The novelist Jodi Picoult once wrote, “Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.” We all suffer from stress and worries, but serious anxiety can be debilitating to daily functioning, mental health, and personal relationships. People who suffer from anxiety might severely restrict their social interactions or suffer from terrifying panic attacks. They might verbally lash out at the people they love when they feel out of control. Your anxiety has the power to affect everyone around you. But the person hurting the most is you.
Anxiety therapists at Thriveworks in Vancouver, WA have the training and expertise to help you find relief from your anxiety disorder. They can introduce therapies and coping mechanisms that can help ease your worried mind. Thriveworks anxiety therapists can work with you to develop a treatment plan that will get you on a path to reducing your symptoms and improving your quality of life.
Why Do I Need to Treat My Anxiety?
Anxiety is a distressing mental state that can also have a broader impact on your mind and body. People who suffer from anxiety may find that they experience other physical and psychological symptoms as well, including:
- Headaches and migraines
- Memory and focus issues
- Mild and major depression
- Changes in weight
- Sleep disruptions like insomnia or nightmares
- Digestive problems, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Anxiety can also manifest as hypochondria, where you convince yourself that you have an illness even without a rational basis for that belief. It is so important to get professional help for anxiety before it negatively affects even more areas of your life. Anxiety therapists at Thriveworks in Vancouver, WA are here to help you take the first steps toward feeling less anxious.
The Most Effective Treatments for Anxiety in Vancouver, WA
Anxiety therapists are specialized mental health providers who focus on helping their clients overcome invasive feelings and disruptive behaviors that are driven by underlying anxious thoughts. Thriveworks therapists in Vancouver have a wide variety of effective tools at their disposal to treat anxiety, including the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Psychotherapy
- Exposure therapy
- Relaxation techniques like meditation and deep breathing
- Biofeedback
- Art and music therapy
- Medication
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR)
- Lifestyle changes
- Family therapy or relationship counseling
An anxiety therapist may try a combination of treatments to address your feelings, beliefs, and behaviors. For example, if your teenage daughter is suffering from obsessions and compulsions, she may benefit from talking to a counselor regularly as well as attending a few sessions of family therapy to help you and your family members learn how to support each other. She may also speak to a psychiatrist at Thriveworks in Vancouver, WA to explore treatment with medication.
Different Types of Anxiety and Their Common Symptoms
Anxiety comes in all shapes and forms. Even with the same diagnosis, different clients may experience anxiety in diverse ways. Here are a few of the most common types of anxiety and how they might manifest in the real world:
- Social anxiety disorder: someone may avoid other people at all costs
- Panic disorder: someone may feel like they’re having a heart attack when they’re overwhelmed by anxious feelings
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): someone may be unable to stop doing something or thinking about something
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): someone may have difficulty with daily functioning due to persistent anxious thoughts
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): someone may experience terrifying nightmares, invasive thoughts, and/or intense episodes of distress following a traumatic event
- Phobias: someone may become panic-stricken when presented with the object of their phobia (like spiders in the case of arachnophobia) or when put into a situation that petrifies them (like boarding an airplane when they’re afraid of heights)
- Separation anxiety: someone may experience frequent and excessive anguish about being apart from loved ones
But all of these disorders have one thing in common. Anxiety is often about forecasting, about imagining worst-case, life-or-death scenarios. This kind of thinking can take a long-term, negative toll on your health, which is why anxiety therapists at Thriveworks in Vancouver, WA are eager to give you the support you need to start your recovery.
Get the Essential Help You Need for Your Anxiety from Thriveworks in Vancouver, WA
At Thriveworks, we think that great mental health should come first. It’s the essential foundation from which everything else in your life can be accomplished, thus we all need to make it a priority. Our anxiety therapists are fully licensed, top-rated, and highly qualified to give you the care and attention your mental health requires. You do not have to suffer alone through panic attacks and severe anxious episodes anymore. You can reach out to our professionals for help instead.
When you enroll at Thriveworks, you can begin seeing your counselor in as few as 24-48 hours. Our therapy appointments begin on-time or early over 97% of the time. And you can opt for online counseling sessions, covered by health insurance, if they’re more convenient for you. Call today to start receiving the essential help you need for your anxiety.
