Anxiety Treatment Doctors in NYC, NJ, FL

Everyone feels anxious some of the time. But when your anxiety is severe and uncontrollable, it becomes a problem. Anxiety disorders are common and easily treated with a combination of targeted medication and individualized talk therapy. Don’t ignore the symptoms or let them affect your daily activities. Various treatment options are available to suit your needs, from in-person sessions to new remote video conferencing techniques. The anxiety therapy at Online Psychiatrists can help you regain control over your life using a personalized recovery plan tailored specifically for your unique situation and circumstances.

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal mental response to being threatened, under pressure, or stressed. It can provide you with a much-needed energy boost, help you pay attention, make you aware of risks, and drive you to solve problems.

However, when anxiety becomes continuous and hard to control, it becomes a problem that can severely decrease your quality of life. Excessive fear or anxiety that is severe and out of proportion to the existing situation can indicate a mental health problem. Fortunately, anxiety disorders are highly treatable no matter how long you’ve felt anxious or how severe your symptoms are.

What Are the Signs of an Anxiety Disorder?

Excessive and persistent stress about ordinary situations is the hallmark of an anxiety disorder. These disorders push your anxiety beyond the typical feeling of worry into a full-blown panic attack. If you have an anxiety disorder, you experience sudden and intense fear that far surpasses the need for whatever situation you’re in.

Anxiety disorders are a group of conditions characterized by excessive fear in non-threatening situations. Signs that you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder include:

• Difficulty thinking about anything other than what you fear
• An increased heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Tense muscles
• Trembling
• A feeling of impending doom or panic
• Sweating
• Feeling jumpy

If you’re 19 to 65 years old and looking for an anxiety doctor in New York, New Jersey or Florida, you’ve come to the right place: Online Psychiatrists. They specialize in diagnosing and treating mental health problems, including the panic attacks and social phobias often associated with anxiety. You have many anxiety treatment options; your doctor chooses the one that best suits you.

Are There Different Types of Anxiety Disorders?

Anxiety disorders come in several flavors. Some develop slowly over time, while others result from an underlying physical illness, a dysfunctional early childhood or a response to a recent traumatic event. The most common forms of anxiety disorders include:

• Generalized anxiety disorder, a chronic and exaggerated anxiety over day-to-day life situations and experiences
• Social anxiety disorder, an intense fear of social interaction and perceived humiliation
• Illness anxiety disorder, panic related to developing a physical health problem
• Panic disorder, characterized by panic attacks and sudden feelings of terror that strike without warning
• Phobias, such as social phobia, which are irrational fears of certain places or events

Some anxiety disorders don’t meet the criteria for specific categories, but still, result in disruptive symptoms. These disorders are referred to as unspecified anxiety disorders. Regardless of the nature of your anxiety, your symptoms can improve with treatment.

What Is the Mechanism Behind Anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are characterized by increased activity in the limbic system of the brain, which includes the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and thalamus. The Amygdala is a rational, thinking prefrontal cortex that is in charge of recognizing the nature of a threat and providing a behavioral response. It sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus, which transfers the signal to the rest of the body by activating the sympathetic nervous system. The adrenal glands in the body release epinephrine, or adrenaline, which causes the brain to become alert while sharpening senses and encouraging hypervigilance of the environment.

Some people are afraid of anxiety because they believe it’s uncontrollable and dangerous. Unfortunately, those with a fear of anxiety suffer more of its symptoms and signs. This leads to a vicious cycle in which anxiety causes signs and symptoms, people become more anxious as a result of their fear of those signs and symptoms, and so on.

How Is Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed?

To rule out underlying physical illness, your psychiatrist performs a complete physical exam and reviews your medical history. If a physical ailment triggered your anxiety, illness anxiety disorder treatment is available. Otherwise, the next step is a psychiatric evaluation. During this evaluation, your doctor analyzes:

Your mental health professional first determines which type of anxiety disorder you have. Only then can the psychiatrist decide on the best form of treatment. Along the way, you’re evaluated for any co-occurring conditions, such as depression or a substance abuse disorder.

What Are Effective Anxiety Disorder Treatments in NYC?

Generalized anxiety disorder treatment usually involves a combination of two therapies:

• Medication. Your New York psychiatrist specializes in medication management. Your doctor prescribes the most appropriate type of anti-anxiety medication. You start on a small dose to make sure you can tolerate it. The dosage is adjusted as needed. Commonly used anxiety medications include:
  • Benzodiazepines
  • SSRI antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Celexa)
  • Buspirone (BuSpar)
  • Beta-blockers (propranolol (Inderal) and atenolol (Tenormin))
  • Hydroxyzine
  • Bupropion
• Talk therapy. Psychotherapy, also called talk therapy, plays a vital role in treating all forms of mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders. You engage in talk therapy through in-person meetings or in the comfort of your own home using telepsychiatry. Many patients report superior results through virtual sessions. The two most common types of talk therapy for anxiety and panic include:
  • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that emphasizes the impact of your thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes on your feelings and behavior and provides you with appropriate coping techniques.
  • Applied relaxation therapy is a kind of treatment that entails learning how to relax your muscles in situations when you would typically feel anxious.

During social anxiety disorder treatment in New York City, you may also participate in role-playing to gain social skills and build confidence. Rely on your doctor to find the right treatment, including the medication dosage, to control or reduce your symptoms.

When Should I Get Help for Anxiety Disorders?

If feelings of anxiety or distress interfere with your work, relationships or other aspects of your life, it’s time to get medical help. Anxiety tends to worsen with time, so talk to a psychiatrist as soon as possible. An accurate diagnosis is the first step toward relaxation and a higher quality of life.

At Online Psychiatrists, the primary goal is to find the most effective treatment possible for your anxiety disorder — or any other mental health condition you may have. Contact the practice to arrange an initial consultation.