Anxiety Disorders
There are many different anxiety disorders. The following list includes the anxiety disorders most experienced by the adolescents and adults we treat.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Specific Phobia
- Agoraphobia
- Social Anxiety
- Panic Disorder
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is often thought of as the "worry" anxiety disorder. It is characterized by anxiety and worry about many different things that has lasted at least 6 months. The Diagnostic and Statistics Manual 5 defines worry as "apprehensive expectation." GAD also includes symptoms such as restlessness, feeling on edge, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension and sleep disturbance.
Specific Phobia
Specific phobia is an anxiety or fear about a specific object or situation. This could include someone who is afraid of dogs, spiders, water, heights, seeing blood, etc. If the person comes into contact with the thing or situation they have a phobia of, they will immediately experience intense anxiety or fear. People who have phobias often try to avoid situations or places where they might come into contact with the object of their phobia.
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is a fear of two or more of the following: using public transportation, open spaces, enclosed spaces, standing in line or in a crowd, or being outside their home alone. People with agoraphobia will often avoid the situations that provoke their anxiety. For people with agoraphobia, this may mean not leaving their house. If they do go somewhere that provokes their anxiety, they are extremely distressed.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is the fear of social situations, especially ones where the person could be scrutinized by people. This can include having a conversation, eating or drinking in public or giving a speech in front of people. People with social anxiety often feel they will do something embarrassing, which creates an irrational level of fear and anxiety for them.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is characterized by a sudden, intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes. This is the disorder many people think of when they say someone has panic attacks. It includes 4 or more of the following symptoms:
- Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
- Sweating
- Trembling or shaking
- Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
- Feeling of choking
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Nausea or abdominal distress
- Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
- Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
- Fear of losing control or “going crazy”
- Fear of dying
- Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensation)
- Chills or heat sensations
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder of intrusive thoughts and compulsions. Intrusive thoughts are recurrent and persistent thoughts. Someone with OCD knows intrusive thoughts come from within their own mind but they have difficulty distracting themselves from the thoughts or ignoring the thoughts. The thoughts cause them great distress.
The intrusive thoughts might tell them they have to do a certain compulsion. And there is the sense that if they don't do the compulsion something bad will happen to them or someone they care about. The compulsion is often a repetitive behavior or mental act.
This is an example of how it may work in the mind of someone with OCD. They have the thought that they may have left the stove on and they feel a strong urge to go check the stove is off. They feel like they have to check the stove or the house could burn down, someone could get hurt and it would be their fault. This makes them feel anxious. If they check the stove is off, they are rewarded with relief because the anxiety that was building is gone. If they don't check the stove, they will continue to feel more and more anxiety. The anxiety would eventually stop but it doesn't feel like it will ever stop for the person with OCD.
Anxiety Disorder Treatments
Deeds Counseling uses different treatments for different disorders. You wouldn't want your doctor to treat a cold the same way as cancer. By the same thinking, we individualize our treatment according to the disorder.
A disorder is just a grouping of symptoms. So, our goal is to reduce the symptoms you are experiencing. Of course, we also must consider your goals for counseling when determining what treatment is appropriate. So, we cannot say everyone who comes to us for anxiety will get the same treatment.
But in many cases, we use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders. CBT is a treatment that works by changing thoughts, beliefs and behaviors as a way to reduce anxiety symptoms.