Campbell, CA and San Jose Anxiety Therapist
What is anxiety? And how does it feel to have anxiety?
We all experience feelings of anxiety, worry and fear. These can be normal responses to certain situations. For example, you might worry about a job interview, or about paying a bill on time. You’ve heard people talk about anxiety before but you’re not sure if this is what you’re experiencing or not. If you want to feel better and in control of your emotions, therapy can help!
Anxiety is defined as feelings of fear, dread, and uneasiness that may occur as a reaction to stress. These symptoms of anxiety can differ for everyone.
Perhaps you’re having difficulty managing stress, so you lash out at others, causing a strain in your relationships. Or maybe the daily pressure to control your thoughts, emotions, and environment is evolving into compulsive behaviors. If you’ve been dealing with anxiety for a while, you may find that withdrawing from others makes you feel better momentarily, or you refrain from engaging in activities or hobbies because they feel too overwhelming to manage.
Sometimes, anxiety can manifest in a variety of symptoms, like having difficulties sleeping or feeling wired all the time, even when you may be completely exhausted. You may find that it’s hard to relax, and maybe you even feel disconnected from your body at times. This can feel scary and so overwhelming when you’re not reaching out for support.
We know that, right now, you are in a lot of pain, and getting to a place where you feel “normal like everyone else” seems impossible. Our therapists at Uplift Psychology Group can help you feel empowered and in control again, so you can feel free to live the life you want, and have thriving relationships.
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What are the different types of anxiety disorder?
There are many different types of anxiety. The most common anxieties are generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, and separation anxiety.
- General Anxiety – General anxiety’s most common symptom is over worrying about activities and events. Excessive worrying can often be really hard to control, and it can feel like you just can’t turn it off, no matter what you do. Other symptoms include difficulties sleeping, trouble concentrating, and irritability. These symptoms can last for long periods of time, such as several months and longer. Sometimes you may even find yourself trying to ignore it, or avoiding things so you don’t have to deal with the anxiety. You may think that helps, but in the long run, it can actually make it workse!
- Social Anxiety – Social anxiety can also be referred to as a social phobia. While worrying about social situations can occur for most people, this type of anxiety involves more intense worrying that occurs before, during and after an event. Also, when the worrying is interfering with your ability to function within the social setting, that’s when it’s time to ask for some additional support. This anxiety may lead to avoidance of social situations as a way to cope with the high amount of distress that interacting with people may bring.
- Separation Anxiety – Separation anxiety may vary on symptoms based on the individual’s age. Separation anxiety tends to occur within children. Symptoms of separation anxiety can be constant worrying when without the primary caregiver, reluctant to leave their caregiver’s side, and refusal to participate in independent and social activities. This can be really challenging not only for the child, but for the caregiver as well.
- Phobias – Phobias refer to having an extreme fear in one specific situation or to one specific thing. Common phobias are flying, specific animals, and needles. Phobias are stronger than just fears. A phobia may cause avoidance of anything closely related to the fear.
- Panic attacks– Panic attacks feel like a sudden burst of intense fear that triggers both an emotional and physical response in a person. Even though our body and mind may be reacting in such a way that suggests we’re in danger, there may actually be no imminent danger in your environment. When these attacks occur, it may feel like you’re having a heart attack or that you may die. Needless to say, these can feel incredibly scary, and avoidance behaviors may ensue out of our efforts to avoid another attack.
You are not alone if you experience these issues!
Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives! Some other types of anxieties we see include worries related to:
- Academic/sports performance
- Work performance
- Interpersonal relationships
- Health and safety
- Gender/sexual identity
- Becoming a new parent
- Pre and post-partum
Anxiety also affects our physical health
There is a growing body of research that indicates that anxiety does not only wreak havoc on our mental and emotional state, but it can also negatively affect our physical health! When we carry a lot of tension and anxiety in our bodies for long periods of time, we may notice a variety of physical symptoms, such as stomach pain, indigestion, chest pain, numbness or tingling, vision changes, or sweaty palms.
How do I know if my anxiety is normal?
This is an incredibly common question! While some degree of anxiety is normal and unavoidable, it becomes an issue if it feels like it is negatively impacting various areas of your life, such as your work, school, relationships, and your physical health.
You may get really anxious when you know we have a big speech to give at work, or if you’re dating and you’re nervous about being vulnerable and potentially getting hurt. The anxiety may disappear within a short period of time, and you’re no longer negatively impacted by the symptoms. When the symptoms don’t go away, no matter what happens in your life, unfortunately they won’t just go away by avoiding it.
When working with one of our anxiety therapists, you’ll not only learn how to cope with the day to day stressors in life, but you’ll also address the core issue that is causing those symptoms to begin with.
How do I cope with anxiety?
There are tips that can help ease anxiety at home. If you are looking for additional support, or do not know where to begin, Uplift Psychology Group has highly trained therapists who are ready to help you navigate this. Our therapists use a variety of techniques to support you in your journey to healing from anxiety. We will tailor our therapy approach to your specific needs, as we recognize no two people are alike in their experience of anxiety.
Below are some of the things you can expect when working with one of our therapists. You will learn how to:
- Explore your own thoughts, and understand how they affect both behaviors and emotions.
- Use mindfulness to live in the moment and accept thoughts and feelings with zero judgment.
- Move forward through negative emotions and thought patterns by not dwelling on the negative, and focusing on healing.
- Help your brain process and release traumatic memories that are impacting your symptoms of anxiety. You can finally shed the intensity of the intense emotions of various traumatic memories.
- Quiet the inner voice that can overshadow living presently.
- Gain acceptance and tolerance of undesired anxious feelings, and learn to have compassion for oneself.
- Bring the unconscious mind into consciousness in order for you to recognize and experience a deep rooted feeling to help resolve the anxious thoughts and feelings
- Find tools and set goals to help manage immediate dilemmas and cope with challenges in the present, rather than look in the past.
Therapy with one of our highly trained therapists will unlock this part of you that feels stuck and burdened by the stress of managing your anxious symptoms. You’ll finally feel like you can live freely, and regain a sense of joy and excitement in your life. We offer anxiety therapy both online and in person at our San Jose office. If you choose to have your sessions online, you can enjoy having your sessions in the privacy of your own home, as long as you are resident anywhere in the state of California.
Sometimes medication can be a useful tool when working through anxiety. While we don’t prescribe medication at Uplift, once you are an established client of ours, we can provide you referrals to connect with a medical profession, at your request.
Contact Our San Jose Anxiety Therapist
Anxiety can make every day difficult and even the simplest of tasks can become monumental. At Uplift Psychology Group, we can help you to find relief for your anxiety and restore a sense of normalcy to your daily life.
Our clinical psychologists & therapists in San Jose & Campbell provide highly-trained therapy services for anxiety, depression, and more.
Get the help you need with your anxiety today. We are now offering virtual anxiety therapy sessions!
For more information about therapy for anxiety, contact us by form or phone at 408-404-5983 today.
Interested in a free 15-minute initial consultation? Schedule here!