety disorders.
- Reiki and therapeutic touch have not been found to be beneficial for anxiety disorders.
Where To Get Treatment in New Jersey
Is anxiety keeping you or a loved one from enjoying a meaningful life? It doesn’t have to be that way.
Renewed Light is one of the top anxiety treatment centers in New Jersey. You can learn to manage your condition at our anxiety treatment center in West Deptford, New Jersey. Our psychologists, therapists, and professional counselors are trained, licensed, experienced, and very importantly, compassionate and caring people.
And if we find that you have a co-occurring condition, such as depression, Renewed Light is prepared to provide you with the appropriate treatment to address that also. We have several levels of outpatient care so you will be able to receive the intensity of care that you need. Don’t let fear get the best of you. Contact us today. We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
https://medlineplus.gov/anxiety.html#
https://medlineplus.gov/anxiety.html#:~:text=Anxiety
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/anxiety-at-a-glance
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad
https://medlineplus.gov/panicdisorder.html
https://medlineplus.gov/phobias.html
https://nyulangone.org/conditions/anxiety-disorders-in-adults/diagnosis#: