Anxiety & Panic Attacks

Struggles in silence.

For Ash*, it manifests most intensely when she is alone.

She can’t stand the thought of disappointing or displeasing people.

She struggles to sleep as she tries to fend off visions of a lonely future.

Being social creates anxiousness.

Nate* gets overwhelmed when he goes to parties or other social gatherings and must force himself to go out when invited.

Even then, Nate flakes, ghosts his friends, and sometimes asks his girlfriend to leave events less than an hour after they arrive.

He feels like he is a terrible friend and misses the times in his life when he enjoyed doing things aside from staying in, watching TV, or playing video games.

Hard to identify the problem.

Jen* has visited every specialist she could afford this year. No one can pinpoint what she has, and she can’t describe it entirely, but she knows something is off.

Ruling out scary diseases helps her keep calm for a little while… until the discomfort shifts location, and the cycle starts again.

She feels like friends, family, and even doctors aren’t taking her seriously anymore.

Sex is a problem.

Nobody knows that Bow and Arrow have a “performance” issue in bed.

They are tired of using the same lines to explain to their partners it has nothing to do with them.

They are avoiding intimacy with others because of this.

Presence in meetings creates anxiety.

For John*, it creeps in during meetings and presentations with clients at work.

He can’t stop thinking of ways in which he will make a mistake. Finding a comfortable posture is difficult, and staying focused is a challenge. He is even afraid to hold a glass of water for fear that he will drop it.

No matter how prepared he is for these meetings, he can’t shake off the feeling, fearing that someone will notice that he is an anxious mess.

Nevertheless, he suffers through these encounters, hoping that he will not “crack” mid-meeting, making a complete fool of himself.

Relationships continually fail.

Elena* can’t trust her partners to stick around. She gets a sense that things are not going well between them whenever things don’t go as planned.

While paying close attention to every detail of her partner’s behavior, she spends hours obsessing about what certain things mean.

If she gets a chance, she will “dig” on her partner’s texts or emails. Her recurrent questioning, constant need to be reassured, and love only drive her partners farther away.

Panic creates unusual feelings.

Andy* had a scary experience on his walk back home. Out of the blue, he suddenly thought he was losing his mind. It felt so intense; he felt he had a heart attack at first.

The floor dropped beneath him, and the walls caved in. He could not think straight, and he had to sit down to catch his breath.

He did not understand what to do to make it stop. He can’t tell you why it happened there or why it happened at all.

He is terrified it will happen again unexpectedly.

Thinking of what can go wrong steals the present.

It’s been a while since you were free from worry and concern for an extended period. You find it hard to relax as your mind is always racing.

You are always in your head, thinking of all the things that are still left undone and the things that could go wrong if you don’t pay enough attention.

Your mind is so powerful, causing you to think three or four steps ahead. You can imagine with vivid detail every repercussion and ramification of a future situation.

You focus on how things can go wrong.

Panic is a physical and emotional sensation.

You are more tense than you would like to be. You have hot flashes at random points during the day. You can’t seem to get rid of the sudden waves of pressure in your chest and tightness in your throat and neck.

You get lightheaded, blurry vision, and palpitations that come knocking in seemingly the worst moments. It’s taxing on your body and your relationships.

You don’t want to sound crazy, so you put up a front while you feel like your insides are all over the place, especially in social situations. Being in these situations makes it worse, and therefore you chart escape routes if you need to leave early or quickly slip out to take a break.

Anxiety fails to go away.

People say you should learn to surrender to the moment, rather than being consumed with worry and angst.

They don’t seem to understand how bad it can feel. You can laugh it off when you are more grounded, but the feelings of anxiety are always stalking you.

You are tired of this. You want it to stop. You want to enjoy yourself and take part fully in the present without your anxiety taking center stage.

Therapy can help with anxiety and panic attacks.

Through cognitive and behavioral strategies and neuroscience-based interventions, you will learn how to better deal with your anxiety.

We provide a warm and supportive relationship and a safe place for you to learn the tools and skills you can use to feel more grounded in the present and take control.

Panic attacks will no longer have a hold on your confidence.

There will be homework, and it will be uncomfortable. Your anxiety will not surrender control quickly, but it can’t hold a candle up to your will.

Let’s work to lower your anxiety.

We will help you turn the volume down on your anxiety, so it can be the right tool, the one that provides healthy caution and common sense risk management.

If you are ready to take center stage of your life, sending your anxiety to the back seat, call us now: (917) 268-9213.

*Names changed to preserve client confidentiality.