We Help with Managing Anxiety With or Without Medication
Is anxiety taking over your life? Does it feel like you can’t control it no matter how hard you try? Have you already tried therapy but found it ineffective?
If this sounds like you, we are confident we can help. Out practice offers the most effective forms of treatment, to get the relief from anxiety that you deserve.
When it comes to treating anxiety disorders, research shows that therapy is usually the most effective option. That’s because anxiety therapy – as opposed to anxiety medication – treats more than just symptoms to the problem.
Often, these are the symptoms of anxiety:
- Nervousness, restlessness or being tense
- Feelings of danger, panic or dread
- Rapid breathing or hyperventilation
- Increased or heavy sweating
- Trembling or muscle twitching
- Weakness or lethargy
- Difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about
- Insomnia
- Obsessions about certain ideas, a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past, a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder
Therapy can help to uncover the underlying causes of your worries and fears, learn how to relax, look at situations in a new, less frightening way, and develop better coping mechanisms and problem-solving skills.
Anxiety Counseling in St. Louis
How Can Anxiety Disorders Affect Your Daily Life?
Anxiety disorders are beyond worry and can interfere with functioning at school or work or in social situations. They may hinder relationships.
Everyone has occasional worries or anxiousness. However, people with anxiety have excessive, persistent fears or worries. Sometimes, the anxiety worsens with time.
Fortunately, behavioral therapy or medications may assist people with anxiety. Research indicates learning relaxation techniques and other therapy help most people with anxiety.
How Common Is Anxiety? What Are the Different Kinds of Anxiety?
The National Institutes of Mental Health notes that approximately 25% of adolescents between ages 13 and 18 and about 18% of adults will experience anxiety. Shockingly, 6% of teens and 4% of adults have severe anxiety disorders.
Several anxiety disorders exist, such as:
- Generalized anxiety disorder: This is a continuous feeling of anxiousness or worry. Someone with this disorder may worry about finances, health problems or other similar issues. They may fear something bad will happen, leading to difficulty concentrating, irritability and sleep problems.
- Panic disorder: A person has recurring panic attacks, which include profuse sweating, shortness of breath, tachycardia or trembling. The attacks come on suddenly in most cases.
- Phobia: Someone with this anxiety disorder intensely fears a certain item or situation, such as spiders or flying on an airplane.
- Social anxiety: Also known as social phobia, this disorder causes someone to fear social situations, particularly ones where they may feel judged or embarrassed. They may avoid social situations, become nauseous in a social setting or struggle to make new friends.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): This common anxiety disorder causes uncontrollable thoughts or feelings about something. OCD sufferers may need to complete certain routines or rituals, such as washing their hands repeatedly.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): This disorder follows serious emotional or physical trauma, like fighting in a war, living through a natural disaster, or witnessing a crime. The individual may have flashbacks for months to years after the incident.
Therapy for Anxiety: How It Works
Can Anxiety Be Cured With Therapy?
Although anxiety can be debilitating, it’s treatable. Treatment helps people with anxiety rebuild their tranquility.
Treating Anxiety Disorders With Therapy
You don’t have to live with your anxiety disorder. Treatment in the St. Louis area is available. Anxiety therapists often recommend behavioral therapy to verbally work through anxiety to get to the root of the problem and teach you how to cope or relax. Since each anxiety disorder is unique, the practitioner tailors treatment to your needs. Per the American Psychological Association, you may see results in as little as eight to 10 sessions.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy are the most common approaches and may be one-on-one or group therapy. Regardless of the form of therapy used, the goal is to reduce your anxiety and help you overcome your fears.
Anxiety Issues That Can Be Treated With Therapy
Our staff has extensive training and experience treating the following:
- Panic disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
- Agoraphobia
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Phobias
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Illness anxiety
- Hoarding disorder
- Separation anxiety
- Body-focused disorders
- Body dysmorphic disorder
- Tourette’s Disorder and Tics
If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, we invite you to contact us today so we can schedule an appointment.