Anxiety Disorders
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If you are interested in counseling for Anxiety, call OakHeart at 630-570-0050 or 779-201-6440 or email us at [email protected]. We have counselors, psychologists, and social workers available to help you at one of our locations in North Aurora, IL, Sycamore, IL, and/or via Telehealth Online Therapy Services serving Kane County, DeKalb County, Dupage County, and beyond.
The Anxiety Disorders are a group of disorders comprised of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), Panic Disorder (with or without Agoraphobia), Specific Phobias, Separation Anxiety Disorder, and Selective Mutism. Illness Anxiety Disorder (Health Anxiety) is technically classified as a Somatic Symptom and Related Disorder; however, we will cover information related to the disorder under anxiety disorders due to it's similarity to other anxiety disorders, both in terms of how the disorder manifests and also in terms of how it is treated.
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Generalized Anxiety DisorderGAD is essentially a fear of bad things happening in the future. Individuals with GAD worry about a large variety of fears such as a loved one dying or being in a serious accident, something horrible happening to their children, money/financial security, getting a serious illness or dying, how they are performing in their jobs, losing their job, being evaluated by others, making mistakes, etc. Individuals with GAD find it very difficult to control their worry and describe the thoughts as repetitive. They also often describe worry as almost compulsive in nature. Long periods of time may go by before the individual realizes that they have been steeped in worry and chasing "worry rabbits down worry holes."
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Social Anxiety DisorderSocial Anxiety Disorder is defined as an intense and persistent fear of social situations (interaction and/or performance). Individuals with social anxiety set exceedingly high expectations for themselves in regards to how they should behave/perform, and estimate their ability to meet these expectation as very low. The individual fears that they will be negatively evaluated and that they will be humiliated or embarrassed as a result. Individuals with social anxiety may also fear positive evaluation because they perceive positive feedback to mean that the bar to which they are held will then be raised even further out of their reach.
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Panic DisorderPanic Disorder is characterized by recurrent and sometimes unexpected panic attacks. These panic attacks often feel as though they are coming out of the blue and can sometimes even occur while someone is asleep. Panic attacks are episodes of intense fear and anxiety, with symptoms such as pounding heart, heart palpitations, fast heart rate, sweating, trembling or shaking, shortness of breath, smothering sensations, feeling of choking, chest pain, nausea, stomach distress, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, feeling weak or faint, and feelings of unreality or of having an "out of body experience." Symptoms may include a feeling of dread or that something terrible is about to happen.
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Specific PhobiasA Specific Phobia is defined as a significant fear or anxiety about a specific object (e.g., dogs) or situation (e.g., flying on an airplane, heights, seeing blood, vomiting). The object or situation is either completely avoided when possible, or when avoidance is not possible, the individual "white knuckles" through the situation with extreme anxiety and distress. Importantly, to be diagnosed with a Specific Phobia, the fear and anxiety in response to the object and/or situation(s) must be disproportionate to the actual danger. In addition, the phobia must impact a person's life and cause impairment in domains such as in occupational settings, social situations, relationships, educational achievement, etc.
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Health Anxiety (Illness Anxiety Disorder)Individuals with Health Anxiety, also known as Illness Anxiety Disorder (formerly known as Hypochondriasis), are extremely anxious, pre-occupied, and distressed about having or acquiring a serious illness. These fears are inappropriate or excessive and may include a misinterpretation of benign internal cues (e.g., heart racing), medical conditions (e.g., muscle strain, headache, cough) or physical abnormalities (e.g., rash, mole). Some individuals with health anxiety may have a diagnosed medical condition; however, the pre-occupation with and fears associated with this medical condition are considered to be excessive or disproportionate in relation to the actual threat.
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Anxiety Disorder Related Blogs:
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The inhibitory learning perspective suggests that the goal of ERP should be to learn to tune out or inhibit the idea that a stimuli is dangerous while allowing development of the the belief that the stimuli is generally safe, despite any anxiety and/or distress that arises (Abramowitz; n.d.). This perspective also emphasizes that learning new information/new safety associations that supersede or combat previous fear associations is critical to overcoming a fear. In other words, part of exposure therapy requires sitting with a feared stimuli long enough to develop new beliefs about it, mainly that it is not as dangerous as it seemed...(to read more, click on the link above).
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The development of anxiety-based disorders, OCD, and PTSD, as understood at this time, involves complex interactions between genetic and environmental, behavioral, and psychological factors. In this blog, I will discuss a leading theory on one major behavioral/ psychological contribution to the development of and maintenance of these disorders: Avoidance. Unfortunately, avoidance generally prevents overcoming a fear response. Why? Because you can’t see that a feared situation, thought, or memory is actually not harmful until you repeatedly encounter that thing and see that it is not harmful...(to read more, click on the link above).
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Treatment for an anxiety disorder generally involves two components: 1. Taking small steps towards facing a fear, psychologically and/ or behaviorally. 2. Taking the same small steps over and over again until you can take another step. In theory, if you keep taking small steps, eventually, you get to the final step and overcome your fear. Why would you need to repeatedly take the same step over and over again to get used to it? Well, simply stated, that is the only way we learn that we can do something difficult as human beings. If we do not think we can do something difficult, we need to go do that thing over and over again until we feel like we are actually capable of doing it and have collected enough instances of success to be confident in our abilities. Treating an anxiety disorder, in this sense, is similar to training as an athlete. How many baskets does an NBA player have to make to feel confident? Many...(to read more, click on the link above).
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Resources
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
