Anxiety

Teen boy worrying with anxiety

Anxiety Counseling Can Help Quiet the Noise

Many people experience anxiety at some point in their lives. In fact, a little bit of stress can be a helpful response to alert your body that something needs to change, or if you are in the woods and need to run from a bear. Anxiety is a very normal response to stressful life events like moving, changing jobs, or having financial troubles.

Yet, for some people anxiety symptoms can become larger than the events that triggered them and these symptoms can begin to interfere with your everyday life. This is where our anxiety counselors can help. Whether you’re struggling with social anxiety, feel paralyzed by fear before tests at school, or find yourself avoiding things due to the pit in your stomach and tightness in your chest, anxiety treatment can provide you with support while isolating the source of your anxiety.

Anxiety disorders can be debilitating, but people can manage them with proper help from a medical professional and or therapist. Recognizing the symptoms is the first step.

One of the most common symptoms of an anxiety disorder is excessive worrying.  People with anxiety disorders will worry disproportionately about events or everyday situations.

A diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder may occur if this worrying occurs on most days for at least 6 months and is difficult to control.  The worrying must also be severe and intrusive, making it difficult to concentrate and accomplish daily tasks.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, generalized anxiety disorder affects around 6.8 million Americans, roughly 3.1 percent of the United States population. However, less than 45 percent of people with the disorder are receiving treatment.  Women are also twice as likely to have generalized anxiety disorder than men, and the disorder commonly occurs alongside major depression.

Whether you’re dealing with social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD, phobias, sleep difficulties, challenges with transitions in life, relationship struggles, or any other emotional and behavioral issues, our dedicated team of anxiety therapists are here to help you find the right treatment plan. 

Symptoms of Anxiety

We all have different experiences and backgrounds. Because of this, we all react to situations differently. Our anxiety counselors are aware of this, too. Throughout our experience providing anxiety counseling, we’ve worked with people experiencing many different anxiety symptoms. With this in mind, we have seen common themes of anxiety symptoms while providing anxiety treatment. Here are some common anxiety symptoms we’ve seen in anxiety counseling:

  • Feeling tense. It’s almost as if your body is a giant knot.

  • Impending sense of doom or panic. You’re not quite sure when it will happen, but so many bad things will happen at any moment.

  • Increased heart rate, sweating, and rapid breathing. Like you’re constantly running a marathon.

  • Feeling weak. Regardless of how hydrated or fed you are.

  • Trouble sleeping. You feel exhausted all day, but you’re wide awake the second you lay down.

  • Excessive worry. Over nothing and everything at the same time.