Anxiety: All You Need to Know

What Is Anxiety?

Along with depression, anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders in the world, both in adolescents and in adults. Generally speaking it is a natural biological phenomenon which helps us discern possibly dangerous situations and deal with them accordingly through our fight or flight mechanism. In line with that, there are people who try their best to run away from stressful situations, people who have a strong emotional and physical reaction to the stressor and face it head on, and the type that is sometimes overlooked – people who freeze when faced with a tough situation. However, this mechanism can at times become hypersensitive and start sending warning signals to the brain even when nothing is seemingly wrong. If this persists and is left untreated an anxiety disorder might develop.

There are many types of anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (or social phobia), separation anxiety disorder and a range of specific phobias related to various objects or situations that can provoke intense, overwhelming feelings of fear followed by uncomfortable physical symptoms.

Signs to Look Out For

You might not always be able to tell if other people are suffering from anxiety, but there are a few telltale signs in your body and mind that might indicate if you’re suffering from anxiety.

Mental Symptoms

• Feeling restless, irritable and fearful for long periods of time
• Feeling like something terrible is going to happen or that you’re going to lose control
  of yourself or your sanity
• feeling disconnected from yourself or from the rest of the world, and like everyone is
  judging you
• having trouble concentrating due to invasive thoughts
• constantly worrying about past events or feeling apprehensive about future events

Physical Symptoms

• Fast and shallow breathing, or feeling like you cannot get enough air
• Having an irregular heartbeat and feeling as if your heart might pound out of your
  chest
• Sweating and feeling as if you might have a fever
• Experiencing headaches, stomachaches or other sorts of physical pain
• Experiencing involuntary muscle twitching and trembling
• Having an upset stomach and/or feeling nauseous
• Needing to pass urine more often than usual

Please keep in mind that even if you find that you have some of the abovementioned symptoms it does not necessarily mean that you have developed an anxiety disorder. Try to find valid information written by experts from the medical field and make sure to consult with a mental health professional to get a proper assessment and diagnosis. Online self-assessment tests are never a replacement for therapy.

What Are Some of the Causes of Anxiety?

Like every medical condition, anxiety can have many different causes which depend on the individual’s personality, coping skills, environmental and socio-economic factors and many other elements of life. Often there’s more than one factor attributing to it. Here is a list of the more common causes:

• Bearing witness to a death of someone close or a very violent situation
• Experiencing loss due to a natural disaster, war or as a result of a health crisis
• Going through physical, emotional or psychological abuse
• Alcohol or substance abuse
• Genetic predispositions
• History of mental health disorder
• Poor self-esteem

When Should I Seek Help?

It’s best to seek professional help as soon as you recognize that anxiety is taking a toll on the quality of your life. Remember that there’s no shame in speaking about your troubles and discussing your insecurities with an expert. Look out for these signs:

• Changes in sleep pattern, lack of sleep, frequent waking up during the night and/or insomnia
• Chronic irritability and feeling like you’re on edge
• Muscle tension not due to excessive exercise
• Difficulty keeping food down
• Weakened immune system and often feeling sick
• Frequent procrastination and/or inability to focus on the task at hand

Treatment We Offer

At Dr Jo Gee Psychotherapy, we put our clients’ needs first and carefully consider the best solution to provide the necessary aid and comfort. We guarantee that you will get support tailored to your needs for efficient and quick symptom relief. Our handpicked team of professionals will work with you to get the best outcome and support you on your journey to getting back on track.

Our golden standard approach to treating anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Some of the benefits of CBT in treating anxiety are as follows:

• It’s short-term, but has long-lasting positive effects on your mental outlook and overall wellbeing
• It provides you with tools you need to replace negative thought patterns with more positive ones
• Because of its structured approach, it’s a great fit for anxious individuals who find comfort in permanence and guidance
• It’s effective both by itself and combined with other treatments, including pharmacotherapy

Get in Touch

Still not sure if you could benefit from our services? We offer a free 15 minute phone consultation at a time convenient for you. After that you can book a 50-75 minute assessment where you will have time to ask questions, share your therapy goals, discuss the possible outcomes, and build a personalized treatment plan with a member of our expert team. Your therapist will support you every step of the way, whether you opt for a short or a long-term plan.

If you would like to book an initial consultation, please message or call us, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.