Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety is the body’s natural alarm system. It’s designed to alert us to potential danger and prepare us to respond in ways that keep us safe. This is where you may have heard of the fight, flight, freeze or fawn response.
With anxiety disorders, the body can begin activating this system in situations that aren’t actually dangerous, confusing discomfort with threat. It’s like a fire alarm going off when there isn’t actually a fire. Think about a fire drill or the monthly tornado siren test. We may initially feel alarmed before realizing it’s just a drill. For people with anxiety disorders, that alarm can become so sensitive, loud, and convincing that it’s much harder to recognize when there isn’t real danger.
When that alarm keeps going off, it’s natural to try to escape the feeling through behaviors like avoidance (flight). While these reactions may bring relief in the moment, they reinforce the alarm over time, making anxiety harder to tolerate and slowly shrinking our world.
Exposure therapy helps retrain that alarm system so the brain can relearn the difference between discomfort and true danger.
generalized anxiety disorder: persistent and excessive worry about many areas of life, making it difficult to relax, turn the mind off, or stop feeling tense and on edge.
social anxiety: a strong fear of being judged, embarrassed, or coming across as awkward in social situations, leading to avoiding interactions, overthinking what to say, or reading too much into what others do or don’t do around you.
panic attacks: sudden surges of intense physical sensations, such as shortness of breath, hyperventilating, shaking, or a racing heart, that can feel frightening and overwhelming.
agoraphobia: a fear of being in situations where escape might feel difficult or help might not be available if anxiety or panic occurs. Although it’s often thought of as being afraid to leave the house, the core fear usually revolves around thoughts like: What if I pass out or lose control and embarrass myself in public? What if no one can help me? What if I panic here and can’t get out? People may begin avoiding places like stores, crowds, public transportation, or being far away from home.
health/illness anxiety: a persistent fear of having a medical condition that hasn’t been discovered yet. People may become highly focused on bodily sensations, research symptoms, or frequently visit doctors. This experience can feel especially confusing for people who already live with chronic health conditions or who have experienced serious illness in the past, where real medical concerns and anxiety can become difficult to separate.
Types of anxiety conditions we treat: