It’s both normal and expected to feel worried and nervous sometimes. These feelings, while sometimes uncomfortable, actually help you respond to challenges in your life and to remain alert to any potential dangers.Â
But when anxiety becomes a disorder, it stops being helpful and starts dominating your daily life. Anxiety symptoms persist even without any real threats, interfering with your ability to work and take part in meaningful activities. The racing thoughts, physical tension, and constant dread don’t simply pass when you’re out of a stressful situation.Â
The signs of an anxiety disorder can be different from person to person and depending on the specific condition. Some people experience more physical symptoms of anxiety, while others find coping with the emotional aspects more of a challenge – and many people experience both.Â
Identifying your anxiety symptoms helps you tell the difference between normal stress responses and conditions that would benefit from mental health treatment. Thankfully, most people can find major relief and regain control of their lives with professional anxiety treatment options.Â
This page can help you better understand the signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders by discussing:Â
Anxiety symptoms experienced in these disorders are typically disproportionate to any actual threats or anxiety-causing circumstances, unlike the stress responses that serve a protective purpose.Â
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) currently recognizes several anxiety disorders, each with its own unique criteria. These include the following:
The anxiety usually isn’t focused on any one specific trigger but shifts between several concerns regarding home, work, health, finances, family, and everyday activities and responsibilities.Â
People with GAD often realize their concerns are excessive or over-the-top, but also feel powerless to stop them. Carrying such a heavy mental burden can be exhausting, making focus and concentration difficult.
Panic attack symptoms usually include sudden and intense fear, physical sensations (such as heart palpitations, sweating, and shortness of breath), along with fearing losing control or even dying.Â
People struggling with this condition tend to develop avoidance behaviors around situations and places where attacks have occurred or where escaping might be difficult. Some even end up in the emergency room during a panic attack, convinced they’re experiencing a heart attack or another life-threatening circumstance.Â
As with many other anxiety-related mental health issues, the symptoms of social anxiety are often out of balance with the actual circumstances at hand. It can limit your career opportunities and relationship development, with many people becoming increasingly isolated as a result.Â
The fear response that occurs when being presented with these stimuli can be immediate and overwhelming, often triggering full-blown panic attack symptoms as well.Â
Like other anxiety issues, avoidance can quickly become the primary coping strategy for phobias, which can get in the way of many daily activities and other opportunities.Â
Commonly feared situations might include public transportation, open spaces, crowds, or being outside the home by yourself. People suffering from agoraphobia avoid these situations as much as possible – or endure them with major distress.Â
Agoraphobia can develop after experiencing a panic attack in a specific location. The fear of having more attacks can lead to restricted movements or becoming homebound and unable to work.Â
AMFM is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
Anxiety symptoms affect both the body and the mind, creating a cycle where physical sensations intensify your emotional distress (and vice versa). Below, we discuss how these symptoms can manifest in more detail.
Physical symptoms of anxiety happen when the body’s natural fight-or-flight response activates inappropriately or excessively. The body’s nervous system releases stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, preparing the body for danger that might not even be happening.Â
Common physical signs and experiences of anxiety can include:Â
Sometimes these sensations can be so intense that you might mistake them for a serious medical issue. In fact, many first-time panic attacks send people to the ER, as the physical reality of anxiety and stress symptoms can make them impossible to ignore.Â
Emotional symptoms of anxiety involve ongoing psychological distress that colors how you view yourself, others, and the world at large. These symptoms can be even more debilitating than physical symptoms because they can totally alter your thought patterns and behaviors.Â
Emotional struggles related to anxiety include:Â
The emotional experiences of anxiety create and reinforce cognitive distortions that feed into anxiety disorders. You might catastrophize minor situations, frequently assume the worst possible outcome, and discount any evidence that contradicts your fears.Â
These thought patterns can quickly become automatic, making it challenging to maintain your perspective or challenge any irrational beliefs without professional help for anxiety symptoms.Â
Anxiety becomes a disorder when it crosses over into enduring impairment in your daily life. Normal anxiety serves a purpose, motivating you to prepare and protect you against real dangers and challenges. Distorted anxiety persists without any legitimate threats and intensifies way beyond the circumstances, preventing you from engaging in important and meaningful life activities.Â
The signs of an anxiety disorder usually emerge when your symptoms last almost every day for at least six months and feel uncontrollable, despite any efforts you’ve made to manage them. Diagnosing and treating anxiety disorders involves assessing these patterns alongside other aspects of your life, setting you up with the appropriate treatment to start the healing process.Â
A Mission For Michael (AMFM) provides treatment for adults experiencing various conditions. Anxiety support is a phone call away – call 866-478-4383 to learn about our current treatment options.
See our residences in Southern California’s Orange County & San Diego County.
Take a look at our homes on the east side of the Metro area in Washington County.
View our facilities in Fairfax County, VA within the DC metro area.
Holistic, effective anxiety treatment options can help you address the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of your disorder. Most people ultimately benefit from a combination of therapy for anxiety and other treatment modalities and interventions for stabilization and long-term improvement.Â
In the upcoming sections, we discuss the different aspects of treatment.
Therapy for anxiety can occur across several treatment environments. For example, outpatient care allows you to attend individual or group sessions weekly while still attending to your home and community responsibilities. Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) provide a higher frequency of sessions, usually three to five days per week, for several hours a day.Â
Partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) can offer you structured daily programming while also allowing you to go home at night, offering an effective balance between remaining at home and intensive needs.Â
Residential anxiety treatment, meanwhile, provides wraparound and immersive care in a supportive environment 24 hours a day. This level of care can benefit people whose anxiety symptoms are severely impairing daily functioning or who haven’t responded to outpatient care.Â
There are several tried-and-true therapy modalities that can help you start the recovery process from ongoing anxiety symptoms. CBT, DBT, EMDR, and group therapy all provide a robust evidence base for their effectiveness and can be adapted to your unique needs.Â
Therapy can help you explore your triggers for anxiety and underlying beliefs contributing to symptoms, with therapists delivering interventions that speak to your circumstances.
Additionally, total-person treatment can involve several special approaches to help you heal. Yoga and meditation can increase your awareness and relaxation ability to counteract the symptoms of anxiety, while art and music therapy offer alternative ways to process your emotions. Â
Additionally, animal-assisted therapy can help reduce your anxiety by providing a calming presence, lowering your stress hormones, and providing comfort during the difficult work of mental health counseling.Â
Constant worry, racing thoughts, and physical tension don’t have to run your life. A Mission For Michael specializes in treating the full range of anxiety disorders, providing a full spectrum of care to meet your needs.Â
Our approach combines proven techniques for anxiety, including psychiatric medication management, family involvement, and holistic activities for long-term wellness. Most insurance plans cover anxiety treatment options, and our team handles insurance verifications for you to simplify the process.Â
You deserve to heal from the constant weight of anxiety – contact us today to start the process.Â
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If anxiety is dictating your thoughts and actions, it’s natural to have some continuing concerns after the information on this page. This is why we’ve provided answers to some of the questions most commonly presented to us.Â
Yes, chronic anxiety and stress symptoms can lead to serious health issues over time. For example, ongoing activation of your stress response spikes cortisol levels and can weaken immune function, straining the cardiovascular system.Â
People with untreated anxiety disorders also face disrupted sleeping patterns and can struggle with poor nutrition, further compromising their well-being.
Effective anxiety treatment at AMFM can help you relieve psychological distress and protect your long-term health.Â
When anxiety becomes a disorder, it interferes with your ability to function despite your best efforts to manage it. Think about seeking help for anxiety symptoms if your anxiety occurs most (or all) of the time for over a month, causes you major distress, or leads to avoiding activities that are important or that you used to enjoy.Â
Other signs of an anxiety disorder might include panic attacks, failing to control your worrying, physical symptoms, and relationship issues caused as a result.Â
Early intervention through therapy for anxiety usually leads to a faster, more complete recovery.Â
Panic attack symptoms and heart attack symptoms can feel remarkably similar, making them difficult to tell apart in the heat of the moment. Both can cause chest pains, shortness of breath, sweating, and the fear of dying.Â
However, panic attacks usually peak within ten minutes and fade away. In contrast, heart attack symptoms involve unique feelings of pain radiating to the arm or jaw and occur during or after physical activity.Â
If you’re unsure, always make sure to seek out emergency care. Once medical causes have been ruled out, frequent panic attacks still indicate the need for starting the appropriate treatment for healing.Â
No, properly prescribed medications won’t change who you are – but they can help you be yourself again.Â
Working closely with a psychiatrist or prescriber can ensure your medications are properly chosen, dosed, and adjusted as needed. Most people find that medication combined with therapy for anxiety provides the best outcome, allowing you to engage fully in the therapeutic process and find relief for major symptoms.Â
