Anxiety
ADULT AND CHILD PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN KING OF PRUSSIA, PA
While it’s normal to experience anxiety occasionally, about 19% of adults have overwhelming and persistent anxiety with worries and fears that disrupt their daily life. Often they take time away from work, stop going places they once enjoyed, or avoid the things that trigger anxiety. The group of licensed practitioners, including Nina Patel, CRNP, PMHNP-BC, and Vince Di Antonio, CRNP, PMHNP-BC, at Alpine Psychiatry, have years of experience helping patients overcome their anxiety with effective medical treatment and ongoing therapeutic support. To get started, call the King of Prussia (KOP) or Johnstown, Pennsylvania, office to schedule an appointment or request one online today.
Anxiety triggers your body’s fight-or-flight response, which allows you to stay alert and face challenges or escape if you need to protect yourself. Normal anxiety subsides as soon as the perceived threat is over, whether that threat was nervousness over a first date or a situation in which you faced physical harm.
When ongoing anxiety affects your ability to work and socialize or interferes with any aspect of your life, it's no longer normal daily anxiety. In cases like this, when your anxiety persists without a triggering event and becomes an overwhelming fear, Alpine Psychiatry can help you find relief.
Generalized anxiety disorder is defined as having excessive anxiety and worry for at least six months. During that time, you may feel apprehensive as you struggle to control your anxiety.
You’ll also have symptoms such as:
Anxiety can also cause a range of physical symptoms, such as an upset stomach or frequently needing to use the bathroom.
You may experience unpredictable panic attacks, sudden, overwhelming anxieties, or fears when no real danger exists. Many patients describe panic attacks as feeling like they're dying because of symptoms such as shortness of breath, a rapid heartbeat, dizziness, a tight feeling in their chest, and hyperventilation.
Licensed physicians at Alpine Psychiatry primarily treat anxiety with medication to alleviate the intense symptoms affecting your ability to function and get through daily life. Many different medications effectively treat anxiety symptoms.
Each class of medication is used conservatively, except in extenuating circumstances, for anxiety — benzodiazepines, antidepressants, beta-blockers, antipsychotics, and anticonvulsants — includes several approved drugs. You can count on Alpine Psychiatry's extensive experience to accurately diagnose your anxiety and choose the best medication.
Your treatment may also include breathing techniques, meditation, exercise, and supplements (in the case which research backs it).
After you gain symptom relief from medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an additional recommended treatment that helps many patients change their thinking patterns to diminish anxiety. Different techniques used during CBT are also effective for phobias and OCD.
If you experience any type of anxiety or OCD, call Alpine Psychiatry in KOP or request an appointment online.