What is Anxiety?
The term anxiety refers to fears, worries, and/or ruminations about situations, people, or objects perceived as threatening. Anxiety can include a broad range of thoughts from fear of a loved one dying to fear of doing something embarrassing in front of others to fear of having a panic attack.
Common features of anxiety include:
- Difficulty making decisions out of fear of choosing wrong.
- Feeling overwhelmed by worries or ruminations that are difficult or impossible to control.
- Worrying intensely leading up to an event, then feeling relieved afterward and recognizing the worry was out of proportion and unnecessary.
- Feeling on edge.
- Reviewing past events repeatedly and second-guessing how you handled things.
- Having difficulty focusing or concentrating.
- Constant worries about the health or safety of people close to you.
Some people with anxiety also experience physical signs such as restlessness, muscle tension, digestive problems. Difficulty sleeping and irritability may also occur.
Formal diagnostic labels in the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., text rev.; DSM-5-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2022) include Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Specific Phobias are also considered an anxiety disorder, but require targeted treatment. If you have a specific phobia, please seek out a specialist in that area.
How Can Therapy Help?
Anxiety thrives on uncertainty and the illusion of control. In individual therapy, we can learn to accept uncertainty and how to regulate our nervous system when it perceives something as threatening. Dr. Parker utilizes techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and mindfulness to achieve that goal.
Dr. Parker is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, which has additional educational resources available on its website.
