If You or a Loved one is Looking for leading Edge Anxiety Treatment in Sacramento CA – you’ve come to the Right Place.

If you or a loved one suffers from anxiety you know about avoidant behavior, panic attacks, feeling sick to your stomach and the dread that can come with this crippling illness. However, you may not know the depth and breadth of the problem, commonly used terms and treatment methods. This article summarizes the definition of Anxiety, types of Anxiety and treatment methods for anxiety.

Sacramento  Anxiety Treatment – What is Anxiety?

Anxiety can be a crippling overwhelming feeling. Often it comes out of the blue with an image, a thought or some trigger. Before we know it we are talking to ourselves, pacing, calling everybody to gain reassurance or just spinning out of control. Often physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, pounding heart, sweating and muscle tension come at the same time. We might even think we are going crazy! However, with effective anxiety treatment these symptoms can be effectively managed helping to create a sense of freedom and possibility.

 

Anxiety Treatment- Our Reactions: Fight, Flee, Freeze or ..

             FIGHT

A Natural or primal response to anxiety is to fight, flee or freeze. These responses have developed thousands of years and helped us to prepare ourselves for life in a threatening and hostile environment. Often times these reactions aren’t the most useful response to our circumstances. Imagine if we are stuck in traffic and running late. We are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Do we get out of the car and fight with someone. Well maybe some folks do, but the rest of resist the urge and just pound our fists or yell, or find another way to channel this energy.

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FLEE

Fleeing can be very useful if you are being chased by a dinosaur  or other predator. But it may not help you get through that sales meeting or do well on a first date. The key is to recognize these impulses which arise from our reptilian brain and to replace them with a more appropriate

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FREEZE

Sometimes we really don’t know what to do. We are overwhelmed with conflicting emotion and stuck, frozen in time. Many people who are victims of domestic violence may experience this over and over again. Recognizing the stages of this violence and intervening at the appropriate part of the cycle is a key to overcoming these difficulties. That being said it is very common for someone to try to escape domestic violence at least 7 times before they leave the situation for good.

Sacramento Anxiety Treatment –Why do we have anxiety?

At it’s best anxiety is reaction to a danger to help keep us safe. Our primitive reptilian brain fires a warning shot and we are fighting – if we think we can win, fleeing if we have enough time to get away and freezing if we are overwhelmed and helpless. These stress reactions have helped us make it this far as a species. The problem is often times your modern day stress reactions feel as though our life is in immediate danger, but in fact your threat appraisal is way out of whack. If the boss demands we work late, we can’t imagine how to pay that bill or feel overwhelmed with responsibility we can’t very well punch out the boss, run away from the bills or freeze in a corner at a staff meeting, or traffic.So we need a way to befriend these triggers and react in an socially appropriate and useful way.

Anxiety Treatment – What triggers Anxiety?

1. Stressors that Cue Panic Attacks
   1. Significant Personal Loss
   2. Significant Life Change / Stress
   3. Health Problems
   4. Stimulants and Recreational Drugs
   5. Legal and Relationship Problems
2. Conditioning and the origin simple Phobias
3. Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Anxiety Treatment – Maintaining Causes

1. Avoiding situations that provoke anxiety
2. Anxious Self-Talk – Daily Mood Log
3. Mistaken Beliefs – Cognitive Distortions
4. Bottling up Feelings
5. Limited Assertiveness
6. Limited Self-nurturing
7. Muscle Tension
8. Stimulants and Diet (coffee, sugar, alcohol, smoking)
9. High Stress Life Style
10. Lack of Meaning or Purpose

So how do I work thru anxiety, what’s the plan for anxiety treatment in Sacramento?

1. Reduce Physical Reactivity
2. Eliminate Avoidance Behavior
3. Change Negative Self-talk which fuels a state of worry and dread.

Anxiety Treatment – Interventions in Sacramento

1. Relaxation – Information to Follow
2. Exercise – 2-3 times per week at least a half an hour, elevate heart rate.
   1. Weights, pushups, jog, brisk walk, yard work, sit ups
3. Nutrition – reduce sugar, caffeine, and cigarettes
4. Medication – follow medication as prescribed and consult with your doctor about SSRI’s
5. Self-Talk – Notice the things you tell yourself regarding difficult experiences. Are you catastrophizing or expecting the worst?  Or

Are you giving yourself a pep talk and remembering challenges you have overcome before and telling yourself you can do this!

1. Mistaken Belief –Cognitive Distortions. Are you minimizing the good and magnifying the bad. We believe if we focus on problems we will learn what we need to change and be able to direct our energies to solving our problems. And while this can be true, more often, everything just starts looking like a problem. Remember, what you focus on Expands. 
2. Expressing Feelings – Bottling up feelings can cause us to feel lonely, isolated, unappreciated and taken advantage of. It’s important to learn to express ourselves with Empathy, Assertiveness and Respect.
3. Assertiveness – Are you kind and loving and feel like there is nothing left for you and people don’t appreciate you. Being Assertive with your needs and setting good boundaries can help turn this around.
4. Self-Esteem / Meaning / Spirituality
5. Rest and sleep.

RELAXATION

1. Abdominal Breathing
   1. Note your level of tension, place one hand on your stomach, inhale deeply, slowly through your nose and send the air down as low as you can.
   2. After a full deep breath, pause for a moment, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. Allow your whole body to loosen and relax.
   3. Do Ten slow, full abdominal breaths. Remember to pause briefly at the end of each one.

1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique
   1. Find a quiet comfortable place to sit and do abdominal breathing
   2. Then tense each muscle group abruptly for two full breaths
   3. Then release that muscle group for two full breaths
   4. Start with your feet, then calves, then knees, upper legs, hips and so on. All the way up to your head and out through your hands.
2. Visualize a Peaceful Scene
   1. Visualize a peaceful scene such as a beach, in the mountains, or camping.
   2. Beach – You are walking along a beautiful, deserted beach. You are barefoot and can feel the soft warm sand between your toes as you walk along the edge of the water. You imagine your problems as ships nearby heading away from you. You hear the sound of the surf as the waves ebb and flow. The sound is hypnotic, and it relaxes you deeper and deeper. You feel the sun on your skin and the gentle wind in your hair. You are deeply relaxed and all of your problems are like distant ships on the horizon getting further and further away. Until you can’t see the problems at all. A deep calm fills you, you feel warm, relaxed and content. You recognize that this still place is always present even though sometimes we miss it. Our thoughts and experiences can bring us back to this loving, warm peaceful place at any time.

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Information provided on this site does not constitute a patient therapist relationship, and should be used under the guidance of a licensed mental health professional. Information presented on this page was written by James Meyer, LCSW founder of Lions Heart Counseling Sacramento.