Anxiety and Depression
Are you feeling excessively worried, irritable, panicky, having difficult concentrating, having memory problems, having trouble breathing and/or fearful of the next worst thing? You may be suffering from anxiety. Anxiety is the most frequently diagnosed brain disorder in today’s world.
Or are you feeling overwhelmed with sadness, guilt, irritability, hopelessness, regret, anger and/or thoughts of self-harm? If so, you may be experiencing depression. What do these disorders have in common? Left untreated, they are much likely to WORSEN over time.
Symptoms of Anxiety
- Excessive fear, phobias, fear of the worst thing happening
- Panic attacks
- Excessive worry that is pervasive (exists throughout the day)
- Inability to concentrate/memory problems
- Chest pains, pain in upper back
- Feeling irritable, chronic anger
- Rapid heartbeat
- Numbness, tingling
- Feeling on edge, uneasy most of the day
- Somatic manifestations (headaches, stomach aches, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, high blood pressure, and/or a lowered immune system)
- Shaking, trembling
- Difficulty breathing
- Difficulty sleeping (difficulty going to sleep, staying asleep, or waking up very early and not being able to go back to sleep)
Treatment of Anxiety
Research has reported that the most effective form of treatment for many types of anxiety disorders is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). What is CBT? Simply stated, CBT helps you learn how to think more rationally and how to reframe negative, self-defeating thoughts into positive, self-affirming thoughts. Over time, CBT can change the way your brain processes thoughts that cause you to feel anxiety.
For severe anxiety, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) has been proven to be very successful. Extreme anxiety may be the result of trauma, PTSD, a history of severe abuse (emotional, physical, and/or sexual).
There is no reason to live one more day struggling with these issues. Discover for yourself: therapy at mindCARES works!
Symptoms of Depression
- Depressed, sad mood most of the day
- Irritability; chronic anger
- Crying episodes
- Insomnia or sleeping too much
- Excessive guilt or feelings of worthlessness
- Difficulty concentrating/problems with memory
- Loss of appetite or huge increase in appetite
- Thoughts of self-harm
- Severe fatigue or loss of energy
- Loss of interest in all or almost all activities
- Extreme difficulty with decision making
- Loss of interest in sex
Treatment of Depression
With compassion and concern our therapists can help you face the issues which are causing you to feel depressed. Collaborating with your therapist, an individually tailored plan using evidence based practices will be designed for you. This plan will significantly lower your depression and enable you to enjoy your life again.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has consistently been proven to be very effective in the treatment of depression. What is CBT? Simply stated, CBT helps you learn how to think more rationally and how to reframe negative, self-defeating thoughts into positive, self-affirming thoughts. Over time, CBT can change the way your brain processes thoughts that cause you to feel depressed.
In addition, you may need to process issues from your past/family of origin; work on developing more healthy boundaries, improve your assertiveness skills, and/or address issues of codependency. All of these approaches can help lower depression. There is no reason to continue to struggle with depression, and left untreated it will only worsen. Don’t wait another day.
Codependency
The term codependency has been around for decades. Although it was originally used to describe spouses or partners of alcoholics, researchers revealed that the characteristics of codependents were much more prevalent in the general population than had been previously thought. In fact, if you were raised in a dysfunctional family or had a parent who was ill you could be a codependent. Researchers have also found that symptoms of codependency get worse if left untreated. The good news is you can recover from codependency.
Symptoms of Codependency
- Unhealthy boundaries
- Having problems communicating (you may be passive or nonassertive, passive aggressive or aggressive rather than assertive)
- Low sense of self-worth or lack of self-acceptance
- A tendency to care-take or take responsibility for others
- A pattern of self-neglect
- Having much difficulty expressing intimacy in relationships
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Disordered eating, overworking, substance abuse, overspending, or sexual compulsivity*
*You do not have to have all of these symptoms to have issues with codependency.
Untreated codependency, may manifest itself in a variety of physical illnesses: fibromyalgia, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, a lowered immune system, chronic fatigue syndrome, stomach ulcers; high blood pressure; virtually any stress related illness. So, if all you do is treat the physical illness, you are NOT addressing the underlying cause.
Treatment for Codependency
All the therapists at mindCARES have had extensive experience treating individuals with codependency issues. In a warm, safe, nonjudgmental environment you can learn to value yourself, set healthy boundaries, assert your feelings, get your needs met, and develop paths to peace and meaning in your life. Our goal is to help you learn to recognize and develop the power to change your life!
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven extremely effective for the treatment of trauma. It is the most frequently used form of treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
When a person is very upset, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarly. One moment becomes “frozen in time”. Remembering a trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. Such memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with the way you see the world and relate to other people. EMDR has a direct effect on the way that the brain processes information. When normal information processing is resumed following a successful EMDR session, you will no longer relive the images, sounds, and feelings recalled. You still remember what happened, but it is no longer distressing.
Scientific research has established EMDR as the most treatment effective for post-traumatic stress (PTSD). In addition, at mindCARES our clinicians report huge success using EMDR in treatment of the following conditions:
- Panic attacks
- Complicated grief
- Dissociative disorders
- Disturbing memories
- Phobias
- Pain disorders
- Performance anxiety
- Stress Reduction
- Addictions
- Sexual and/or Physical abuse
- Body dysmorphic disorders
- Personality Disorders