Thousand Oaks Anxiety Treatment

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive worry surrounding various topics. While everyone experiences GAD differently, here are some potential symptoms to look out for:

• Disproportionate feelings of worry or fear surrounding multiple situations or subjects
• Physical symptoms, such as muscle tension, teeth grinding, or gastrointestinal distress
• Trouble controlling feelings of worry or fear
• Feeling restless, on edge, or “wound up”
• Problems concentrating or focusing 
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Irritability 
• Fatigue 

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most prevalent anxiety disorders. Formerly called social phobia, social anxiety disorder is characterized by anxiety that relates specifically to social or performance situations. For example, phone calls, hanging out with a group of people, or giving presentations at work or school. 

Signs and symptoms of social anxiety may include but aren’t limited to:

• Feeling overly self-conscious around other people
• Anxiety that occurs during or leading up to social situations 
• Difficulty sleeping when preparing for upcoming social events
• Finding it difficult to be around strangers or those you don’t know well
• Disproportionate fear of humiliation, judgment, embarrassment, or offending others
• Avoiding other people or certain social situations to the extent that it negatively affects your life
• Sweating, shaking, blushing, or experiencing a rapid heartbeat during or leading up to social situations
• Other physical symptoms of anxiety (e.g., nausea, body aches)
• Trouble making eye contact

Many people with social anxiety are not anxious in every social situation. For example, you might have a specific set of friends and family members you do feel comfortable with. However, symptoms will affect your daily life or functioning if you meet the criteria for the condition.

Panic disorder is characterized by recurring panic attacks or the fear of future panic attacks (following the experience of one or more panic attacks). During a panic attack, you may notice symptoms such as the following: 

• Sweating
• Shaking or trembling
• Feelings of impending doom
• Heart palpitations
• Trouble breathing 
• Racing thoughts 
• Derealization or depersonalizatin
• Feeling dizzy, faint, or light-headed 
• Chills or hot “flushes”
• Chest pain

Some people may also experience a fear of dying, fear of losing control, and other symptoms. If you have panic disorder, your functioning or behavior may change as a result of panic attacks or the fear of future panic attacks.

Specific phobia is characterized by an intense and irrational fear of a thing or situation. Usually, specific phobias fall into one of the below categories:

• Animals (e.g., insects, dogs)
• Blood-related injury (e.g., medical procedures, blood draws)
• Natural environments (e.g., heights, storms, specific places)
• Situations (e.g., escalators, airplanes) 
• Other phobias

People with specific phobias generally understand that their phobia is not likely rooted in actual danger. Even so, if you have a specific phobia, you may avoid the stimuli you are afraid of.

Other anxiety disorders, such as agoraphobia, can also benefit from anxiety therapy or treatment. An anxiety rehab center like ours will often address related disorders, too, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While OCD is no longer considered an anxiety disorder, it can still bring feelings of anxiety, among other symptoms.