Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health condition among children and adults in the United States – an estimated 31.1% of adults and 31.9% of adolescents (ages 13-18) experience any anxiety disorder at some time in their lives (1).

What Is Anxiety?

  • Normal, Natural response to perceived danger/threat.

  • Experienced as a general feeling of discomfort, distress, or unease.

  • The emotion that helps us prepare for the future.

  • Prompts us to focus our attention on whatever is causing the anxiety so that we can prevent or decrease a negative outcome (e.g. threat).

  • From an evolutionary perspective, it’s essential for survival – “It’s our fight or flight.”

What Are The Most Common Symptoms Of Anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are extremely nuanced — no two people with anxiety look the same and no two anxiety disorders look the same.

However, there are some common domains in which anxiety manifests, and these domains can be helpful to better identify and understand your anxiety.

1. Cognitive

Anxious individuals tend to have thoughts that are characterized by an overestimation of danger, underestimation of one’s ability to cope, misinterpretation of cues (social and sensory), and are future-oriented.

2. Physiological

When anxious, individuals can experience the follow symptoms:

  • Stomachache

  • Headache

  • Muscle tension

  • Loss of sleep

  • Perspiration

  • Dizziness

3. Emotions

Anxious individuals don’t always present as anxious or fearful. Instead, they can also present as ANGRY or IRRITABLE

4. Behaviors

When an individual becomes anxious, he or she also tends to engage in certain behaviors to make him or herself feel better and to decrease the anxiety. These behaviors include:

When Does Anxiety Become Problematic?

Anxiety reaches the clinical level or can be considered an anxiety disorder when:

  • It is excessive and out of proportion to the situation or actual threat.

  • It begins to interfere in the individual’s social, family, and occupational functioning.

  • It is persistent and recurrent.

What Type of Anxiety Disorders Do You Treat?

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder

  • Social Anxiety

  • Panic Disorder

  • Panic Attacks

  • Agoraphobia

  • Selective Mutism

  • Specific Phobia (fear of vomiting, blood, needles, flying and driving)

  • Separation Anxiety

  • Illness Anxiety/Health Anxiety

How Can You Treat My Anxiety?

Our anxiety therapists in Northbrook, IL utilize Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Exposure Therapy to decrease symptoms of anxiety.

CBT focuses on the ways in which an individual’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all connected and affect one another. By identifying, understanding, and changing your thinking and behavior patterns, we can help you worry less, confront your fears, and live a more meaningful and values-driven life.

How Can I Get Started?

We recognize that anxiety can be overwhelming, scary, and isolating. However, it is also treatable! All therapists at the North Suburban Center for Anxiety specialize in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Therapy (ERP) for anxiety treatment.

If you are a new client looking for either in person or virtual sessions or have more questions, contact us HERE or at 224-326-0068 to learn more about our anxiety therapy services.

References:

  1. National Institute of Mental Health (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder)

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