All of us experience anxiety at certain times and at some level. Our anxiety can affect work, relationships, and lead us to avoid situations.
Generalized Anxiety (GAD) is a general worry over everyday things in life. You may find yourself worrying excessively. You know your concerns are overblown or irrational but you can’t help it. You may be struggling with GAD if you experience some of the following:
- Feeling keyed up or restlessness too much of the time
- Having Trouble Sleeping
- Fatigue resulting from worrying
- Difficulty concentrating/focusing especially with your work
- Stomach upset, shakiness, sometimes heart palpitations
- Your anxiety effects your social or romantic relationships
Social Anxiety is when you have intense fear as to how others perceive you. You may avoid social situations or use prescription medication or alcohol to cope with social situations. You may be experiencing Social Anxiety if you have:
- Intense fear of being judged by others
- Fear of being embarrassed or humiliated
- Too nervous to pursue a romantic interest
- Difficulty initiating conversations
- Public speaking causes great anxiety
- Physical symptoms not always present but may occur in social situations: blushing, sweating, heart palpitations, trembling, difficulty speaking normally.
Panic Attacks. If you find yourself having severe attacks of anxiety that seem to come from nowhere and feel out of control, you may be having panic attacks. Panic attacks can feel like there’s something very wrong with your body because you may experience:
- Heart pounding, chest pain.
- Difficulty breathing – shortness of breath, hyperventilating
- Dizziness or feeling faint
- Trembling
- Stomach pain or nausua
- Sweating
- Intense feeling of terror, doom or imminent death
CBT is very effective for Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety and Panic Attacks. When you come to BHNY for anxiety it’s likely you’ll receive CBT. However, each client has their own unique version of anxiety so we may employ other therapy methods we feel are the best “fit” for you to achieve optimal results.