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Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders and are associated with feelings of intense fear and distress, which can become overwhelming and prevent us from doing everyday activities. 


Fortunately, anxiety disorders are very treatable. Research shows that anxiety disorders should be treated with therapy, medication, or a combination of both. If you feel like you’re struggling with anxiety, we recommended that you get help from a qualified professional. Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), your therapist can help you develop ways to change negative thought patterns and behaviors before they spiral.

The first step in dealing with anxiety is recognizing the symptoms. Below are some common anxiety disorders that we treat. 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Characterized by excessive anxiety and worry.

Some common symptoms include:

  • Restlessness, feeling on edge

  • Fatigue

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Irritability

  • Muscle tension

  • Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep)

Social Anxiety Disorder

Everyday interactions cause anxiety, self-consciousness, embarrassment, and fear being judged by others. 

Common symptoms include:​

  • Intense fear of interacting with others

  • Fear of being judged by others

  • Social situations are avoided or endured with intense fear

  • Spending time analyzing oneself and identifying flaws in social interactions with others

  • Worrying about embarrassing oneself

  • Fear that others will notice that you look anxious

  • Fear of physical symptoms, such as blushing, sweating,trembling, or having a shaky voice

  • Avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention

  • Feeling anxious in anticipation of a feared activity or event

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Excessive fear or anxiety to separating from people they feel a strong attachment to. 

Common symptoms include:​

  • Excessive fear of being alone

  • Nightmares involving theme of separations

  • Anxiety about sleeping away from their attachment figure

  • Excessive worry about harm to their attachment person (injury, illness, death)

  • Complaints of physical symptoms when separated (headache, nausea, stomachache)

  • Refusal to leave home because of fear of separation

  • Distress about the discussion or experience of being separated from their attached person

Specific Phobia

Unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations.

Common symptoms include:​

  • Anxiety about a specific object/situation (e.g., flying, heights, animals, seeing blood). 

  • The phobic object or situation almost always provokes immediate fear or anxiety.

  • The fear is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the specific object or situation

  • The phobic object or situation is actively avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety.

Panic Disorder

The occurrence of panic attacks, which are recurrent and often unexpected. 

Common symptoms include:

  • A period of intense fear/discomfort, which develops abruptly and reaches a peak within 10 minutes

  • Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate

  • Sweating

  • Trembling or shaking

  • Sensations of shortness of breath

  • Feeling of choking

  • Chest pain or discomfort

  • Nausea or abdominal distress

  • Feeling dizzy or lightheaded

  • Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)

  • Fear of losing control or “going crazy”

  • Fear of dying

  • Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensation)

  • Chills or heat sensations

Agoraphobia

Characterized by a fear of certain environments and situations. 

Common symptoms include:​

  • Fear of using public transportation

  • Feeling afraid of being alone

  • Fear of being in open spaces

  • Refusing to leave the house 

  • Becoming isolated or detached

  • Over-dependence on others

  • Avoiding places that may be difficult to escape from

  • Anxiety about being in enclosed spaces

  • Distress about being in a line or in a crowd

  • The situations are avoided or endured with major distress

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