Anxiety Disorders affect millions of American adults each year, causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event, such as speaking in public or a first date, Anxiety Disorders last at least 6 months and may worsen if they are not treated. Anxiety Disorders commonly occur along with other mental or physical illnesses, including alcohol or substance abuse. In some cases, these other illnesses need to be treated before a person will respond to treatment for the Anxiety Disorder.
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety Disorders affect millions of American adults each year, causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event, such as speaking in public or a first date, Anxiety Disorders last at least 6 months and may worsen if they are not treated. Learn more...
Adjustment Disorder
Adjustment disorder is a group of symptoms, such as stress, feeling sad or hopeless, and physical symptoms that can occur after you go through a stressful life event.The symptoms occur because you are having a hard time coping, and the reaction is stronger or greater than what would be expected for the type of event that occurred - Medline Plus. Learn more...
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is the fear of being in a situation where one might experience anxiety or panic and where escape from the situation might be difficult or embarrassing. To avoid the anxiety associated with these situations they refrain from putting themselves into such situations. Learn more...
Answers to Common Questions about Counseling
Throughout life, there are times when help is needed to address problems and issues that cause emotional distress or make us feel overwhelmed. When experiencing these types of difficulties, individuals may benefit from the assistance of an experienced, trained professional. Learn more...
Anxiety FAQs
Anxiety is a feeling of tension associated with a sense of threat of danger when the source of the danger is not known. In contrast, fear is a feeling of tension that is associated with a known source of danger. Learn more...
Do You Give Too Much?
There are many reasons why people find it difficult to assert themselves. One important reason relates to fears of loss: you may feel you'll put a relationship at risk if you assert yourself too forcefully. Or you may lack the confidence and self-esteem to express your own wishes, perhaps seeing them as unimportant. Learn more...
Does Physical Activity Have Positive Effects on the Mind?
It was once thought that cognitive decline was a normal part of aging. But research now suggests that staying physically active as you get older may slow cognitive decline. Learn more...
Effects of Traumatic Experiences
People who go through traumatic experiences often have symptoms and problems afterward. How serious the symptoms and problems are depends on many things including a person's life experiences before the trauma, a person's own natural ability to cope with stress, how serious the trauma was, and what kind of help and support a person gets from family, friends, and professionals immediately following the trauma. Learn more...
Fighting Phobias The Things That Go Bump in the Mind
A phobia is an intense, unrealistic fear of an object, an event, or a feeling. An estimated 18 percent of the U.S. adult population suffers from some kind of phobia, and a person can develop a phobia of anything--elevators, clocks, mushrooms, closed spaces, open spaces. Exposure to these trigger the rapid breathing, pounding heartbeat, and sweaty palms of panic. Learn more...
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – OCD
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, one of the anxiety disorders, is a potentially disabling condition characterized by obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors. While most people at one time or another experience such thoughts or behaviors, an individual with OCD experiences obsessions and compulsions for more than an hour each day, in a way that interferes with his or her life. Learn more...
Panic Disorder
Panic is a rush of overwhelming anxiety that comes on very quickly. People use the word "terror" to describe the severity of the anxiety connected with panic. Sometimes the sudden episode is called a panic attack. Learn more...
Phobias
A phobia is a fear which is caused by a specific object or situation. The fear can be caused by the actual presence of or by the anticipation of the presence of that object or situation. Anxiety, triggered by the fear, can approach the intensity of panic. Learn more...
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Posttraumatic stress disorder, which is commonly referred to as PTSD, is a condition which some people develop after they experience a very traumatic, sometimes life threatening, event. For instance, a person might develop PTSD after observing another person or group of people being seriously injured or killed. Natural disasters and wars are likely to cause some of its victims to experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Learn more...
PTSD Fact Sheet
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see, hear about, or that happens to you. During a traumatic event, you think that your life or others' lives are in danger. You may feel afraid or feel that you have no control over what is happening. Learn more...
Putting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Work for You: Combat Depression, Anxiety and Other Problems
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety disorders and other problems such as anger, fears, procrastination as well as improve confidence and relationships. It involves recognizing distorted or negative thinking and learning to replace it with more realistic, positive thoughts or beliefs. Learn more...
Separation Anxiety in Children
Separation anxiety is a perfectly normal and important developmental adaptation. Nearly all children experience separation anxiety between the ages of seven and eighteen months. Some have more intense reactions than others, and for some, the stage lasts longer than others, but almost all babies have it to some degree. Learn more...
Sleep and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Many people suffer from problems with their sleep. This can be especially true for those who have witnessed or experienced one or more traumatic events such as rape, military combat, natural disasters, beatings, or neighborhood violence. It is well known that a problem with sleep is one of many problems for those with PTSD. Learn more...
Social Phobia
Social phobia, also called social anxiety, is a disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. People with social phobia have a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and of being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions. Their fear may be so severe that it interferes with work or school - and other ordinary activities. Learn more...
Social Phobia’s Traumas and Treatments
Social phobia is far different from the run-of-the-mill nervousness associated with stressful situations. It's the intensity of the fear that distinguishes the condition from the almost inevitable butterflies that most people feel when they are about to give a speech or go to an interview or even a party. Learn more...
Survivors of Natural Disasters and Mass Violence
Every year, millions of people are affected by both mass violence and natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados, and wildfires. Survivors face the danger of death or physical injury and the possible loss of their homes, possessions, and communities. Such stressors place survivors at risk for behavioral and emotional readjustment problems. Learn more...
The Numbers Count: Mental Health Disorders in America
Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Learn more...
The Worry Trap: An Interview with Chad LeJeune, PhD
While worrying about someone or something may indicate that we care, worrying and caring are not the same thing. Worriers often confuse the two. Learn more...
Understanding Panic Attacks
Panic attacks in and of themselves are powerful agents for eroding confidence. Suddenly, you feel unable to do all sorts of things you used to do, all sorts of things "normal" people do. On top of that, you feel as though you've lost control of your own body, something so basic to your sense of self that you probably never even gave it a second thought before the attacks hit. Learn more...