Anxiety Treatment

At Morrison Clinic, we understand how anxiety can take over your life.   You are not alone and we are here to help.  Amy Morrison has been treating anxiety disorders since 2006.  She has helped thousands of clients overcome their anxiety disorders and find peace.  Come experience the Morrison Clinic Difference.  You will leave your first appointment with an anxiety treatment plan  specially tailored to meet your needs.

How common are anxiety disorders?

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults or 18.1% of the population every year. [1]
• Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment. [1]
• People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor.  As a matter of fact, they are six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than those who do not suffer from anxiety disorders. [1]

What is the different between normal anxiety and an anxiety disorder?

With our busy and hectic lifestyles and pressures we face, anxiety can be normal in your every day life.   However, anxiety becomes a disorder when it consumes an excessive amount of your time on a frequent or daily basis.   People with anxiety disorders often recognize that their anxiety is excessive.  Unfortunately,  they lack the capacity to control it.  Their anxiety permeates into various areas of their lives.  Consequently,  they struggle to overcome their symptoms of anxiety when in different settings like work, home, socially, and/or while at school.

What are the most common anxiety disorders?

Anxiety disorders will present differently among people.  There are various factors that influence anxiety disorders including but not limited to a person’s genetics, gender, personality, childhood, and history of trauma.   Below are a list of the more common anxiety disorders and a brief synopsis of how they sometimes present.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

SAD affects 15 million adults, or 6.8% of the U.S. population.  It typically begins around the age of 13 and is equally common among women and men. [1]  People with SAD suffer from extreme anxiety that they will embarrass or humiliate themselves in social settings.   Their fear of judgement makes it extremely difficult for them to talk to authority figures, meet new people, or attend social gatherings.  As you can imagine, this has negative consequences for their career and personal lives.  People with SAD realize their fear and anxiety is excessive, yet they cannot control it.   As a result, they avoid situations that cause them anxiety or endure the event with great distress.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

People who suffer from PTSD have a history of a severe trauma that impacts their emotional health.  People who were sexually abused as a child are more likely to develop PTSD after a trauma.  PTSD affects 7.7 million adults, or 3.5% of the U.S. population and is more common in women.   Rape is the most likely trigger of PTSD. 65% of men and 45.9% of women who are raped will develop the disorder. [1]  People with PTSD suffer from recurrent nightmares, flashbacks, and relive the event.   They find it hard to focus and concentrate.  Moreover, their constant state of fear leads them to become overly vigilant about their safety.  These and other symptoms of PTSD last for longer than 30 days after the event happened.

 Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population, yet only 43.2% are receiving treatment.  Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.[1]  People with GAD worry about anything, everything, and nothing.  When they have nothing to worry about, that worries them.  They will have periods of time when they feel anxious and they cannot pinpoint why.  They realize their anxiety is irrational, even so they cannot control it.  

People with GAD don’t just worry about everyday stressors.  At any given moment, they might be worrying about cancer, the end of the world, finances, the safety of their family, etc.  Their anxiety is so intense they find it hard to focus on other things and often feel exhausted.   The constant state of worry leaves them irritable, snappy, and restless.  For this reason, they also find it hard to fall asleep and/or stay asleep.  Furthermore, the anxiety often causes the muscles in their neck and shoulders to tense up, which can cause headaches.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD affects 2.2 million adults, or 1.0% of the U.S. population.  It is equally common among men and women.
The average age of onset is 19, with 25 percent of cases occurring by age 14. One-third of affected adults first experienced symptoms in childhood. [1]

People with OCD get intrusive thoughts or  pictures that pop into their brain.  These intrusions cause them to feel anxiety or another negative emotion.   The person with OCD will try to neutralize these bad thoughts, pictures, or feelings with a compulsion.  However it does not work, so they repeat the compulsion or ritual over and over again.  Strangely enough, they realize it is excessive but yet they cannot seem to stop.   The compulsion could be checking, cleaning, seeking reassurance, repeating sequences, hoarding, etc.

Panic Disorder (PD)

PD occurs in 2-3% of the US population and is twice as common in women.  [1] People with PD experience spontaneous panic attacks that occur out of the blue.  Their panic attacks are not caused by worry or an upsetting event.   The panic attacks are so severe that the person develops severe fear of it reoccurring.  Panic attacks are brief and rarely last longer than 15-30 minutes but the intensity of the symptoms often leads patients to seek emergency care.  PD symptoms can include extreme fear, an impending sense of doom, shortness of breath, chest tightness, numbness or tingling, and feeling disconnected.  Some people get severe upset stomach with diarrhea or vomiting.

Anxiety Treatment and Therapy

At the Morrison Clinic, our thorough psychiatric evaluation allows us to ascertain if your anxiety is a medical illness that necessitates medical treatment.   Together we will determine the best anxiety treatment plan.   We offer both medication management and therapy for patients who struggle with anxiety disorders.     Don’t let fear and anxiety continue to wreck havoc in your life.

Click the button below to schedule your appointment

Source: [1] Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s Facts and Statistics