Anxiety
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a normal reaction to perceived danger that everyone experiences from time to time. Anxiety is an adaptive response which has helped humans survive threats over hundreds of thousands of years. When your brain perceives a threat, real or imagined, your body initiates a fight-or-flight response. In this response, your bodily systems prepare to protect yourself from the threat. You may have noticed signs of this response in yourself before, such as your heart racing, feeling tense, breathing heavily, sweating, and trembling.
When Should I Seek Help?
Normal, adaptive anxiety usually goes away within a few hours or a day. If anxiety is lasting longer, happening frequently, feeling very intense, disrupting daily activities, and/or stopping participation in fun and important activities, it may be a sign that it is not regular stress and that some support may be required. At the Firestone CBT Clinic, we help clients learn to manage their anxiety related to everyday concerns such as stress related to work or health, relationship concerns, parenting, worry about world events, as well as anxiety disorders, which can be more debilitating.
What is an Anxiety Disorder?
Occasional feelings of anxiety are normal, but when anxiety persists and/or worsens over time, it could be an anxiety disorder. People with anxiety disorders tend to have intense, excessive, and persistent concerns. An anxiety disorder is marked by a person’s anxiety interfering with their daily activities and quality of life, as well as being distressing to the person. Symptoms of anxiety can include excessive and ongoing worry, tension, and restlessness, as well as difficulty concentrating and having an unrealistic view of problems. Anxiety can also manifest physically, with symptoms like headaches, upset stomach, sweating, racing heart, irritability, fatigue, and sleep difficulty. A few anxiety disorders that we assess and treat in our practice include:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD involves excessive and pervasive worry about everyday things that the person finds difficult to control and interferes with how they live their life. It is often accompanied by difficulty tolerating uncertainty, assuming that the worst will happen (i.e., worst case scenario thinking), and perceiving one is/would be unable to cope.
Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
Social Anxiety Disorder is an intense, persistent fear of being humiliated or judged by others, causing significant distress and impairment in daily living. People often worry about others perceiving them as stupid, incompetent, or weird, even when there is no objective evidence that others are judging them this way. People can end up avoiding social gatherings and encounters that would actually enhance their quality of life.
Panic Disorder
Panic Disorder involves sudden, unexpected, and repeated panic attacks with intense worry about when the next panic attack will take place. A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense feelings of fear that peaks within minutes and includes intense physical (e.g., shortness of breath, pounding heart, dizziness, etc.), cognitive (e.g., worry re: having a heart attack or stroke or that one is going crazy), and behavioural (e.g., avoiding vigorous exercise or places where anxiety has taken place in the past) symptoms.
HEALTH Anxiety (ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER)
Health Anxiety involves excessive worry about bodily symptoms, an illness, or a condition. People with this condition become preoccupied with sensations or the idea of illness, leading to misinterpretations of normal bodily sensations, excessive checking behaviour, and reassurance-seeking from others to determine whether they are ill.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD is a condition in which people experience recurrent, intrusive, and persistent thoughts (obsessions) and then feel driven to do something repeatedly to neutralize the anxiety associated with these thoughts (compulsions). Some typical obsessions include thoughts related to fear of contamination, disturbing thoughts, or extreme concern with order and symmetry. Some typical compulsions include excessive hand-washing or cleaning rituals, repeatedly checking locks or appliances, or rituals associated with numbers. People with OCD often have exaggerated responsibility beliefs and can often attribute more meaning to their distressing thoughts than someone who does not have OCD.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a condition that is triggered by a frightening traumatic event that has been experienced or witnessed. It can include symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, being easily startled, feeling irritable, and having angry outbursts, as well as avoiding thoughts, feelings and/or reminders of the traumatic event.
Phobias
Phobias are persistent, intense, and irrational fears of certain objects or situations. People with phobias know their fear is extreme but they feel incapable of confronting these feared objects or situations. Examples include fear of flying, fear of insects or animals, fear of heights, or fear of closed-in places. Phobias can lead people to got to excessive lengths to avoid their fears and have a negative impact on their life.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Anxiety
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychological therapy that is used to treat various mental health disorders including anxiety and anxiety disorders. CBT aims to change maladaptive emotional responses by altering thoughts and behaviours. It is typically a short-term treatment and involves helping people break out of the vicious cycle of thinking and behaving that maintains anxiety. It has been shown to be highly effective for treating anxiety. It is associated with major improvements in quality of life and is more effective than treatment with medication alone. Research shows that people who experience anxiety are less likely to relapse when treated with CBT.
Cognitive Interventions in CBT
Cognitive interventions involve learning how to examine unhelpful thoughts and beliefs and learning how to work with these in a more functional manner. Various strategies can be used to accomplish this including cognitive restructuring or thought challenging, as well as various acceptance and mindfulness strategies.
Behavioural Interventions in CBT
Behavioural strategies for working with anxiety include behavioural experiments, exposure therapy, learning new coping skills, relaxation and mindfulness strategies as well as many other interventions.
How is CBT different than other approaches?
CBT is different than other therapeutic approaches in its emphasis on the ways that a person’s cognitions, emotions and behaviours are linked. Unhelpful emotions are related to our perception of ourselves, others and the world, and how we behave in accordance with these beliefs. CBT practitioners help clients uncover their unhelpful beliefs and behaviours and work on overriding these when they are not functional.
A typical course of CBT therapy for anxiety is somewhere between 8 to 20 weekly sessions. The Clinical Director will assess you during your first meeting and make a recommendation about the number of sessions for your specific concerns.