Anxiety
Suffering from anxiety can have a dramatic impact on your health, work, outlook, and relationships. At Via Clinic, we provide you with the support and tools you need to lead a happier and healthier life.
We will conduct a comprehensive evaluation in order to establish a diagnosis, and we will formulate a plan to help treat your anxiety. We offer psychotherapy, such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills, for anxiety disorders. Please refer to Individual Psychotherapy for further reference.
We may discuss and recommend pharmacologic treatment, if appropriate, such as with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or other medications indicated for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
About Anxiety
Anxiety is a symptom common to many psychiatric conditions, including mood disorders, ADHD and substance use disorders. When anxiety is a central cause of distress and dysfunction, and when other potential causes are treated or disproved, an anxiety disorder may be diagnosed. These include:
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). People with this condition experience excessive and impairing worry about various, everyday matters. The anxiety is often associated with irritability and fatigue, as well as difficulties with concentration and sleep.
- Panic disorder. A panic attack is a brief episode of severe and debilitating anxiety. It is often associated with trouble breating, sweating, heart palpitations, nausea, and numbness or tingling of the extremities. Those experiencing panic often fear they are about to die or “go crazy.” When attacks become persistent and feared, and when they result in avoidance of things that might precipitate them, people may develop panic disorder.
- Social anxiety disorder. This refers to excessive fear and avoidance of social situations, which is defined as any that might involve being observed or judged by other people. It may be a specific type of situation, such as giving a musical performance, or it may refer to social gatherings more generally. Beyond simply “shyness,” social anxiety disorder leads to significant loss of opportunity and difficulty fulfilling obligations.
Other conditions treated at Via Clinic that prominently feature anxiety include:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD experience obsessions, compulsions or both. Obsesssions refer to intrusive thoughts or images that are disturbing to the individual yet difficult or impossible to resist. Common themes include distressing fears of getting contaminated or doing something that might cause harm to others. Compulsions are repetitive actions that one feels driven to perform, even when they may seem excessive or senseless. Examples of such behaviors include handwashing, creating symmetry, checking locks or appliances, and counting.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a syndrome that may occur in the aftermath of experiencing or witnessing a horrific event. It may also occur in people repeatedly subject to trauma over time. It refers to a chronic pattern of symptoms that include “re-experiencing” the event (in the form of flashbacks or nightmares, for example), avoidance of circumstances related to the trauma, and increased psychological sensitivity (which may include hyper-vigilance, irritability, insomnia and poor concentration.