Anxiety Treatment in San Diego

Developing Skills to Manage Anxiety & Big Emotions

At Family Connections Therapy in San Diego, we have enormous compassion for those living with anxiety. It affects over 7 million adults in the United States alone. While anyone can develop anxiety, significantly more women than men develop this condition. People who suffer from anxiety experience negative, intense, and overwhelming sensations, both physically and emotionally, that are long lasting and intrusive. The effects of anxiety can make it difficult to just get through the day.

Emotional Anxiety Symptoms:

• Feelings of apprehension, worry, fear, or dread
• Restlessness or irritability and frustration
• Feeling tense, jumpy, or unsettled
• Anticipating the worst or ‘catastrophized’ thinking
• Lack of confidence or low self-esteem

Physical Anxiety Symptoms:

• Rapid or racing heartbeat
• Pressured breathing or shortness of breath
• Sweating and feeling too hot or cold
• Tremors or twitches
• Headaches, stomach aches or cramping, neck or jaw tension
• Fatigue, low energy, and trouble sleeping
• Frequent urination or diarrhea
• Over or under eating

Why am I Anxious?

In our world, it may seem like everyone should be anxious. We have a lot to worry about, so if you’re asking yourself, “Why do I feel like this and other people are fine?” You’re not alone. The underlying causes of anxiety are multi-layered incorporating biological, psycho-social, and genetic factors. Howwever the condition is often induced by big triggers. Such as a car accident, illness, break-up, or job loss. Alternatively, a continued buildup of stress and difficult circumstances may lead to anxiety symptoms. Especially for people who have certain personality types and are prone to worry.

Do I Need Social Anxiety Disorder Treatment?

When we talk about anxiety, we most often discuss generalized anxiety disorder. Yet this is just one type of anxiety. Because anxiety disorders have overlapping symptoms it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact type of anxiety disorder you’re struggling with. Especially since sometimes people have more than one anxiety condition. It can be helpful to understand the nuances of these conditions because it can change the approach we take in anxiety disorder treatment.

For example, both agoraphobia and social anxiety disorder (SAD) can involve the fear of public places. However, people with SAD feel anxiety more commonly in public places when scrutiny by others may occur. Compared to when being in public alone (i.e. like alone in a waiting room). Interestingly, they can also feel tremendous anxiety symptoms even when with a known friend. Those who experience agoraphobia more commonly have fear of leaving the house altogether and having panic attacks in public. They usually, feel better when with a trusted friend if they can leave home at all.

Introversion VS Social Anxiety Disorder

Introversion is another personality trait that is often thought of as a form of anxiety. Interestingly this is completely distinct from both agoraphobia and social anxiety disorders. Introversion is viewed as much more organic and natural to our personalities. We are born on a continuum of extroversion to introversion. Anxiety disorders are viewed as learned, developed, or subconscious reactions to survive life stressors.

So rather than being a disordered behavior, introverts are often self-sufficient, super-focused, and observant individuals. Who see their introversion as their way of being in the world. On the other hand those with anxiety related conditions are often overwhelmed, distracted, or hyper vigilant in focus. Viewing their anxiety as a block to being in the world. Additionally, those who are introverted do not usually have negative personalization about being introverts while those with social anxiety or agoraphobia often think something is wrong with them or that others will discover their anxiety and be disappointed.

Does Anxiety Treatment Really Help?

Many clients attempt to “just deal with it” when addressing anxiety. Our anxiety therapists find that people often think it is just “a little extra worry.” While this kind of rugged individualism is admirable, it is also unnecessary. It can leave you feeling worn out and worn down. Research and science show unequivocally that anxiety treatment with therapy is highly effective for overcoming anxiety, quickly with lasting results. In fact, therapy as a form of anxiety treatment is even MORE effective than medication for most people. Plus without the side effects! When anxiety therapy is combined with mild medication and mind-body techniques it is an unbeatable combination. That can get people through the difficulties surrounding all types of anxiety.