5 Types of Anxiety

5 Types of Anxiety

5 Types of Anxiety - psychotherapy Psychologists | Toms River, Manahawkin, Freehold, NJ

“Anxiety” is frequently used as a catch-all term for worrisome thoughts. But the reality is, there’s many forms of anxiety—and each has different symptoms.

Identifying the types can be challenging, in part because it’s possible to experience more than one at the same time. “A lot [of the types] overlap in my clinical practice,” says Elizabeth Ochoa, PhD, a chief psychologist at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City. Someone with generalized anxiety disorder may also suffer from panic attacks, for example; while a person who has social anxiety could also exhibit symptoms of OCD.

Below is an overview of the five most common anxiety disorders:

Panic disorder

This is probably the most uncomfortable type of anxiety, says Ochoa. It’s characterized by brief surges of very intense, overwhelming worry or fear. A person’s triggers may be obvious (stress is a common one), or unknown.

While a panic attack starts in the mind, the physical symptoms are all too real: They may include heart palpitations, sweating, difficulty breathing, shaking, chest pain, and nausea. (This Is Us actor Sterling K. Brown’s Emmy-winning portrayal of a panic attack showed how scary and debilitating these episodes can be.)

Another characteristic of panic attacks is derealization: “[People will] feel like things are not real, or feel detached from oneself,” says Ben Michaelis, PhD, a New York City-based clinical psychologist and founder of the YouTube channel One Minute Diagnosis.

Many people will experience at least one panic attack in their lives, likely during a period of acute stress. But if you get panic attacks more frequently, or they start interfering with your life (causing you to avoid places where you had an attack in the past, for example), you might be suffering from a panic disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you learn coping strategies, and pinpoint your triggers.

Social anxiety

Everyone feels nervous in social settings from time to time (think dinner with your S.O.’s parents, or an awkward networking event). But people with social anxiety are highly self-conscious around others, and experience an intense fear of being observed and judged that can result in physical symptoms like sweating, blushing, and nausea.

“They worry that their behavior will humiliate or embarrass themselves, offend others, and lead to rejection,” says Michaelis. “But their fear or anxiety is not proportional to any actual threat.”

Any social situation can become extremely stressful. “People with social anxiety are constantly worried that they’ll create a negative perception,” says Ochoa. The thought of their own anxiety can actually breed more anxiety, too. “They often worry that their anxiety will be knowable.”

The disorder can make it tougher to develop interpersonal relationships, she says. When seeking help, try to find a psychiatrist or psychologist who has experience working with people with social anxiety.

Generalized anxiety disorder

This type of anxiety affects 6.8 million adults in the United States every year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. But while common, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) isn’t the same thing as occasionally feeling anxious. “Everyone has instances of extreme anxiety from time to time,” says Ochoa. “It’s notable when it interferes with your day-to-day functioning.”

People with GAD experience severe, irrational concern about specific triggers. Ochoa explains that the anxiety often stems from real-life, everyday factors and circumstances, such as health, finances, and family. These are all normal things to feel anxious about, of course. But for people with GAD, the level of anxiety is hugely out of proportion to the cause.

“They’re excessively anxious about a number of events, and have difficulty controlling such worry to the point that it impacts their lives,” says Michaelis.

People with GAD can also develop symptoms like fatigue, tense muscles, or difficulty sleeping and concentrating.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

OCD is a little different from the other major anxiety types, says Ochoa. “It stands alone,” she explains, because while anxiety often involves an avoidance of triggers (such as skipping a cocktail party), people with OCD engage in repetitive behaviors tied to a particular phobia. But OCD is often considered a form of anxiety because people with the disorder usually feel intensely anxious when they aren’t able to perform certain behaviors.

“A person with OCD experiences either obsessions, compulsions, or both,” says Michaelis. “Obsessions are recurrent unwanted or intrusive thoughts, urges, or images that cause anxiety and distress; and compulsions are repetitive behaviors or acts that a person does in order to suppress an unwanted thought or urge.”

A few common symptoms of the disorder include compulsive hand-washing, obsessive cleaning, so-called “checking” behaviors (returning home to see if you’ve turned off the stove, for example), or performing counting tasks (often driven by a superstition, like “I have to count when walking up stairs or something bad will happen”). The compulsions are typically driven by fear of germs or contamination, or mental images of violent scenes.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Like OCD, PTSD is different from other types of anxiety disorders. “Anxiety is clearly a component of [PTSD], but it’s much more complicated,” says Ochoa.

People develop PTSD after experiencing a highly stressful, life-threatening event, such as military combat, a serious injury, or sexual violence (although it’s important to note that not everyone who survives situations like these gets PTSD). The disorder often causes “re-experiencing” symptoms—or flashbacks to the initial trauma and upsetting, intrusive thoughts that can interfere with relationships and daily functioning.

“They become distressed when exposed to cues that resemble the traumatic event,” says Michaelis. “For example, if a person lived through a horrific hurricane, a windy day may trigger aspects of the traumatic event.”

Other people with PTSD may feel constantly on edge, have trouble sleeping, or generally experience negative feelings. The good news is that with therapy, it is possible to recover from PTSD and move on.

Excerpt from MSN. full story here

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Anxiety & Depression. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

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5 Types of Anxiety

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain

neuropsychology health rehab

Many years ago I was plagued with debilitating headaches associated with a number of seemingly unrelated activities that included cooking for company and sewing drapes for the house. I thought I might be allergic to natural gas or certain fabrics until one day I realized that I tensed my facial muscles when I concentrated intently on a project.

The cure was surprisingly simple: I became aware of how my body was reacting and changed it through self-induced behavior modification. I consciously relaxed my muscles whenever I focused on a task that could precipitate a tension-induced headache.

Fast-forward about five decades: Now it was my back that ached when I hurriedly cooked even a simple meal. And once again, after months of pain, I realized that I was transferring stress to the muscles of my back and had to learn to relax them, and to allow more time to complete a project to mitigate the stress. Happy to report, I recently prepared dinner for eight with nary a pain.

I don’t mean to suggest that every ache and pain can be cured by self-awareness and changing one’s behavior. But recent research has demonstrated that the mind – along with other nonpharmacological remedies — can be powerful medicine to relieve many kinds of chronic or recurrent pains, especially low back pain.

As Dr. James Campbell, a neurosurgeon and pain specialist, put it, “The best treatment for pain is right under our noses.” He suggests not “catastrophizing” – not assuming that the pain represents something disastrous that keeps you from leading the life you’ve chosen.

Acute pain is nature’s warning signal that something is wrong that should be attended to. Chronic pain, however, is no longer a useful warning signal, yet it can lead to perpetual suffering if people remain afraid of it, the doctor said.

“If the pain is not an indication that something is seriously wrong, you can learn to live with it,” said Dr. Campbell, an emeritus professor at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Too often, he explained, “people with pain get caught in a vicious cycle of inactivity that results in lost muscle strength and further pain problems.”

Throwing powerful drugs at chronic pain problems may only add to the problem because ever higher doses are often needed to keep the pain at bay. Knowing this, a growing cadre of specialists are exploring nondrug, noninvasive treatments, some of which have proved highly effective in relieving chronic pain.

The American College of Physicians recently issued new nondrug guidelines for treating chronic or recurrent back pain, a condition that afflicts approximately one-quarter of adults at a cost to the country in excess of $100 billion a year.

Noting that most patients with back pain improve with time “regardless of treatment,” the college recommends such remedies as superficial heat, massage, acupuncture or, in some cases, spinal manipulation (chiropractic or osteopathic). For those with chronic back pain, the suggestions include exercise, rehabilitation, acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, progressive relaxation, cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction.

Drug-free pain management is now a top priority among researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, a division of the National Institutes of Health. A comprehensive summary of the effectiveness of nondrug treatments for common pain problems – back pain, fibromyalgia, severe headache, knee arthritis and neck pain — was published last year in Mayo Clinic Proceedings by Richard L. Nahin and colleagues at the center.

Based on evidence from well-designed clinical trials, the team reported that these complementary approaches “may help some patients manage their painful health conditions: acupuncture and yoga for back pain; acupuncture and tai chi for osteoarthritis of the knee; massage therapy for neck pain with adequate doses and for short-term benefit; and relaxation techniques for severe headaches and migraine.”

Weaker evidence also suggested that massage therapy and spinal and osteopathic manipulation may be of some benefit to patients with back pain, and relaxation techniques and tai chi may help patients with fibromyalgia find relief.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with brain injuries. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain

Tips for Parents Supporting Children with ADHD

Tips for Parents Supporting Children with ADHD

Tips for Parents Supporting Children with ADHD Tips for Parents Supporting Children with ADHD

The school environment can be challenging even for a child with optimal psychological health. The responsibilities such as school assignments, homework, interaction with other children, and co-curricular activities all can contribute to considerable stress in a child. The level of stress in children who suffer from ADHD can be even greater because of the unique challenges they confront due to their symptoms.

The following pointers can help prepare a child with ADHD for school:

1.    Psychological Assessment

It is important for a parent who is suspecting that their child is suffering from ADHD to take the child to a professional for an assessment. The assessment is the first step towards supporting the child to have a successful school life.  After identifying the particular challenge the child is facing, the professional can empower the parent on how to support the child at home and in school.

2.    Meet with the Teacher

The child needs support from the teacher. The school teachers are essential in the success journey of the child. The parent should have a meeting with the teacher to brief them on the psychological condition of the student.  The parent can also empower the teacher on some of the support techniques that have been beneficial of their child.

3.    Establish a Rewards System

A child with ADHD often has a compromised ability to grasp future consequences and rewards.  Therefore, a more immediate and concrete reward system can be of great benefit to an ADHD child. For example, after every completed assignment, the child can get an reward. The short term rewards can help the child to be more focused in pursuing.  Your child’s therapists can be an important resource for helping you develop an effective positive reinforcement behavioral plan.

4.    Home environment

A structured, consistent, positive and nurturing environment that a parent provides for their child at home and after school is key for success. Positive attention and support, a consistent routine, clear expectations of the child and realistic expectations from the parent will help the child both cope with their school stress and develop the skills, behaviors, and motivation to succeed.

5.  Get Professional Help

At Pathways Neuropsychology Associates we are here to help you help your child succeed and reduce both the parents and the child’s level of stress.  ADHD/Executive Functioning Coaching and Parent Management Training teach evidenced behavioral strategies and compensatory strategies to increase school success. Psychotherapy and biofeedback teach and enhance coping and stress management skills.  A thorough assessment helps identify your child’s strength and weaknesses, rules out any other academic, behavioral or emotional factors contributing to their difficulties and directs treatment strategies.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with ADHD & brain injuries. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

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Source: Pathways Neuropsychology
Tips for Parents Supporting Children with ADHD