Understanding Anxiety Disorders: A Comprehensive Guide for Clients

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the country, affecting over 40 million adults in the U.S. every year. While there are several different types of anxiety disorders, all should be treated as soon as possible. It’s crucial to recognize and treat symptoms of anxiety before they begin to impair all areas of a person’s life. Addressing these symptoms early on can prevent disorders from becoming more extreme. This article will provide an in-depth look at the causes and symptoms of anxiety disorders and the importance of seeking professional help.

What is Anxiety?

People  often use the word “anxiety” interchangeably with anxiety disorders, but this is not accurate. It’s normal to have some stress and anxiety throughout your life. However, having an anxiety disorder is much different than occasionally feeling anxious. Feeling anxious isn’t great, and it’s normal to wonder why it’s showing up. Anxiety is one way our body might be alerting us to danger. The fight or flight response evolved as a way to stay safe. Unfortunately, our body can react with this response in situations that are not life-threatening. 

If this fight or flight response, worry, and/or stress continue and interfere with daily life, this indicates that anxiety has turned into an anxiety disorder. The symptoms that make anxiety become a disorder are persistent, excessive worry that interferes with the individual’s daily life. Symptoms will be somewhat different depending on the type of anxiety disorder a person is experiencing.

Types of Anxiety Disorders

There are six main types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

• • What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder? GAD is a disorder that includes the consistent worry that we mentioned earlier. This excessive worry can often be about everyday things. As a result, a person struggling with GAD would struggle with everyday tasks. This would, in turn, affect all areas of their life, including work and relationships.

• • What is Panic Disorder? Panic disorders involve persistent episodes of abrupt anxiety and stress. People struggling with panic disorders have frequent panic attacks. When someone is having panic attacks often, they will eventually start to anticipate future attacks. They might also try to identify the source or trigger of their attacks. This can cause them to avoid situations or people associated with their triggers.

• • What is Social Anxiety Disorder? When someone struggles with anxiety regarding social situations, they may struggle with social anxiety disorder. These disorders involve the person avoiding social situations because it causes them such a high amount of anxiety. Not engaging in social situations or social isolation can be linked to other mental health issues, such as depression.

• • What are Specific Phobias? When someone struggles with specific phobias, they are struggling with anxiety towards a certain object, person, or place. While these phobias will vary, the specific phobia will involve the person avoiding whatever is causing them this substantial amount of anxiety. When someone has a specific phobia, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) can be a helpful form of therapy. This therapy forces the person with the phobia to expose themselves to it. This is done in a safe environment, usually with a therapist. 

• • What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? OCD is a disorder that involves a person having intrusive thoughts and compulsions. Both can become very troublesome for the person struggling and affect all areas of their lives. ERP is also a common way to treat OCD.

• • What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? PTSD is a disorder that occurs after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. A person struggling with PTSD will often avoid situations that could trigger memories of the event.

Causes and Risk Factors

Anxiety disorders have several causes and risk factors, and it’s important to know them so that you can look for signs in yourself or your loved ones. There isn’t usually one specific cause for anxiety or anxiety disorders. Research shows that there are quite a few. Here are some examples:

• • Genetic Factors: Genetic factors can put a person at risk for anxiety disorders. One way to find out is to look at their family’s mental health history. 

• • Brain Chemistry: Another factor that can put a person at risk for anxiety disorders is their brain chemistry. When someone’s neurotransmitters are imbalanced, they are experiencing a “chemical imbalance” of mood-regulating chemicals.
    
    • • Medications for mental health, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors( SNRIs), can help regulate these imbalances.
        
        • • SSRIs block serotonin from being absorbed by proteins in the brain. These medications help regulate mood and are usually used to treat anxiety and depression.
        • • SNRIs block the reabsorption of serotonin and norepinephrine. While SNRIs can be used for depression, they are also used for sleep and anxiety disorders.

• • Environmental Factors: Environmental factors can also put someone at risk for anxiety disorders. These factors include trauma, stress, and challenging or negative life experiences. Environmental factors include where you live, your financial situation, and your family life.

• • Personality Traits: People who have certain temperaments or personality traits may be more prone to having anxiety. These traits include perfectionism, shyness, introversion, and neuroticism; those with these traits may be more likely to struggle with anxiety. However, it’s important to remember that someone with these traits doesn’t necessarily have issues with anxiety. These traits are another thing to look out for if you are concerned that you or your loved one is struggling with anxiety.

Common Symptoms of Anxiety

We can break the most common symptoms of anxiety  into three categories: emotional, physical, and behavioral.

• • Emotional Symptoms: The emotional symptoms that are common to see with anxiety are continuous feelings of dread, restlessness, and irritability. The severity of each symptom will depend on the specific person. These emotions can become so overwhelming that the person may also begin to experience physical or behavioral symptoms.

• • Physical Symptoms: There are many physical symptoms associated with anxiety. These include sweating, hyperventilation, increased heart rate, muscle tension, sweating, dizziness and fatigue.

• • Behavioral Symptoms: Finally, the behavioral symptoms to look out for involve the person avoiding specific situations or people, procrastination, and excessive worrying. Because each person is unique, everyone’s behavior will be a little different. Procrastination can affect all areas of your daily life because it affects your productivity.

How Does Anxiety Impact Daily Life?

If anxiety goes untreated, it can have a substantial effect on someone’s life. While it’s important to know the symptoms to look out for, it’s also important to understand how anxiety can impact all areas of life.

Effects on Work or School

When someone is struggling with anxiety, they often struggle with concentrating and staying on task. When you can’t concentrate, you aren’t learning as effectively. Their anxiety also might cause them to be absent from classes, which could put them behind in their learning development.

Relationships Strain

Anxiety can be all-consuming, which means that the person struggling has less time to focus on maintaining relationships. The person with anxiety may isolate themselves from relationships with romantic partners, loved ones, or friends. There can also be strains on relationships because the person’s loved ones do not understand their disorder or how to help. 

Quality of Life

Anxiety affects quality of life because it causes a person to struggle to partake in activities that bring them joy. When someone is struggling with anxiety, they are trying to make it through the day. They don’t have time for fun, hobbies, or recreational activities. This can lead to depression and other mental health issues.

When Should You Seek Professional Help?

 Are you or a loved one struggling with anxiety? Let’s review some signs that indicate a need for professional help.

Recognizing the Signs

When these signs and symptoms begin interfering with a person’s life, it is usually necessary to seek a higher level of care. When anxiety is beyond normal, day-to-day stress it can be helpful to evaluate if this is related to a larger problem. If a loved one starts to notice signs of anxiety, it’s important to be a safe space for them by practicing active listening, non-judgmental attitudes, and compassion. It can be difficult for someone struggling with anxiety to reach out for help. 

Overcoming Stigma

Unfortunately, there are a plethora of stigmas when it comes to all mental health issues, and anxiety is no exception. There is a stigma that people should be able to “control” their stress or anxiety. When someone is dealing with greater levels of anxiety or an anxiety disorder, they are unable to control their thoughts and feelings. This is when professional help is needed. Sometimes, people will know that they need help with their anxiety, but they will feel shame about asking for it.

Benefits of Early Intervention

When someone is struggling with anxiety or an anxiety disorder, intervention measures must occur as early as possible. This is because the longer someone struggles with these patterns or symptoms, the harder it will be to fight them. The person struggling is more likely to have a successful recovery if they seek help promptly.

Our Approach to Treating Anxiety

Our approach to treating anxiety is to make sure that patients feel safe, supported, and comfortable. We will do everything in our power to ensure you get the most out of your treatment.

Personalized Treatment Plans

We tailor our treatment plans to meet the specific patient’s needs. This means there is no “one size fits all” treatment. Everyone’s journey is slightly different, so their treatment will be as well. 

Evidence-Based Therapies

We use a variety of evidence-based therapies as a part of a patient’s treatment plan. Below is a little more information about each type of therapy.

• • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is a type of therapy that teaches how your thoughts and beliefs affect your feelings and actions. A therapist will help the patient reframe their negative thoughts into more realistic ones.

• • Exposure Response Prevention: Exposure Therapy slowly exposes patients to their fears. This is usually done with a therapist to ensure a safe environment.

• • Walk and Talk Therapy: Walk and Talk Therapy mixes psychotherapy with movement. Exercise can be great for our mental health. By combining walking and talking in a therapy session, a patient can enjoy the benefits of both.

• • Expressive Art Therapy: Expressive Art Therapy is a treatment method that involves patients using art to express their thoughts and emotions. Art therapy can be helpful for people who are creative or aren’t ready to share their thoughts or emotions with words.

• • Movie Therapy: Movie Therapy is a type of treatment that has the patient watch a film recommended by their therapist. After they watch the movie, the patient will bring their reflections to the next therapy session. Therapists can assign different movies for different patients depending on their specific needs. For example, one patient might need to cry to release pent-up emotions. Another patient might need inspiration or hope.

• • Online Therapy: Online Therapy takes place via video or phone calls. Online Therapy is a wonderful way to go to therapy because it removes a lot of barriers that may prevent someone from going to in-person therapy. For example, if someone is anxious about in-person therapy, they could try online therapy instead.

• • Mindfulness: It can be helpful to add mindfulness practices to treatment plans. Mindfulness focuses on being present in the moment and not judging any thoughts that come up. This can be a challenging practice for some, but it’s proven transformative for those who stick with it.

Supportive Environment

We will do everything possible to facilitate a safe setting for all of our patients. This environment is created through compassionate care and concern for every one of our patients.

Getting Started

Scheduling an Appointment

We try to make it as easy as possible for prospective patients to schedule an appointment. Are you thinking about making your first appointment? You can do so here. 

What to Expect in Your First Session

It’s normal to be nervous for your first session of therapy. You will get more comfortable as you complete more sessions and become more comfortable with your therapist. The first session will include assessments to determine your intentions and goals for therapy.

Insurance and Payment Options

We do our best to make treatment accessible to all patients, regardless of insurance carrier. You can find out more about our insurance and payment options here.

Anxiety and anxiety disorders can affect all areas of people’s lives. It’s important to understand the risk factors and signs of someone struggling with high levels of anxiety. Mental health struggles such as anxiety can make people feel isolated, alone, or like recovery isn’t possible. But this is not true. We are never alone, and recovery is possible. Everyone deserves help and the opportunity to live happier and healthier lives.

FAQs

How do I know if I have an anxiety disorder?

1. 1. If anxiety interferes with your daily activities and persists over time, it may indicate high levels of anxiety or an anxiety disorder.

What treatments are available for anxiety?

2. 2. The most effective treatment for anxiety is a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. 

Can anxiety disorders be cured?

3. 3. While anxiety disorders can’t be “cured”, symptoms can be effectively managed with proper treatment.

References:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/mental-health-disorder-statistics

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961

Individual Online Therapy in Florida, Idaho, South Carolina, and Utah

At Calming Transformations Counseling, our therapists understand the difficulties that come with managing anxiety, stress, depression, or relationship issues. We can help through online therapy in Florida, Idaho, South Carolina, or Utah or walk and talk therapy in Hillsborough County, Florida. Book an appointment or contact us today to schedule a session and take the first step toward a healthier, happier life. Remember, your mental health is important—take the time to care for yourself.