Anxiety
Struggling with anxiety can feel debilitating and prevent the daily functioning of a person resulting in issues with work, academics, relationships, and life satisfaction. Here at MSPWC, we have a variety of therapeutic approaches, like CBT, psychodynamic approaches, and mindfulness, to help you tackle your anxiety.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges affecting almost 30% of adults at some point in their lives. Anxiety in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Anxiety can be a normal and helpful response to stressful situations. It helps us to focus on the danger at hand and formulate a plan.
Anxiety becomes an issue when the anxious response to a stressful situation is overwhelming, excessive, or debilitating. Simply, the anxiety is too much for the situation or the anxiety is preventing the person from functioning as they normally would.
Rather than dealing with stressful situations, anxiety struggles can cause people to avoid handling future situations. This can cause a lot of issues in people’s work lives, academics, and relationships.
Anxiety becomes an issue when the anxious response to a stressful situation is overwhelming, excessive, or debilitating. Simply, the anxiety is too much for the situation or the anxiety is preventing the person from functioning as they normally would.
Rather than dealing with stressful situations, anxiety struggles can cause people to avoid handling future situations. This can cause a lot of issues in people’s work lives, academics, and relationships.
What does anxiety feel like?
- Restlessness
- Nervousness
- Rapid heart rate
- Rapid breathing or hyperventilation
- Increased sweating
- Feeling of dread
- Difficulty focusing
- Muscle tension/twitching
- Obsessive/intrusive thoughts
- Irritability
- Difficulty sleeping
- Wanting to hide or avoid
- Feelings of danger
Some common anxiety disorders are:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Panic Disorder
- Phobias
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
What treatments are available for managing our anxiety?
One of the most common types of treatment for anxiety struggles is psychotherapy.
There are many different types of psychotherapies which focus on areas such as alternating negative thought patterns, identifying triggers and responses, and learning new ways to cope and manage our anxiety. For information on the types of psychotherapies MSPWC offers, please visit the interventions tab.
