How Can a Therapist or Psychiatrist Help With Anxiety Management?

Everyone experiences worry or fear occasionally. Yet, recurring, overwhelming dread can impact your life. When this happens, talking to a trained therapist or board-certified psychiatrist can help you manage these feelings and learn healthy ways to cope.

Anxiety Disorders

An anxiety disorder is a mental health condition. It often leads to excessive worry or fear about ordinary things. They include:

Generalized anxiety disorder.
Social anxiety disorder.
Panic disorder.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Post-traumatic stress disorders.
Phobias.

Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders

The disorders listed above have specific triggers, but they cause similar symptoms. These include:

Restlessness.
Trouble sleeping.
Excessive worry or fear.
Irritability.
Trembling or sweating.
Feeling tired or weak.
Difficulty concentrating.

Avoidance.

About 31 percent of adolescents and 19 percent of adults experience anxiety on a yearly basis. This is according to estimates by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Individuals with anxiety disorders tend to react to unpleasant situations, feelings, and thoughts more powerfully. They often try to manage their reactions through avoidance.

Unfortunately, avoiding triggers only reinforces the problem. Therapists address avoidance and negative thinking to help patients manage their anxiety.

Therapy for Anxiety Disorders

You do not have to live with fear and anxiety. A professional therapist can help you manage and overcome your anxiety problems. Unlike anxiety medication, which only treats the symptoms, therapy treats the underlying causes. He/she can teach you to look at difficult situations in less terrifying ways.

Anxiety therapy will help you develop better coping and problem-solving skills. It is also important to remember that anxiety disorders differ. Hence, your therapist will tailor your treatment to your specific diagnosis.

For example, the treatment for OCD differs from that for anxiety attacks. Furthermore, the length of treatment will also vary. It will depend on the type and severity of your anxiety disorder. Most anxiety treatments are short-term. Many patients experience significant improvement within ten therapy sessions. That is according to studies by the American Psychological Association.

Therapeutic Approaches for Anxiety Disorders

Therapy aims to help patients understand their feelings and anxiety triggers. Patients learn how to react to those triggers. Some therapists teach practical coping techniques. These help patients reframe their negative thinking and change their behaviors.

Mental health professionals, such as therapists, and psychiatrists, use different types of anxiety therapies to help their patients. Common approaches are cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and dialect behavioral therapy. Others include art therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, interpersonal therapy, and psychoanalytic therapy.

Does your anxiety disorder impair your daily functioning and quality of life? If so, it is best to seek help from a trained and experienced therapist. Do you have a diagnosed anxiety disorder? Your therapist will create an effective treatment plan. It will include one or more of the above mentioned therapies.

For more on psychiatry and therapy, visit Choulet Wellness: Scottsdale Concierge Psychiatry & Therapy at our office in Scottsdale, Arizona. Call (480) 448-6571 to schedule an appointment today.