Anxiety

All of us feel anxious at times. Normal anxiety can help us to mobilize our resources.  However, you may be one of those individual who feels anxious most of the time, often without any reason. Or you may have anxiety so intense that it terrifies or immobilizes you. Anxiety disorders are the most common of all the mental problems. People often misunderstand these problems and you may think you should be able to overcome the symptoms by sheer willpower. This is often not possible.  The good news is that there are a wide variety of treatment approaches that can help you reduce anxiety.

If you have anxiety to the degree that it disrupts your life you are far from alone.  The majority of my clients report anxiety issues.  While there are a number of anxiety disorders, each with its own distinct features, the common factor in all of them is the anguish caused by anxiety.

Anxiety is chronic and exaggerated worry and tension.  It may be caused by a specific situation or problem (such as Agoraphobia and Social Phobia) or the anxiety may have no apparent cause. Having an anxiety disorder means that most of the time you are worrying and anticipating problems.

Anxiety is often accompanied by a variety of physical symptoms such as trembling, twitching, muscle tension, fatigue, headaches, irritability, sweating, feeling lightheaded, nausea, feeling like a lump is stuck in your throat, and difficulty concentrating. Feelings of worry, dread, lack of confidence, lack of energy, depression, a loss of interest in life, and sleep problems are common. The symptoms appear to worsen during periods of stress, even the common stresses of everyday life often aggravate anxiety.

In one form of anxiety, call a Panic Attack, you may experience sudden, unpredictable, and often unaccountable feelings of terror so extreme that you can not breathe, think you are going "out of your mind ", or feel like you are about to die or lose complete control.

Another type of anxiety, call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the result of having experienced a traumatic life experience such as having been in an accident, experienced physical or sexual abuse, lived through events such as a earthquake or hurricane, etc.  As a result of this trauma, the person suffers future anxiety and panic over the traumatic event and may also have flashbacks.  

You do not need to accept the disruption and pain that anxiety causes.  For the vast majority of people who come in for therapy, treatment has been shown to be very effective in reducing and eliminating anxiety and its side effect.

Anxiety can be treated with a combination of treatment types including psychotherapy, behavior therapy and desensitization, cognitive therapy, counseling, and coaching.

Some clients also take medication to temporarily reduce their anxiety symptoms but most of my clients prefer not to take medication. Other techniques I have found to be helpful include relaxation training, a planned exercise program, and a change in diet such as avoidance of caffeine and alcohol.

For more information about anxiety and specific anxiety disorders, please click on the linked websites listed below.

"If you really want help dealing with your feelings and emotions, changing your behavior, and improving your life, I will be happy to help you.  I am available almost any time and any place.  You can call me directly and there is no cost or obligation for the initial telephone consultation.  Or you can reach me by email.  I look forward to the possibility of helping you to improve your life."   Dr. Vince Berger