Anxiety

What are anxiety disorders?

Anxiety disorders affect more than 25 million Americans, causing feelings of extreme and unmanageable fear and stress. Women are more likely than men to develop an anxiety disorder. There are several different anxiety disorders, including:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

GAD is characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry and concern about a variety of different things like money, family, or a variety of other issues. If you have GAD the anxiety and worry you live with may not be linked to any logical or actual events.

• Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is a form of anxiety characterized by panic attacks and the development of a fear of the panic attack themselves. The panic attacks often occur without an obvious stimulus and cause excessive feelings of fear and physical symptoms like a rapid heartbeat, sweating, shaking, and disturbed vision.

• Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is an extreme fear of social situations due to a fear of being judged or rejected. It often causes people to avoid social situations and can negatively affect your ability to function at work or school.

• Specific Phobias

There is a wide range of specific phobias classified as anxiety disorders. Ranging from insects to flying or large groups of people, you may feel inappropriately anxious about just about anything.

What are symptoms of anxiety?

Everyone experiences anxiety in their own way, but some of the common symptoms include:

• Feelings of extreme fear or stress
• Restlessness
• Concentration issues
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Insomnia
• Physical tension and headaches

How is anxiety treated?

Dr. Kafrissen tailors treatment and care to address your specific type of anxiety and symptoms.

GAD and panic disorders are often treated with talk therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT teaches you to recognize your thought patterns and then adjust your response to those thoughts. You learn new ways to think and behave when faced with situations that trigger your anxiety.

If you have a phobia and social anxiety disorder, Dr. Kafrissen offers exposure therapy, where you are exposed to your fear in very small, controlled amounts. For example, if you are afraid of spiders, he may ask you to imagine a spider, then ask you to explore your feelings and your response. This process progresses gradually, until you are able to face your fear and control your response.

If you have concerns about anxiety, call or schedule a consultation with Dr. Kafrissen online today.