Anxiety is defined as a sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical symptoms, such as sweating, tension, and increased heart rate.  Other symptoms of anxiety include sleep disturbances, such as when you can’t “turn off your mind” when you try to fall asleep at night, or when you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep for the same reason.  Most of us have some anxiety at times, and this is normal.  We feel anxious when waiting to hear news of a loved one, when waiting for a baby to be born, or before surgery or a medical procedure.  It is normal to be anxious before school exams or a big job interview, or an important meeting at work.  However, when the anxiety interferes with your day to day living and gets in the way of your enjoyment of life then you should seek help to manage it.

There are a variety of ways to treat anxiety once a medical cause is ruled out by your physician.  If the cause is not physical, psychotherapy can help you determine the cause.  If there is no specific cause, talking about the anxiety can help. Using hypnosis or EMDR can also help to eliminate the anxiety for many people.  Sometimes learning how to re-think the issue that creates the anxiety is all one needs to do.  I would be happy to answer any questions you may have on this or any other topics. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your questions!

Some common anxiety disorders are:

• Panic Attacks
• Phobias
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (also known as PTSD and often under the heading of Trauma)
• Acute Stress Disorder – often when the person has been exposed to a traumatic event
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder, when there is nothing specific to account for the anxiety