Online Anxiety Disorder Treatment: Get Anxiety Recovery Today

What are anxiety disorders?

Feeling stressed or anxious is a normal feeling for people. Events like starting a new job, taking an important test, or giving a presentation can cause anxiety in most people. The anxiety from these activities is unpleasant, but it comes and goes as the events pass. 

If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, these same feelings of anxiety and fear can be with you all the time. These can be intense and cause significant damage to your quality of life. Anxiety disorders can prevent you from doing activities you love doing, stop you from being productive at work or school, and cause constant, ongoing feelings of stress and fear. 

Anxiety disorders can occur at any age and often are connected with other disorders such as depression. It’s important to seek treatment if you feel unable to control your anxiety. 

What are the Types of Anxiety Disorders?

Generalized anxiety disorder

It is normal to feel anxious in our lives when events are stressful. However, feelings of excessive anxiety that continues for an extended period of time are not normal. This is called generalized anxiety disorder. This type of anxiety is difficult to control and interferes with your daily life. 

Generalized anxiety disorder often occurs with other mood disorders, like depression for example. The good news is that in most cases, generalized anxiety disorders can improve with psychotherapy and/or medications. Lifestyle changes like eating healthy, evaluating activities in your life, and relationships,  and getting enough sleep can also play a major role in treating generalized anxiety disorders.

Panic Disorder

Many people experience very few panic attacks in their lifetime, and the problem goes away with time or when the stressful event disappears. But recurring, unexpected panic attacks causing constant fear is called panic disorder. Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that causes panic attacks at unexpected times. 

Panic disorders can affect your quality of life, but can be treated by your provider.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder causes a person to have unwanted thoughts and obsessions that cause repetitive behaviors, or compulsions. These obsessions and compulsions can cause significant daily stress and reduce your quality of life. 

If you experience OCD, you may be trying to eliminate these feelings of obsession, but you often can’t control these thoughts. An example of OCD is the fear of being contaminated by germs, so you react by washing your hands excessively. 

Social Anxiety Disorder

It’s normal for a person to feel nervous around some social situations like giving a presentation or going on a date with a new person. But with social anxiety disorder, a person feels significant anxiety, fear, or embarrassment in everyday social situations. Because of this social anxiety, a person with this disorder may avoid being in social settings, which can play a major negative role on your mental health.

Psychotherapy and medications are a way to reduce symptoms and improve your confidence to be able to interact with others more effectively.

Some Other Types of Anxiety Disorders Include

• Separation anxiety disorder
• Illness anxiety disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Phobias

What are the Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders?

Everyone experiences anxiety differently. One might feel the “butterflies” in their stomach, another might have a racing heart, and yet another have shortness of breath.  Generally, fear and worry are often felt. 

Some symptoms of anxiety disorders include: 

• An unnecessary feeling of fear
• Sleeplessness
• Excess breathing
• Increased heart rate
• Difficulty concentrating
• Panic attacks
• Painful thoughts and memories

Each person is different in how they experience symptoms with their anxiety disorder. 

What Causes Anxiety?

Scientists, researchers, and other professionals are not exactly sure what causes anxiety disorders. It’s likely that several factors including genetics, environmental, and brain chemistry each play a part. 

Anxiety Disorder Levels of Care

Outside of the primary care setting, there are a few levels of care available to individuals with eating disorders. Let’s review binge eating disorder treatment options:

Outpatient

• Often where the treatment process begins
• Patient lives at home and attends hourly sessions at their providers’ offices
• Appropriate for patients who are medically stable, motivated, self-sufficient, and have adequate support and structure at home

Intensive Outpatient

• Typically occurs in a specialized setting (e.g., a clinic or hospital)
• Patients live at home and attend sessions three to five times a week that last approximately three hours each
• Program may include numerous types of therapy, including, but not limited to, individual, group, and counseling
• Appropriate for patients who are medically stable, self-sufficient, and have adequate support and structure at home, but may need some degree of external structure beyond self-control

Partial Hospitalization (Full-Day Outpatient Care)

• Occurs in a specialized setting and can be connected to a hospital program or a free-standing facility
• Patient requires a high level of supervision and monitoring
• Patient must be able to demonstrate some ability to retain the gains made in treatment without 24-hour monitoring
• Patient must not be a suicide risk or medically compromised to the point of requiring hospitalization
• Patient must have sufficient resources and motivation to attend program
• Patient’s home or living environment must be one that can be supportive of the recovery process
• Wide variety in quality of programming and hours of available treatment across programs, making it critical that patient’s needs and circumstances are appropriate for this level of care
• Care is typically 5– 12 hours per day, 4– 7 days per week.

Residential Treatment Center

• Highly specialized programs that can be operated independent of hospital setting, but sometimes connected to a hospital setting
• Indicated when patient is not able to retain gains without 24-hour monitoring
• May be indicated when severity of symptoms necessitates constant monitoring in order to initiate and sustain symptom-free behavior and normalized eating
• May be indicated for patients whose activities of daily living are compromised by the disorder May be indicated for the development of a normalized, healthy lifestyle conducive to long-term health and well being
• May include specialized approaches that help the patient develop routines and activities of daily living that create patterns of behavior that are conducive to recovery
• Useful in situations with a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity that require intensified focus during treatment
• Sometimes indicated on the basis of a lack of supportive and safe environment where the patient can be expected be able to make meaningful, retainable progress
• May be appropriate when patient is overwhelmed with symptoms and unable to refrain from reverting to symptoms or other behaviors that compromise their well being when alone
• Appropriate for patients with either lower or higher levels of motivation, but generally patients must enter treatment voluntarily

Inpatient Hospitalization

• Generally used for a period of short-term stabilization proceeding initiation of treatment at lower levels of care
• Indicated in situation where patient is a suicide risk or gravely disabled by symptoms and unable to participate in residential or lower levels of care due to presenting symptoms, which may include depression, poor motivation, poor insight, and/ or other factors that limit ability to meaningfully participate in lower levels of care
• Appropriate in situations where hospital-based medical care is indicated (i.e., IV lines or other more invasive medical treatments are needed)

Treatment Options for Anxiety Disorder

Counseling and Therapy

Counseling and Therapy is a standard treatment for anxiety disorders. This might include psychotherapy, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or other forms of therapy and counseling. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that can make aware a negative thought pattern you may be having that can trigger anxiety disorders and disturbed feelings. CBT can also help you change the way you react to these negative thought patterns. 

Medications 

Medications are also a very common anxiety disorder treatment option. Medicines can help you control some of the physical or mental symptoms that anxiety disorders carry. 

Here are some types of medications your provider may prescribe:

SSRI Antidepressants

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a common anxiety disorder treatment medication. These have fewer side-effects than older antidepressants, but still may cause nausea and sexual dysfunction.

Tricyclics

Tricyclics are a class of drugs that have been demonstrated to help patients with anxiety disorders other than obsessive-compulsive disorders. Some side effects may include: drowsiness, dizziness, and weight gain. 

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines are not as commonly prescribed for those dealing with anxiety disorders. They are typically highly addictive. They may cause drowsiness and dependency. 

Lifestyle Changes and Natural Remedies to Reduce Anxiety

Lifestyle changes can have a big impact on your mental health, including if you suffer from anxiety disorder. Lifestyle changes are changes that you make in your daily life that improve how you function. These can include:

• Getting adequate sleep
• Implementing a meditation practice
• Having a spiritual practice
• Eating a healthy diet
• Avoiding alcoholic beverages
• Avoiding caffeinated beverages
• Avoiding cigarettes
• Evaluation of relationships
• Exploring work and vocation 

In some cases, changing your lifestyle or implementing some of these natural remedies can be enough to eliminate or reduce anxiety. However, for others, psychotherapy and medication are needed.

Foods to Lower Anxiety

Your diet makes a big impact on your health, including your mental health. There are some foods that research suggests may have a beneficial impact on your mental health. Some of these include:

• Green teas
• Yogurt
• Dark chocolate
• Turmeric
• Chamomile
• Salmon

Treating Children with Anxiety

Anxiety in children is a common problem. According to the ADAA, approximately one in eight children experience anxiety. Many children learn to cope from family members, but some children develop chronic and persistent symptoms, leading to anxiety disorders.

If you notice anxiety in your children beginning to interfere with their daily activities, such as not interacting with their friends and family members, you may need to speak with a medical professional. 

Some anxiety symptoms your child may be having include:

• Unnecessary fear
• Unnecessary shame
• Sleeping problems
• Being Irritable
• Being unnecessarily jittery
• Feelings of being alone

Treating a child with anxiety can include medications and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), also known as talk therapy. If your child needs anxiety treatment, we can help!

Get Online Anxiety Disorder Treatment

My name is Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, I am a consultant psychiatrist in Miami, Florida. I believe that compassion, when directed towards self and others, can lead to profound health and healing. If you need online anxiety disorder treatment, I can help! I have created a unique treatment model in which you will have the  opportunity to work with providers who I specifically refer to based on your current experience, diagnosis and needs.  I build this team around you and will coordinate your care with the goal to find meaning in your experience, and free you of your symptoms so that you can feel more at peace, and have greater capacity to adapt to life circumstances, to challenge yourself, to be creative, to develop intimacy and to have a fulfilling lifestyle With more than 20 years of clinical experience and a vast network of clinical partners, I’ve developed a unique treatment approach that delves into the underlying issues that place a person at risk for mental health conditions.  Together we will create a protocol and treatment plan that is well coordinated, and that can guide you on your healing process, toward health and inner peace. Contact me today!