Anxiety is a completely normal and expected part of life. You might be anxious before a job interview or during a major presentation. Some level of anxiety can drive you to prepare for important things in your life. However, for some people, anxiety can get out of hand and make daily life more difficult.
Anxiety disorders are one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. Millions are affected by symptoms of anxiety every day, from feelings of nervousness to severe panic attacks. Your mental health affects everything you do, and suffering from anxiety can make routine tasks feel like major obstacles.
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce anxiety. Just as a doctor can perform surgery and suggest lifestyle changes to make you healthier, a mental health professional can craft treatment plans for managing anxiety. If your mental health is interfering with your happiness, attending counseling or therapy for anxiety might help you live a happier, healthier life.
At Thriveworks Counseling in San Jose, CA, our licensed counselors and therapists are experts at treating anxiety and giving clients the tools to alleviate its symptoms. Call or contact us online to get started.
Most Common Symptoms of Anxiety
Mental health terms like anxiety get used a lot these days. Of course, open, casual conversations are essential for destigmatizing health concerns, but it’s also good to be familiar with the specific signs of anxiety.
People with anxiety disorders deal with more than occasional stage fright or stress before final exams. The following are all common symptoms of anxiety:
- Excessive worrying: Anxiety can cause fearfulness disproportionate to the events or things that cause it. Frequent worrying that lasts at least six months is typically considered a sign of generalized anxiety disorder.
- Panic attacks: A panic disorder is typically characterized by recurring panic attacks — periods of a rapid heartbeat, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, nausea, and a fear of losing control or dying.
- Fatigue: Anxiety sends the body into overdrive, leaving you exhausted and making it difficult to muster the energy for anything, even your most cherished activities.
- Physical symptoms: Nausea, trembling, difficulty sleeping through the night, sweaty palms, and avoiding social interactions are signs of an anxiety disorder.
Other indications include a sense of impending doom, irritability, and trouble concentrating. If you’ve struggled with any of the above, you might be living with an anxiety disorder.
Maybe these feelings have been with you for as long as you can remember. Or perhaps they started recently in response to a traumatic event. Whatever you’re experiencing, our counselors and therapists from Thriveworks Counseling in San Jose, CA, can help you navigate anxiety and manage your symptoms.
Therapy for Anxiety: What To Expect
Therapy is not only for severe cases of anxiety. It can also benefit people who are experiencing temporary setbacks or simply want to understand their mental health. Therapy for anxiety aims to identify, treat, and provide coping strategies that can help reduce anxiety.
Working with a licensed therapist or counselor typically involves voicing your concerns, sharing a little about your history and current living conditions, and setting goals. Treatment for anxiety can incorporate:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): This method is based on the idea that your thoughts, rather than your current situation, affect how you feel and behave. By identifying thought patterns, CBT can help you unlearn harmful or ineffective ways of thinking that increase anxiety.
- Talk therapy: Speaking with a therapist, counselor, or psychiatrist about emotions and experiences you don’t usually share with others may lessen your anxiety and open you to new strategies for managing the disorder.
- Exposure therapy: If there are specific environmental factors that lead to your anxiety, exposure therapy — in which you are gradually introduced to these triggers in a safe way — could make your reactions to them more manageable.
This process tends to be multifaceted and looks somewhat different for everyone. A therapist or counselor will likely deploy a combination of methods best suited for your specific needs.
Schedule Sessions for Anxiety — Thriveworks in San Jose, CA
When you’re ready, mental health professionals from Thriveworks Counseling in San Jose, CA, are available. We offer convenient weekday, weekend, and evening sessions to help you find time for valuable care.
Our new clients can often meet with a provider within 24 to 48 hours of reaching out, and we accept many different insurance plans. Additionally, text-message assistance for booking and billing makes scheduling simple.
There are even more great benefits to working with Thriveworks Counseling, including access to unique video content and the option to contact your provider between sessions through text or email.
Working with a therapist, counselor, or psychiatrist from Thriveworks Counseling in San Jose, CA, can help you manage your anxiety and live your best life. Consider calling our office or using our convenient online scheduling tool to get started.
