anxiety
tulsa, oklahoma
Do you struggle with…
Feelings of dread
Apprehension
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling tense and jumpy
Irritability
Restlessness
Racing thoughts
Expecting the worst
Having difficulty relating with others
Worries that interfere with your job or relationships
All of us deal with
anxiety on some level continually throughout our lives. It is unconscious and even natural to have feelings of worry, concerns about the future or stress when in difficult situations.
about 25% of people
in the United States are grappling with a more ongoing problem called Anxiety Disorder. This disorder isn't just about having those feelings of being worried and uneasy, but it's when these feelings become so strong that they get in the way of doing regular daily things. Anxiety disorder can be divided into five specific types:
Social anxiety disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder is when people feel strong anxiety in social situations. This can happen when they have to talk in front of others or even just eat with a small group of friends. It leads to a cycle of worrying and feeling self-conscious. The biggest fears with Social Anxiety Disorder are being judged or feeling embarrassed.
obsessive compulsive disorder
People who have OCD tend to get stuck on one particular thought or worry, like their house catching fire. To handle this fear, they create a routine or habit they feel they must do, like checking the stove over and over.
You can tell someone has OCD if they keep checking things multiple times, have to dress a certain way, arrange items in a specific order, or feel they need to do things a certain number of times to feel okay.
PTSD
PTSD comes about when someone has lived through or seen a really intense and traumatic event, like coming back from war, being in a serious car crash, or being a victim of a crime or surviving a sexual assault. People with PTSD often have sudden flashbacks of the event, feeling like it's happening again, and this might make them want to avoid people or places that bring back those tough memories.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Individuals dealing with this type of anxiety go through a continuous state of feeling anxious and worried. These emotions might arise without any particular issue setting them off, yet they consistently feel edgy and jumpy.
Panic Disorder/Specific Phobia
People who have Panic Disorder go through sudden bursts of intense anxiety, and their bodies react with things like sweating, feeling dizzy, a fast heart rate, quick breathing, chest pains, and a tingly sensation in their arms and legs. Sometimes they might even think they're having a heart attack or that they're going to die. Because of this, they might change their daily routines because they're afraid of having one of these panic attacks in public or being stuck in a situation where they can't leave.
These panic attacks can lead to strong fears called phobias. For example, Agoraphobia is a fear of leaving the safety of one's house because of this anxiety. Another type is called Specific Phobias, which are really intense fears of specific things or situations. Some common examples are being scared of elevators, small spaces, open areas, heights, germs, flying, or even just going outside. When people with these phobias come across the thing they're afraid of, they might even have another panic attack.