Anxiety

Everyone feels anxious sometimes, but continual or excessive anxiety indicates a mental health disorder. If anxiety affects your daily life, talk to board-certified nurse practitioner Kanwaljit (Kavi) Sidhu, NP-C, PMHNP-BC, at Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic in Palm Harbor, Florida. Kavi provides personalized treatments for anxiety and related conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Call Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic today or book an in-person or telehealth appointment online to benefit from Kavi’s experience in helping people overcome anxiety.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a natural reaction to stress and fear, so it’s typically nothing to worry about, providing you only feel it occasionally and it doesn’t cause significant problems. 

However, some people develop anxiety disorders, so they feel anxious all of the time or experience terrifying anxiety peaks in specific situations.

Fortunately, Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic offers effective anxiety treatments, including anti-anxiety medications and psychotherapy (talk therapy) techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).  

What anxiety disorders might affect me?

Common anxiety disorders include:

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

GAD causes persistent anxiousness, worry, and restlessness. You feel continually on edge and grow increasingly afraid of everything. GAD interferes with your ability to work or study, adversely affects relationships, and limits your achievements. It can get so bad that people can’t leave their homes.

Phobias

Phobias are intense fears relating to certain situations or objects — common examples include heights, spiders, confined spaces, and snakes. Phobias cause irrational and excessive terror that makes you avoid the object of your fear, no matter the inconvenience.

Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder is a phobia where your fear is being with and/or judged by others. When you’re around people — especially strangers or large crowds — your heart pounds, your hands shake, and you sweat excessively.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder causes sudden attacks of fear and a loss of control. Panic attacks are so distressing that people go to extreme lengths to avoid anything that could trigger one. Panic attacks also affect people with GAD and phobias.

What other mental health conditions cause anxiety?

Anxiety is a primary symptom of several psychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

OCD has two elements. The first is obsessions, which are fixations on something you can’t stop thinking about. Obsessions are often unpleasant and disturbing; you may be obsessed with germs and getting sick, for example.

The second element of OCD is compulsions. These generally develop as a coping mechanism for obsessions. Sometimes, they’re related, so if your obsession is germs, your compulsions will likely revolve around cleaning and avoiding contamination.

Other compulsions don’t directly relate to the obsession. For example, many people with OCD feel compelled to open and close doors or flick light switches on and off a set number of times when they leave or enter a room.

Anxiety also affects people who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which develops after a severely disturbing or life-threatening experience.

Call Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic today or book an appointment online for expert trauma-informed anxiety disorder and OCD care.