Get Help For Anxiety | Anxiety Disorder Treatment

Everyone experiences anxiety.

We know that all adults experience anxiety. Whether it’s meeting new people, or standing on a stage to talk, some social anxiety is common. Some anxiety is normal and can help us to perform at our best. But when fears, stress, panic, phobias or worries take over, it’s time to take stock. Anxiety can get in the way of life. If the symptoms of panic, ruminating, getting stuck on the same worry seem to be there most days, or if they begin to interfere with your life, or your sleep, or stop you getting on with things, it may be time to think about getting professional help. Anxiety treatments with Psychologists can bring significant change.

For lots of adults, they cope with their worries by avoiding or distracting themselves. It’s easy to find a way to cope – most adults are high functioning, smart individuals who can solve problems. But sometimes the strategies we have used stop working – sometimes our fears increase, sometimes the challenges facing us outstrip the skills we currently have. At times like these, working with a Psychologist to overcome fears, to learn new ways of managing that racing heart, and to calm the mind can be a game changer. Anxiety treatment can bring significantly change.

If you are ready for change, we are ready to provide help for anxiety, and to assist you beat anxiety, panic and worries.

Adult Anxiety Treatment – The good news is that anxiety is treatable

“Don’t worry, be happy.” – says the song, but is it really that easy?

The bad news is that millions of Australians suffer from anxiety disorders, such as generalised anxiety, social anxiety, or panic. Phobias, trauma-based anxiety, health fears, performance worries, obsessions, compulsions (OCD) – at our practice we see every type of anxiety.

The good news is anxiety is treatable.

The research tells us that anxiety affects about 14% of adult Australians in any year. It can affect anyone, men, women, young adults and older adults. Left untreated, anxiety can lead to low mood and have a big impact on your daily life.

Anxiety can start in childhood. And it can also onset in the teenage years. For others it onsets or worsens later in life. We know that the earlier you begin treatment, the better.

At Mindworx Psychology we have worked with adult clients who have lived with severe anxiety for most of their life to make incredible change. We love early intervention for child anxiety, seeing children of all ages – from pre-schoolers refusing to separate from their mothers, to adolescents and young adults who no longer want to mix with their peers due to social anxiety. And we adore seeing the transformations that can occur with late intervention too. Sometimes, for whatever reason, early intervention is not possible – but the great news is that neuroplasticity and new learning is possible at every age. For many of our clients, realising they too suffer from anxiety happens when they bring their child for treatment!

We work with adults who may be experiencing social anxiety that may get in the way of going to parties, social events or making friendships. High functioning adults who, even so, experience panic attacks that get in the way of going to shopping centres or concerts. Business executives who feel sick at the thought of presenting or speaking up in a meeting. Mums and Dads who dread the school run and having to navigate other parents. Grandparents who miss out on special events because they are anxious. Parents who find it hard to let their child attend school camps. Young adults who worry about world events. People who worry about real (and also psychosomatic) health complaints. Cancer survivors with health anxiety. People who can’t use elevators due to phobias. People who can’t go on holiday overseas due to fears of flying. People who avoid parks because of dog phobias. The one common theme is that it gets in the way of life.

Whatever type of anxiety you are experiencing – it’s never too early to start treatment – and it’s never too late to begin.

If you feel like anxiety is getting in your way, you can get help.

7 Signs of anxiety

Symptoms of Anxiety

1 – Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge
2- Not being able to stop or control worrying
3 – Worrying too much about different things
4 – Trouble relaxing
5 – Being so restless that it is hard to sit still
6 – Becoming easily annoyed or irritable
7 – Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen

We all experience anxiety occasionally, but people with anxiety conditions find that the anxiety impacts on their quality of life, or ability to get things done. Although we are all unique, many people experience similar physical symptoms of anxiety.

These symptoms can include:

Physical symptoms: panic attacks, feeling tearful, hot and cold flushes, sweating, racing heart, tightening of the chest, shaking hands, quick breathing, restlessness, or feeling tense, wound up and edgy

Psychological symptoms: excessive fear or worry, catastrophising,
ruminating and obsessive thinking

Behavioural symptoms: because the physical and psychological
symptoms can feel overwhelming, people with anxiety naturally tend
to want to avoid situations that might trigger their anxiety. For example,
children who get anxious in social situations may try to avoid going to school, adults may avoid social events.

What causes anxiety?

Research indicates that anxiety isn’t caused by a single factor but by a combination of things. These can include genetic factors, ongoing stress, personality factors, difficult life experiences and physical health issues.

Sometimes anxiety seems to run in a family. Even so, having a parent or close relative with anxiety or another mental health condition doesn’t mean you’ll automatically develop anxiety too.

Stressful events can be a trigger for anxiety. Stressful events can include a range of experiences, including:

family and relationship problems
emotional shock following stressful or traumatic events
redundancy or job change
changes in living arrangements
pregnancy and birth
verbal, sexual, physical or emotional abuse or trauma
death or loss of a loved one

We do know that everyone is unique – and ultimately, it’s often a combination of factors that contributes to developing an anxiety condition. Sometimes it can be impossible to identify the cause of anxiety, and sometimes it can be impossible to change difficult circumstances.

It’s important to seek advice and support, including a thorough assessment by your GP to rule out any underlying physical conditions which can mimic anxiety (e.g. overactive thyroid), or may be contributing.

Treating Anxiety, Worries and Fears

The good news is that symptoms can reduce with successful treatment, and many people with anxiety find day to day life significantly improved following treatment.

CBT is often referred to as a “first line treatment” for many anxiety
disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific
phobias.

Our CBT approach can incorporate elements of mindfulness therapy,
narrative therapy, solution focused therapies, and motivational strategies to help you achieve your goals.

We know one size doesn’t fit all. Treatment is tailored to your strengths
– in addition to CBT, we have training in a wide range of different
therapeutic approaches and strategies, and we will work with you to find the most helpful solutions.

Treatments for Anxiety and Panic

We offer individual and group treatment options.

During your treatment our psychologists will explore the causes of your anxiety, teach you to recognise and gain control over your symptoms, and find helpful ways of reducing and managing anxious thoughts and behaviours. Our anxiety treatments are tailored specifically to your needs, to help you beat anxiety.

Anxiety affects children, adolescents and adults. We offer evidence based therapies, including the “Cool Kids”, “Cool Little Kids” and “Chilled” programs.

If you, or someone you care about suffers from anxiety, call us now for a confidential discussion about how therapy can help.

Types of Anxiety and Panic disorders

Research has led to the grouping of anxiety symptoms. These groupings help us with research and finding out what treatments work. It’s likely that your symptoms will fall into one or more of these categories – we assess this during your first visits to determine which treatment will be most
effective for you. Anxiety disorders include:

generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
social anxiety disorder
panic disorder
agoraphobia
specific phobias
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

We know that people with high levels of anxiety are often having a very difficult time. We hope you are doing okay. It’s important to remember that people can recover from anxiety.

Whatever shape your anxiety takes, it is likely it may:

affect your ability to concentrate
affect your sleep
increase your level of stress
make it hard to carry out ordinary tasks at work, home or school
lead you to avoid social situations – or in severe cases, to avoid going out altogether.

If you or a loved one has anxiety, It’s important to be compassionate, and to seek help – remember that people can recover from anxiety.