Anxiety

Are you struggling with:

• Feelings of dread or apprehension
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feeling tense and jumpy
• Irritability
• Restlessness
• Racing thoughts
• Expecting the worst
• Having difficulty relating with others
• Your worries are interfering with your job or relationships

All of us deal with Anxiety on some level continually throughout our lives. It is unconscious and even natural to have feelings of worry, concerns about the future or stress when in difficult situations.

Although Anxiety is a part of our everyday lives, one fourth of all Americans are dealing with a more persistent issue termed Anxiety Disorder. Anxiety disorder is marked by not only having these feelings of worry and dread but experiencing them at a level where they interfere with daily functioning.

Anxiety disorder can be broken down into five distinctive types:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

People experiencing this type feel a constant level of anxiety and worry. Their may be no specific problem that triggers these feelings, yet they still feel “on edge” and “jumpy”.

Social Anxiety Disorder

People with Social Anxiety Disorder experience intense anxiety when faced with social situations. Anything from speaking in public to dining with a few friends can spark a cycle of worry and self-consciousness. Fears of judgment or embarrassment are paramount with Social Anxiety Disorder.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

People with OCD often fixate on a specific thought or concern, like your house burning down, in order to cope with the fear they develop a certain routine or compulsion, like checking the burners on the stove repeatedly. Signs of OCD include needing to check and recheck things, having to get dressed in a certain way, having to put things away in a certain way, needing a specific number of items or actions preformed to feel comfortable.

Panic Disorder / Specific Phobia

People dealing with Panic Disorder experience a sudden attack of overwhelming anxiety coupled with physical reactions including: sweating, dizziness, rapid heart rate, increased breathing, chest pains, and a tingling in their extremities. People often fear they are having a heart attack or are about to die. Often people rearrange their lives due to a fear of having a panic attack in public or not being able to leave a situation when they have an attack. Panic Attacks can lead to phobias such as agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house) because of this fear.

Specific Phobias are intense fears of a specific thing or situation. Common phobia include: fear of elevators, enclosed spaces, open spaces, heights, germs, fear of flying and fear of leaving ones home. When faced with the fearful situation or item people with a specific phobia often experience a panic attack.

PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD occurs when someone has experienced or witnessed a violent or traumatic event such as: returning from war, been involved in a car accident, been the victim of a crime or a sexual assault survivor. People with PTSD often experience flashbacks to the event and may lead to an avoidance of people or places that make them recall the trauma.

Noyau Wellness and Counseling Center uses studied and proven protocols in treating Anxiety Disorders. Whether dealing with a low level of stress and dread or more severe symptoms of panic attacks our professionals will develop a comprehensive treatment plan focused on: teaching you strategies to cope with anxiety provoking thoughts or behaviors, developing a nutritional diet/supplements aimed a lowering your anxiety response, design a physical fitness routine to combat symptoms, as well as provide acupuncture as a treatment for anxiety disorder.

View our Patient Health Questionnaire to help determine if you are suffering from an anxiety disorder.