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Anxiety and Panic Disorders

Anxiety and panic disorders include several phobia-related conditions and separation, social, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

If you are a person with GAD, you may experience excessive anxiety or worry about various things, such as personal health, work, social interactions, and everyday life tasks, most days over a six-month period. These feelings of fear and nervousness can negatively impact many areas of your life, such as social interactions, work, and relationships.

Symptoms of a generalized anxiety disorder include:

  • Feeling restless, on edge, or tense
  • Tiring easily
  • Having trouble concentrating; your mind goes blank
  • Irritability
  • Muscle tension
  • Feelings of worry that are difficult to control
  • Sleep problems, such as the inability to fall or stay asleep, restlessness, and insufficient sleep

Panic Disorder

A person with panic disorder suffers from frequent unanticipated panic attacks. Panic attacks are intense bouts of fear which come on rapidly and reach their peak within a few minutes. An attack may occur unexpectedly or be a response to a trigger, such as a fearful situation or object.

During a panic attack, you may experience the following symptoms:

  • Heart palpitations, an accelerated heart rate, or a pounding heartbeat
  • Sweating
  • Trembling (or shaking)
  • Feelings of shortness of breath, choking, or smothering
  • Feelings of impending disaster
  • Feelings of not having any control

If you have a panic disorder, you may often worry when the next attack will occur and attempt to prevent them by avoiding specific situations, behaviors, or places associated with these attacks. This anxiety about panic attacks, the effort put into preventing attacks, and panic attack recovery can cause significant problems in your everyday life.

Phobia-Related Disorders

An extreme fear of—or aversion to—certain things or situations is referred to as a phobia. Although it can be natural to be anxious in some circumstances, phobias are not proportional to the danger posed by an object or a situation.

If you have a phobia disorder, you may:

  • Experience an excessive or irrational fear of encountering the feared object or situation
  • Avoid the feared object or situation by taking active steps
  • Immediately feel intense anxiety upon encountering the feared situation or object
  • Endure situations and objects that cannot be avoided with intense anxiety

Examples of specific phobias include the fear of:

  • Heights
  • Flying
  • Animals, such as dogs, snakes, or spiders
  • Blood

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Separation anxiety disorder is a fear of being separated from those you are attached to and an underlying fear that something detrimental will happen to you if separated. This fear of separation leads you to avoid being alone and avoid being separated from your attachment figures. If you suffer from a separation anxiety disorder, you may experience nightmares about being separated from your attachment figures or may experience physical symptoms when separation occurs or is expected.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder, previously called social phobia, is characterized by an intense fear of situations involving social interaction or public performance. As a person with this disorder, you may worry that the behavior associated with the disorder will be observed negatively by others, resulting in a feeling of embarrassment. Often, people with this social disorder altogether avoid social situations because of this worry. It can arise in various situations, such as the workplace or the classroom.

Agoraphobia

Those who have agoraphobia will have an extreme fear of two or more of the following situations:

  • Enclosed spaces
  • Open spaces
  • Being alone outside of the home
  • Being in a crowd or standing in line
  • Taking public transportation

If you suffer from agoraphobia, you may tend to avoid these situations because you believe that you might not be able to leave, that you may have a panic attack, or that an embarrassing experience may occur. In extreme cases, you can become housebound.

Co-Occurring Anxiety Disorders and Substance Use Disorders

Anxiety and panic disorders of any type can lead to a co-occurring substance use disorder. Self-medication is one of the factors that can cause someone with an anxiety or panic disorder to develop a substance use disorder. Often, individuals suffering from one of these issues attempt to self-medicate their symptoms with drugs or alcohol, serving as a temporary escape from negative thoughts or as a short-term coping mechanism. However, long-term use of drugs and alcohol can exacerbate symptoms of anxiety.

For adult panic anxiety syndrome sufferers, withdrawal symptoms may be more pronounced and include higher levels of nervousness, agitation, restlessness, insomnia, irritability, and obsessive fears.

Integrated Treatment Is Key for Complex Mental Health or Co-occurring Disorders

Integrated treatment is a holistic approach that provides you with all the therapeutic resources required to heal physically, psychologically, and spiritually. There is no single cause of addiction, but co-occurring mental health disorders may increase your risk of developing a substance use disorder — and vice versa. Every person is unique. Some mental health issues are not apparent until after your addiction sets in, and then, mental health disorders are made worse or exacerbated by your substance use. Sometimes a mental health issue may precede the onset of substance use or be a concern on its own. This is why Origins offers both residential substance use disorder treatment as well as primary mental health treatment at our Florida location. We have a program to fit your needs.

Comprehensive treatment for mental health or co-occurring disorders, including panic disorders, should include the following:

You deserve an individualized treatment plan. At Origins, our treatment plans are designed with your total well-being in mind: body, mind, and spirit. We provide comprehensive behavioral health assessments to ensure that your anxiety and panic disorders and co-occurring substance use disorders are identified and treated.

Sessions with primary therapists and detailed clinical interviews lay the groundwork for an individual treatment plan for anxiety and other disorders. The treatment of co-occurring disorders must take place simultaneously, in the same location, and by the same treatment team to be effective. We offer co-occurring disorders treatment by highly trained professionals in our multidisciplinary, medically intensive program. Our treatment teams attend to your physical and mental well-being, as well as your spiritual and psychological needs. Our highly trained staff — including medical professionals, licensed therapists, and psychiatrists — meet every day to discuss your case and develop solutions. This model of integrated, specialized treatment has been shown to improve outcomes, as well as improve your quality of life.

Origins Center for Brain Recovery

Mental health and co-occurring disorders can aggravate each other, which can make successful treatment difficult. In Florida, our health psychology department, Origins Center for Brain Recovery (CBR), provides specialized, evidence-based therapy interventions to address brain health. We address the link between addiction and mental health disorders and simultaneously provide treatment for both conditions, empowering you with coping skills to better manage your symptoms.

At the Center for Brain Recovery, we provide intensive psychological testing such as:

  • Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNS VS)
  • Personality Inventory for DSM-5 – Brief Form (PID-5-BF)
  • PsychEval Personality Questionnaire (PEPQ)
  • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)

Learn more about Origins Center for Brain Recovery here.

You Can Rediscover Peace of Mind

A cure for any mental health disorder, including anxiety, does not exist, but many individuals like you succeed in leading incredible lives filled with hope and courage. Many research-based therapies and treatment interventions have proven effective in treating individuals with mental health disorders. Personalized, integrated, intensive treatment is the key. We believe you can find relief with an individualized treatment plan, long-term support, and ongoing therapeutic interventions.

Management of symptoms and long-term relief from any mental health disorder, including anxiety and panic disorders, consists of mental, physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being. Start your journey to freedom and fulfillment by calling Origins Behavioral HealthCare at 561-841-1296.