Online Anxiety Therapy
Anxiety is something that everyone feels in their daily life. Whether it’s worrying about the potential of bad things happening, or spiraling thoughts about your self worth, anxiety is an unpleasant mental experience that revolves around feeling stress and thinking stressful thoughts. But for those with severe anxiety that consistently and excessively interrupts their day, it can be entirely debilitating.
The great news is that anxiety is treatable through forms of psychotherapy and certain types of medication. Working with a professional counselor like the ones we have at Texas Online Counseling can provide a great stepping stone for getting the help you need, and potentially combined with taking prescribed medication(s), we can help relieve symptoms of anxiety that make your life harder.
Do you experience any of these anxiety symptoms?
Excessive worrying about everyday things
Feeling restless, on edge, or keyed up
Feeling tired all the time, easily fatigued
Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
Irritability
Muscle tension
Sleep disturbance, difficulty falling and staying asleep; restless or unsatisfying sleep
If you have three or more of these symptoms present themselves more often than not for a continuous period of more than six months, you may be struggling with anxiety. Recognizing your experiences of anxiety and how they negatively affect your life is the first step towards seeking the support you need to take back control, and talking with a therapist online could greatly help you on your journey to relieving your symptoms.
Online Anxiety Therapy
Understand That You Are Not Alone
We all understand that just about everyone experiences some form of anxiety or anxious thoughts from time to time, but many of us may think we are alone in just how often and how much we experience it. But this is not the case; you are not alone. Approximately 40 million American adults ages 18 and older (or about 18.1 percent of adults) have reported symptoms of an anxiety disorder.
Nearly three-quarters of those with an anxiety disorder will have their first episode by age 21. Anxiety is often thought of as a chronic worry in the mind, but it is not as simple and straightforward as that. In fact, it is actually healthy to experience some anxiety at certain times and circumstances in our lives. Anxiety has an evolutionary purpose in our biological history, as it helped humans stay alert and be prepared for potential dangers, which helped us stay alive and evolve as a species.
However, for a person suffering from an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. Anxiety disorders present a more chronic experience of this stress and stressful thoughts, with symptoms that can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships. Anxiety disorders can frequently co-occur with depressive disorders or substance abuse, so it’s vital that therapy and/or medication is sought out before these issues exacerbate themselves.
Signs and Symptoms of Disorders
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders, and their symptoms can vary as well as their treatment strategies.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Individuals suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) can display excessive anxiety or worry on most days for at least 6 months, about a number of things such as personal health, work, social interactions, and everyday routine life circumstances. The fear and anxiety can cause significant disruption in important areas of their life, such as social interactions, school, and work.
Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms include:
Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge
Being easily fatigued
Having difficulty concentrating; mind going blank
Being irritable
Having muscle tension
Difficulty controlling feelings of worry
Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness, or unsatisfying sleep
Panic Disorder
Individuals suffering from a panic disorder can have recurrent and unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and anxiety that come on quickly and reach their peak within minutes. Attacks can occur unexpectedly or can be brought on by a trigger, such as a feared object or situation, which can lead to an intense mental and physical anxiety experience.
During a panic attack, people may experience:
Heart palpitations, a pounding heartbeat, or an accelerated heart rate
Sweating
Trembling or shaking
Sensations of shortness of breath, feeling smothered or choking
Feelings of impending doom
Feelings of being out of control
People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will happen and actively try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors they associate with panic attacks. Worrying about panic attacks, and the effort spent trying to avoid attacks can cause significant problems and disruptions in various areas of the person’s life, including the development of agoraphobia (see below).
Phobia-Related Disorders
A phobia is an intense fear of or an aversion to specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious or fearful in some circumstances, the fear that individuals with phobias feel is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object, and can cause massive disruptions in their daily lives.
People with a phobia:
May have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared object or situation
Take active steps to avoid the feared object or situation
Experience immediate intense anxiety upon encountering the feared object or situation
Endure unavoidable objects and situations with intense anxiety
There are several types of phobias and phobia-related disorders, so if you or a loved one is having their life disturbed by a specific phobia, therapy with a trusted counselor could make all the difference.
Online Anxiety Therapy - Texas Online Counseling
Anxiety is one of the most presented and concerning problems in the world of mental health. The constantly increasing numbers of those reporting anxiety disorder symptoms means that it’s more important than ever to seek out help, and limit the negative and controlling power that anxiety can have on your life.
The good news is that there are solutions, and most people can see significant improvement in daily functioning and their symptoms with therapeutic treatment. Studies show that psychotherapy is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety, and working with a therapist online like the team of counselors we have at Texas Online Counseling can make a world of difference.
Get the treatment you need to truly thrive — fill out our contact form to work with Texas Online Counseling today.
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