Anxiety

Anxiety disorders include phobias, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Chima Asikaiwe, MD, and Cecilia Chanda, PMHNP, provide expert care for people with anxiety disorders at Greathope Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Services in Garland, Texas. Talk therapy combined with medication, when necessary, can free you from overwhelming stress, fear, and worry. For comprehensive, holistic treatment of anxiety in supportive surroundings, call the office today or book an appointment online.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is an emotion you might feel when under stress, worried, or afraid. Feeling anxious is normal when you’re waiting for test or exam results, attending an interview, or undergoing a medical procedure. Anxiety should go away when the experience is over, but some people struggle with it all the time. Symptoms of anxiety include:

• Nervousness
• Irritability
• Nausea
• Excessive sweating
• Headaches
• Tense muscles
• Stomach upsets
• Shaking
• Abdominal pain
• Difficulty sleeping
• Rapid heart rate
• Problems concentrating

When anxiety peaks, it can trigger a panic attack, where in addition to the above symptoms, you might have chest pain and shortness of breath. Panic attacks make you feel out of control, so you might cry, scream, or be unable to speak or move until the attack eases.

What are the different kinds of anxiety disorders?

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most common condition. You feel worry or fear all the time, which peaks when something stressful occurs. People with GAD find almost everything stressful, from choosing what to wear or eat each day to worrying about getting sick, having an accident or a loved one dying.

You can also have anxiety that focuses on something specific. This kind of anxiety is called a phobia, an irrational fear of something that bears little relation to any risk it might pose. Common phobias include spiders (arachnophobia), being in confined spaces (claustrophobia), and a fear of leaving your safe space (agoraphobia).

Social anxiety disorder is another common phobia. It causes severe stress in social situations, particularly being in a crowd or with people you don’t know. You could also develop panic disorder, where you suffer frequent panic attacks.

Related conditions include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). PTSD anxiety develops after a traumatic event. OCD anxiety focuses on controlling unwanted thoughts using repeated rituals.

How is anxiety treated?

Greathope Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Services uses talk therapies to treat anxiety disorders, with medication where needed.

Focused individual therapy with a counselor or psychologist helps you work through the causes of your anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often useful, enabling you to challenge unhealthy thoughts and change them into more positive ones.

Anti-anxiety medications help by balancing brain chemical activity in the areas regulating mood and emotion.

To find out more about the exceptional anxiety care Greathope Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Services provides, call the office today or book an appointment online.