What is Anxiety?
Anxiety, as described by the American Psychological Association, is “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.”
Why did I Develop Anxiety?
Anxiety disorders are most closely associated with a complex mesh of risk factors including life events, personality, and neurochemistry. Genetic predisposition seems to play a role as anxiety tends to run in families. Other medical conditions affecting hormones and brain chemistry can play a role as well.
What’s the difference between Stress and Anxiety?
Anxiety is a reaction the mind and body can have with stress, whereas stress is a reaction to a circumstance. Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when a person experiences more than they can handle it can be detrimental to that person.
How are Anxiety Disorders Diagnosed?
Anxiety disorders are commonly categorized into the following types: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Phobia-Related Disorders (i.e. Social Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, etc.).
How do you Treat Anxiety?
Anxiety treatment plans need to be customized to each client according to their specific condition. Some options include Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies, Holistic Therapies, medication, or emerging techniques such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Anxiety Treatment in San Diego
Solara’s San Diego anxiety treatment facility has dedicated itself to providing the best anxiety therapy and psychiatric care in the area.
Anxiety, as described by the American Psychological Association, is “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.”
Occasional anxiety is a regular part of life. However, when feelings of anxiety become an everyday occurrence, it could become a mental health condition.
People with anxiety disorders experience significant fear, nervousness, and worry in everyday situations. These feelings intrude on daily activities and cause a person to avoid essential life circumstances that trigger them.
Anxiety Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-5) classifies anxiety disorders into different categories. The diseases differ by which anxiety symptoms are experienced. Most people diagnosed often have more than one type of anxiety disorder.
Types of anxiety disorders include:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A common mental disorder that is characterized by long-lasting anxiety not caused by anything specific. Patients experience physical anxiety symptoms, as well as psychotic anxiety symptoms.
- Social Anxiety Disorder: Also known as social phobia, this condition makes people afraid of social interaction. They’re scared of being the center of attention, receiving criticism, embarrassment, or appearing awkward. These feelings can result in avoiding situations that involve the opposite sex, superiors, or public speaking.
- Panic Disorder: This stress disorder produces intense physical sudden anxiety. People with this disorder may experience extreme pain, tension, or palpitations across various parts of the body. Sometimes, this condition can cause false feelings of reality. Specific situations usually cause panic attacks, but they may have no apparent source.
- Agoraphobia: This is described as fear and avoidance of conditions that may be difficult to escape. These situations may make a person feel trapped, such as being on public transportation or in an elevator.
- Specific Phobias: These phobias, or fears, are confined to singular situations. They are often related to animals, bugs, heights, water, or other natural occurrences.
- Separation Anxiety Disorder: This is described as an extreme irregular fear of separation from whom the person is emotionally attached. This fear is much more common among children.
- Selective Mutism: This disorder is described as a consistent failure to talk in situations where they are expected to, such as school. People with this condition speak in other circumstances.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder was listed in the previous version of DSM as an anxiety disorder, but it now belongs to a category of its own. It shares features of anxiety disorders. However, anxiety does not necessarily appear.
Causes
The causes of these disorders are complicated and unique to each individual. They are often progressing mental illnesses, especially when left untreated.
They can stem from a singular severe experience or be the result of many over time. Some anxiety disorders may lead to other medical conditions, including other anxiety issues.
Possible causes and risk factors for anxiety disorders include:
- Drugs: Illicit drugs and even certain prescribed medications can have side effects that lead to anxiety.
- Medical Conditions: Any disease that causes more activity within the nervous system may produce side effects of anxiety. Heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory problems have also been linked to anxiety.
- Stress: Environmental factors such as trauma or reoccurring situations can cause an anxiety response. This response could result from social interactions, body image, chronic illnesses, financial worries, among other things.
- Genetics: Personalities and genetic makeup can make one more prone to negative responses to stressful situations, causing anxiety. Hormones and electrical connections in the brain can also play a factor in anxiety disorders.
Treating Anxiety
Anxiety treatment plans need to be customized to each veteran according to their disorder. At Solara’s anxiety treatment facility in San Diego, we help each veteran work through his/her specific anxieties and create a plan to manage those anxieties in their day-to-day lives.
Our expert clinicians begin by compassionately working with veterans to better understand the cause of their anxiety and how it manifests itself. Then, clinicians and veterans collaborate to create methods for veterans to respond to their anxieties and triggers.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Individual psychotherapy is Solara Mental Health Treatment Center’s first line of defense when it comes to anxiety treatment. Our clinicians use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is regarded as one of the most successful treatments for anxiety disorders.
CBT is useful because it focuses on thought patterns. Veterans learn to interrupt their negative thought patterns and turn that energy into healthy, positive coping methods.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a kind of CBT and pertains to how one talks. It’s another crucial piece of our anxiety therapy in San Diego.
We also pair CBT with psychodynamic therapy. This type of therapy allows veterans to examine their lives deeply. This examination helps them determine the roots and triggers of their anxieties, identify management methods, and ultimately find a greater sense of peace in their lives.
Group Therapy
Support groups may sound daunting to many veterans with anxiety, especially social anxiety. To some, the whole concept of group therapy may even seem counter-productive to the mental health treatment process.
Those participating in our group therapy can be assured of a small, caring, judgment-free space where they can feel comfortable sharing their anxieties with people who understand their daily struggles. This sharing can be especially beneficial, allowing veterans to find ways to work through their social anxiety in a supportive environment.
Holistic Care
To help veterans manage their physical symptoms, our San Diego anxiety treatment center takes a holistic approach to healing. This approach includes physical treatments like acupuncture, massages, and yoga classes as part of its regular treatment regimen.
These physical, rather than emotional therapies, help veterans relax and take control of their bodies, helping foster a sense of security and peace.
Medication
As needed, Solara’s anxiety treatment in San Diego can provide patients with anti-anxiety medications for both chronic and acute symptoms. Psychotropic medications will be coupled with other treatments, such as individual psychotherapy and group therapy, to provide a comprehensive care experience.
Some medications that can suppress symptoms of anxiety and support anxiety management include:
- Benzodiazepines: This class of drugs is commonly used to treat anxiety as they have few severe side effects. They can, however, be addictive. So, they must be used properly and monitored by a mental health professional.
- Antidepressants: These drugs indirectly treat anxiety by smoothing out symptoms and relieving distress associated with it.
- Tricyclics: Tricyclics are an older class of drugs not commonly used anymore. They typically have more side effects than the ones listed above, but they may be used if a person has issues with other medications.
- Beta-blockers: These medications are used to treat heart conditions and may be used to treat anxiety-related to similar problems.
- Monoamine oxidase inhibitors: Abbreviated as MAOIs, this class of drugs can be particularly useful for panic disorders and social phobias. However, because of their harmful interactions with certain medications and foods, they are not often used to treat anxiety.
- Buspirone: This anti-anxiety medication targets unbalanced brain chemistry. It may help a person think more clearly and worry less through daily activities. However, like MAOIs, it has adverse reactions with certain foods and other medicines.
Our San Diego anxiety treatment facility doesn’t necessarily use medications as the first line of defense against anxiety unless a patient’s symptoms merit them. We will thoughtfully prescribe the right medication for each veteran, as well as help each veteran find the best medication regimen for their own unique needs.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) uses state-of-the-art technology to treat anxiety. And, we happen to offer it here at our anxiety treatment center in San Diego.
TMS works by sending magnetic energy pulses through one’s head, stimulating certain parts of the brain for about 30 minutes. It’s a non-invasive procedure that is not to be confused with Electroconvulsive therapy.
When done by a professional, TMS can improve mood and cognitive function in people with anxiety. When coupled with other forms of therapy, it can be extremely beneficial.
Solara’s Anxiety Treatment for Veterans
Solara Mental Health in San Diego focuses on giving veterans a supportive and safe environment to recover from their anxiety disorder. Our mental health treatment facility recognizes that each veteran will have their personal needs, and we will customize their treatment plan to help with their specific diagnosis and symptoms.
Solara is VA contracted as a community care provider, which gives us the unique opportunity to help veterans with their mental health needs, including anxiety disorder treatment. Once authorization is approved, we provide housing, transportation, and accommodations.
Solara’s Anxiety Treatment in San Diego
At Solara Mental Health, we know how disruptive anxiety disorders can be in our veterans’ everyday lives. They can alter entire worldviews and interrupt professional or social goals.
It is our goal to help veterans pinpoint the cause of their anxieties and manage them accordingly so that they can live fulfilling lives.
The experts at our well-rounded anxiety treatment center in San Diego hold this in mind. Our psychiatric facility’s clinicians are prepared and ready to help veterans with all symptoms, both emotional and physical so that we can be the best anxiety therapists in San Diego.
Our psychiatric center’s clinicians’ work is aided by the peaceful atmosphere our facilities provide. We are an anxiety treatment oasis, relieving you from the hectic worries of day-to-day life. Solara’s San Diego anxiety treatment center’s soothing environment will allow you to explore your anxieties and their triggers.
While our veterans make considerable and rapid improvements, anxiety disorders are often long-term conditions. Understanding this through years of experience, Solara Mental Health provides the entire spectrum of care from inpatient to outpatient. We’ll help you from transitional living to continued aftercare, which will secure long-term success.
Contact us now to start your San Diego Anxiety Treatment Program.
Proudly Serving Veterans
with TriWest Insurance
