Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Everyone occasionally feels fear or worry when facing a challenging or threatening situation. When you experience this type of everyday anxiety, the feeling disappears once the event is over.

For some, anxiety turns into a constant problem or gets so severe that it affects their daily life. When you can't shake anxiety, or you change your activities to avoid the person, place, or event that triggers your stress, it's time to get help from the team at the ADHD Institute of Michigan.

Can I get different types of anxiety disorders?

There are several types of anxiety disorders. The most common include:

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

If you have GAD, you have ongoing and uncontrollable worry about many daily events, even when there's no immediate threat.

Social anxiety disorder

This disorder causes intense anxiety when you go to public places, meet new people, or must perform in front of others.

Separation anxiety disorder

Separation anxiety disorder affects children and adults, occurring when they fear separation from the significant people in their life. In many cases, they worry that being apart will cause something terrible to happen to them or their parents, caretakers, or partners.

Specific phobias

Phobias cause an intense and irrational fear of a specific activity, object, situation, or person. For example, you may fear spiders, needles, or flying.

Agoraphobia

If you have agoraphobia, your anxiety increases when you go outside your home alone, use public transportation, or find yourself in a crowd.

What symptoms accompany anxiety?

All types of anxiety disorders cause a range of symptoms. Children and adults may experience:

• Dread
• Worry
• Fear
• Irritability
• Nervousness
• Nausea
• Sweating
• Headaches
• Stomachaches
• Tense muscles
• Trouble sleeping
• Rapid heartbeat
• Difficulty concentrating

Anxiety can also trigger panic attacks. A panic attack causes sudden, severe physical symptoms like sweating, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

How is anxiety treated?

When treating anxiety, the ADHD Institute of Michigan team recommends psychotherapy, medication, or both, depending on your symptoms. Anti-anxiety medications can quickly relieve stress, but these drugs need ongoing medication management to ensure you don't develop a tolerance.

Several psychotherapy techniques effectively help children and adults overcome anxiety. One type, cognitive behavioral therapy, teaches you to recognize and change the thoughts that trigger anxiety.

If you or your child need compassionate care for anxiety, call the ADHD Institute of Michigan or schedule an in-person or telehealth appointment online today.