Anxiety: A Terror That Can Strike Without Warning

Anxiety is a disorder that causes feelings of terror and panic. These feelings are often so overwhelming that they can be debilitating.

Anxiety encompasses several different psychological disorders, including:

• Panic Disorder often strikes suddenly without any warning. This type of disorder encompasses feelings of a panic attack, which can include chest pain, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, excessive sweating and overwhelming thoughts of feeling crazy.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, known as OCD, is a condition where constant thoughts or fears become compulsive, often turning into regular routines or rituals. These obsessive thoughts can overtake one’s life. For example, people suffering from severe germ phobias may obsessively wash their hands, indicating a type of OCD behavior.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, known as PTSD, can not only develop in people who have been to war, but following a traumatic event, which may include a physical attack, sexual assault, death of a loved one or even a natural disaster. A disaster may include a terrorist attack, such as 9/11. People suffering from PTSD have terrorizing, frightening thoughts towards the events they experienced, sometimes resulting in a lasting emotional numbness.
• Social Anxiety Disorder involves constant, overwhelming anxiety and worry towards everyday social situations and personal interactions. People suffering from this disorder may have a deep-rooted fear of judgment, or are easily embarrassed and often feel ridiculed.
• General Anxiety Disorder involves improbable tension and fears, even if the situation does not warrant or provoke anxiety.
• Specific phobias involve overwhelmingly intense fears towards specific situations or objects. For example, fear of space is agoraphobia and fear of spiders is arachnophobia.

There are many different treatment options available for people suffering from anxiety disorders. These include medications that help reduce anxiety, including anti-depressants. Dietary and lifestyle changes are also advisable. People suffering from anxiety may desire to reduce lifestyle stress through yoga and breathing techniques.

Two different types of one-on-one therapies include Psychotherapy and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. Therapists in Provo offer psychotherapy counseling that helps people suffering with anxiety discuss their problems and create targeted solutions to help them deal with their individual types of disorders. Provo counselors can determine if Cognitive-Behavior Therapy would be a better approach. If so, this type of therapy helps people recognize anxiety triggers and learn how to change how they react both physically and emotionally to these prompts. Provo counseling is an excellent way for people suffering from anxiety disorders to minimize their fears and gain control over the anxiety that haunts them.