Anxiety & Panic Treatment
Do You Struggle With Anxiety?
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Do you find yourself constantly worrying about different subjects?
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Do you catastrophize i.e. think that the worst is going to happen?
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Is your mind constantly racing? Do you struggle with physical symptoms, like heart palpitations and shortness of breath? Do you feel tense or on edge?
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Does overthinking keep you up at night?
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Do you struggle with panic attacks?
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Do you often have a feeling of impending doom?
These are some of the most common symptoms of anxiety. Feeling occasionally anxious is nothing to be concerned about – after all, life is full of stressors and anxiety-provoking situations! However, if you are finding that your anxiety is intense and hard to control, that your symptoms are interfering with your life, that you are worried a lot of the time or perhaps that you are struggling with frequent panic attacks, it might be that anxiety is a problem for you. Just like any other problem, anxiety can range from mild to severe – and the tricky thing about it is that you might not be aware of how much it impacts your life until you start talking about it and tracking your symptoms.
Anxiety is a Common Problem
A lot of people feel very much alone when they struggle with anxiety. I think the main reason behind this is has to do with the sad fact that many people feel ashamed of struggling with anxiety and are therefore reluctant to talk about it in public.
Statistically, anxiety is a very common and highly treatable problem. Here are some lifetime prevalence stats – i.e. the percent of Canadians who will suffer a given disorder in his or her lifetime:
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder – 5%
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Social Phobia, also known as Social Anxiety - 8-13%
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Panic Disorder – 4%
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Agoraphobia – 1.5%
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – 2%
Overall, anxiety disorders affect about 2.5 million of Canadians over the course of their lifetimes with a reported yearly prevalence of around 12-18%. That is a lot of people!
Normal Anxiety Versus Chronic Anxiety
We all experience anxiety from time to time, which makes sense if you think about it. As humans, we are "wired' to look out for potentially dangerous situations - whether that be a big snake hiding in the bush or an off-sounding email from your boss. As unpleasant as it is, anxiety is necessary and adaptive. It functions much like a smoke-alarm - most of the time the alarms is produces are false, but some can be truly life-saving. However, some of us, for various reasons that likely have to do with our biology and our life experiences, seem to have an especially sensitive anxiety alarm system, and this can predispose us to the develop an anxiety disorder.
Context makes a difference too. For instance, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people understandably felt anxious and changed their behaviour accordingly (e.g. by masking & social distancing), and that was totally normal and adaptive. Those same behaviours would likely be indicative of some sort of an anxiety problem during non-pandemic times.
Another sign to watch out for is severity or the extent to which anxiety affects your life. Do you struggle with falling asleep because of racing thoughts? Do you seem to hate uncertainty way more than other people? Do you have various physical symptoms related to tension and inability to relax? Those would be some signs of a potential anxiety disorder.
Therapy is Highly Effective
The good news is that anxiety is highly treatable and that CBT happens to be one of the most effective treatments for it. In fact, according to numerous large-scale studies, CBT is a reliable, first-line treatment for all anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Specific Phobia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Hofmann & Smits, 2008, Hofmann et al., 2008).
Questions & Concerns About Anxiety Therapy
How is CBT Different from Regular “Talk therapy?”
Rather than just being a “talking” therapy, CBT is very much a “doing” therapy. What this means in practice is that treatment focuses on helping you change patterns in your life outside of therapy sessions, rather than simply talking about your problems. In addition, CBT is focused on providing you with effective tools and strategies.
What Does Treatment Typically Look Like?
Therapy usually begins with assessment or taking a detailed history of your life and your symptoms over the course of 1-2 sessions. The next step is to collaboratively formulate a treatment plan based on your presenting problems and therapy goals. The third step is active treatment, which generally consists of some combination of the following:
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helping you change your patterns of thinking and behaviour
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develop problem solving skills
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exposure therapy
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learning to “sit with” challenging feelings
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relaxation training
In keeping with the “doing” theme, CBT emphasizes homework in-between sessions. Think of it this way: if you are trying to learn any new skill, say playing the piano, simply attending lessons once a week is probably not going to be enough to help you advance in a meaningful way; the same applies to CBT. Home practice comes in different formats, such as readings, worksheets, and behavioural experiments, and normally takes about 10-20 minutes/day.
Will I Need to Take Medication?
Not everyone who has anxiety needs to take medication. Occasionally, I will suggest seeing a doctor to explore medication options. However, you do NOT need to take medication to work with me.
Are We Going to Focus on My Childhood?
While I usually do ask clients to recount their history, the primary focus of CBT is on the here and now. Think about this way – if we were trying to put out a fire, it would be most helpful to focus on what is keeping the fire going in the present, rather than trying to understand what has caused it in the first place! So it is with CBT for Anxiety – we want to focus and address the factors that maintain your anxiety. Of course, there are some exceptions to this general rule; for example, if your anxiety is trauma-related, we would likely spend a bit more time focusing on the past.
OK, I think I Struggle with Anxiety…What Next?
Please fill out the form below to set up a free 15-min phone chat where we can talk about your anxiety symptoms and treatment options.