Anxiety

Everyone has experienced anxiety during a stressful event in their life which can affect them both emotionally and physically such as speaking in front of a large crowd or your first day at a new job. These feelings of anxiety are very normal. Individual’s reactions to stress are usually brief, and through time they recover without further problems. However if the anxiety continues over time and begins to interfere with daily activities and functioning, then one should look into treatment for severe anxiety. In other words, if your feelings of anxiety or stress affect you where you begin to feel nervous and scared. Where you don’t feel confident and you begin to second guess yourself, ultimately preventing you from socializing altogether.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV),  Anxiety Disorder features excessive anxiety and worry, where the individual finds it difficult to control or stop the worry.  In most cases, the individual finds it difficult to keep worrisome thoughts from interfering with attention to tasks at hand.  This may lead to distress due to constant grief and despair and impairment in social settings.

There are many different types of anxiety including;

Separation Anxiety Disorder:  According to the DSM-IV, Separation Anxiety Disorder augments developmentally inappropriate and excess anxiety when an untoward event will lead to a separation from a major attachment figure. Symptoms include repeated complaints of physical symptoms (such as headaches, nausea, or vomiting), constant thoughts and intense fears about the safety of loved ones, and trouble sleeping and nightmares. These symptoms manifest when a separation from major attachment figures occurs or is anticipated as well as persistently and excessively fearfulness without being near a major attachment figure.  

Social Anxiety: In some cases, people with high anxiety may take flight out of desperation.  According to the DSM-IV, exposure to a phobic stimulus almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response, which may take the form of a situational predisposed panic attack or interfere with decision making on the part of the person. Symptoms include, fears of meeting or talking to people, avoidance of social settings and having few friends outside the family.  

Many people will go to counseling or take medication or both to help them with their anxiety. Most people just need someone to talk to in a relaxing and safe place to feel calm. We at Alianza Counseling provide a nice comfortable chair in a nice atmosphere to do just that. We give our clients stress balls so that they can use when they are feeling anxious. One can also place some pebbles or beads in their pockets for comfort. We also recommend breathing exercises to decrease your feelings of anxiety. A person will always experience anxiety, but they can also control their anxiety and treat it.