Anxiety

Feeling anxious or depressed all the time is exhausting and significantly affects your quality of life. If you have anxiety symptoms, visit Richard Hilburn, MD, FACP, at Goals of Care, PLLC, in Herndon, Virginia. Dr. Hilburn and his team offer compassionate support to people struggling with mental health problems. Call Goals of Care, PLLC, or book an appointment online today to benefit from expert treatment for depression and anxiety.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is the result of worry, stress, and/or fear. It’s how you might feel before a significant event or when you’re in danger. Your body releases hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) that give you extra strength, endurance, and mental agility so you can defend yourself or escape from a threat (the fight-or-flight response).

This is great if you’re in a life-threatening situation and can be useful to boost your performance in high-pressure situations. However, if you are continually anxious, the repeated release of stress hormones can affect your mental and physical health.

If you have generalized anxiety disorder, the most common condition, you constantly feel stressed. Everything from choosing what to wear each day to making significant life changes causes you intense anxiety and hinders decision-making.

What symptoms might I experience with an anxiety disorder?

Anxiety disorder symptoms may include:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Trouble concentrating
• Fatigue and weakness
• Excessive sweating
• Trembling
• Pounding, racing heart
• Rapid, shallow breathing
• Chest pain

Anxiety symptoms sometimes reach a crisis point, triggering a panic attack. This highly distressing experience happens suddenly, taking away your control over functions like movement and communication.

You might also have heart attack-like symptoms. Panic attacks are so unpleasant that people prone to them often avoid leaving home for fear of having another.

Can I develop depression along with anxiety?

Many people living with anxiety disorders also have depression. This condition causes a profound low mood in which you feel negative emotions like misery, shame, self-loathing, and hopelessness. You might become so despairing with depression that you consider suicide.

Depression and anxiety are severe mental health conditions, but with the proper treatment and support, you can recover and lead a happy, rewarding life.

How is anxiety treated?

Both anxiety and depression typically require a combination of talk therapy and medication.

You might need anti-anxiety drugs and/or antidepressants to adjust chemical imbalances in your brain. Talk therapy or counseling helps you identify any underlying triggers for depression and anxiety. You can also learn coping skills to help you with life’s daily challenges.

Goals of Care, PLLC, promotes a holistic approach to mental health care, including diet and lifestyle advice, in your personalized treatment plan.

Call Goals of Care, PLLC, to ask for a depression and anxiety assessment, or book an appointment online today.