Psychiatry Associates Blog

When a person thinks of anxiety, they often imagine the mental and emotional turmoil.  They likely envision someone who is high-strung, often nervous and prone to depression.  However, while anxiety can certainly manifest in these ways, there are several other potential side effects that are less commonly realized.  Key among these are the physical signs of an anxiety disorder.

It’s the season of cheer and joyful anticipation, but if you struggle with stress and anxiety, visions of sugarplums may be the furthest thing from your mind. While those feelings may make you feel alone and stressed around this time of year, it's important to understand that many people feel this way and that there are steps you can take to alleviate your anxiety.  Here are a few to try:

You’ve experienced a few stressful events recently, and although they are now past, you still are not feeling quite like yourself.  Perhaps you find that you are always fatigued, frequently irritable, or are unable to allow yourself to relax.  You’re worried about the next possible event and imagining scenarios in which things could go wrong.  If this experience sounds familiar, there is a strong likelihood that you are suffering from anxiety triggered by cumulative stress.

Experiencing anxiety from time to time is normal. Worrying about things like health, money, or family problems is common. But, when is worrying not normal?

As the leaves turn and the temperatures cool, our thoughts turn to gifts and gatherings, to dinners and decking the halls. But if you struggle with anxiety or depression, your thoughts may be too overwhelmed by stress to appreciate the seasons.

It’s the spookiest time of the year. With haunted houses, scary movies, and creepy crawlers at every turn, you’re bound to be frightened. But if you struggle with phobic anxiety disorder, your triggers won’t end with the beginning of November. Learning to recognize the signs and types of phobic disorders can enable you to successfully manage your symptoms all year long.

Maybe it’s the rain. The chill in the air. Or, maybe, it’s the reduced sunlight exposure that accompanies the shortened days of fall and winter. If you’re one of the many people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the colder months are more likely to be filled with anxiety and depression than jolly and cheer. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, SAD is a form of depression that recurs seasonally—either in the winter or summer. If you’re struggling with SAD, depressive episodes occur more frequently—nearly every day—during the coinciding season.

These past few weeks have been plagued with disaster, tragedy, and stress. As the Louisiana community bands together to repair, rebuild, and recover, it is important to recognize any feelings of anxiety or stress that you may be experiencing. You may be struggling with Acute Stress Disorder (ASD).

We all experience anxiety at some point. It is a natural human emotion that can be brought on by a number of external or internal triggers, but experiencing anxiety does not mean you suffer from an anxiety disorder. If you are more aware of the symptoms of anxiety disorders, you are able to take notice and seek the appropriate professional counseling to treat it. To help you better understand the symptoms of an anxiety disorder, we have created an outline of anxiety disorders: the what, why, and who for Baton Rouge.