The Coronavirus Makes Anxiety Worse.

Perhaps you have long struggled with anxiety, and the current crisis is making your symptoms worse, or perhaps you are finding you are newly struggling with anxiety due to the current crisis. If you are struggling more than usual with anxiety right now, you are not alone. Even if you haven’t been personally affected by the virus or know someone who has, you may feel like you are sitting and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So many of us are worried about getting infected. You may fear that germs can be transmitted via surfaces, clothing, food, or the air. There seem to be no definitive answers to your questions, and no way of staying completely safe.

You may have questions about what happens if you or a family member becomes infected-what will it look like? What are the symptoms? How fast will it escalate to an emergency? Will you need a hospital? Will there be room if you do?

Even if you and your loved ones are safe, you might be sheltering at home together, which brings a lot of new stressors. How do I structure my day? How do I balance my workday and needs to care for dependent family members such as children? How do I help my children cope with their “new normal”? How do I manage new stressors with my partner, now that we are living together 24x7? How do I manage new stressors related to co-parenting with my partner, now that we are living together 24x7?

I am here to help you cope during these unprecedented times. Please call me today at 202-340-3612 or send me an email at devon@devonking.com to discuss your needs or set up an appointment for online therapy.

Do You Or Your Teenager Struggle With Excessive Worry?

Is overwhelming anxiety taking control of your life? Do you often worry that your friends or coworkers don’t like you? Perhaps you experience some physical symptoms of anxiety, such as a racing heartbeat or chest pain. It’s possible that you have visited your medical doctor for your alarming physical symptoms, only to hear that you are healthy. Does your mind race when you are faced with an unfamiliar social interaction? Are you constantly worried that you are not performing well at work, fulfilling your family responsibilities or reaching the level of success you desire? Do you wish you could feel calm, poised and in control of your thoughts and emotions?

You may wake up feeling anxious about all of your daily responsibilities. Throughout the day, worrying about your performance at work, school or in social situations may inhibit your ability to function normally. When your mind races – either through old regrets or worries about the future – you may have trouble focusing on your current tasks. Your relationships with your loved ones, friends and coworkers may be limited because you may isolate yourself in order to avoid potentially worrisome situations. At night, you may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep because you continue to overthink your responsibilities or actions. Perhaps you feel as though you can never slow down or enjoy what life has to offer.

Or maybe you have a teenager whose anxiety level appears high. Does he or she seem to rush from one activity to another and stay up late at night to finish all of his or her schoolwork? Have you noticed that he or she is struggling to balance his or her daily tasks without breaking down? Maybe your teenager overthinks his or her problems, to the point where he or she seems to constantly worry. You might be concerned that your teenager feels anxious in social situations because he or she tends to isolate and avoid time with friends or classmates. Do you wish you could help your teen feel calmer throughout his or her day and develop a balanced academic and social life?

Struggling With Anxiety Is Very Common

Most people feel anxious from time to time. In many ways, some anxiety protects us from potentially dangerous situations. However, excessive anxiety that impairs an individual’s life can be a painful burden to carry. This type of heightened anxiety is very common in our society. Many people struggle with pressure to succeed in their careers and also maintain healthy relationships with their families, friends and coworkers. This fast-paced lifestyle can cause people to forget to take enough time for themselves and unwind. Also, anxiety can often lead to depression, or vice-versa, and ultimately leave the affected individual feeling stressed, hopeless, confused and alone.

For teenagers, the pressure to excel in academics, sports and friendships can produce immense anxiety. They may worry about past embarrassments or feel overwhelmed by their future goals. As a result, they may struggle in school because worrisome thoughts cause them to lose focus. They may even attempt to cope with anxiety by isolating themselves from others.

No matter whether you or your teen struggles with anxiety, there is help and hope. Through anxiety treatment, you or your child can learn the tools to live a peaceful and resilient life.

Overcome Excessive Worry With Anxiety Treatment

During compassionate, thoughtful and calming anxiety treatment sessions, I will help you understand where your anxiety stems from and teach you many techniques to manage your racing thoughts and painful emotions.

Internal factors, such as genetics, or external factors, such as a high-stress environment, may contribute to your anxiety. Once you and I pinpoint the triggers to your anxiety, I can teach you how to identify early anxious feelings and show you effective techniques to mitigate your immediate symptoms.

Our anxiety treatment sessions will be tailored to your specific needs. We may work through a few techniques, including progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises and focusing on staying in the moment. These techniques can help you overcome the beginning stages of your heightened anxiety as well as an overwhelming episode of stress.

In addition to showing you how to control your anxiety when it is triggered, I can teach you strategies to boost your resilience to anxiety in the long-term, such as healthy sleep techniques and positive lifestyle suggestions. Also, because I am interested in understanding you as a whole person, we will examine other facets of your experience, as well. Often anxiety and depression co-exist.  If this is the case for you, we can work together to create an individualized plan that addresses all of your concerns. No matter your anxiety triggers or your current life situation, our anxiety treatment sessions will be tailored to your personal needs and interests so your progress can be lasting.

If your teenager struggles with anxiety, I can offer a hopeful, nurturing environment in which he or she can learn and grow. You and I can also work together to understand how you can best support your teenager’s emotional growth and well-being.

For more than a decade, I have helped many adults and teens find relief from anxiety symptoms, sometimes in combination with other difficulties such as depression and substance abuse issues. My experience extends to a variety of treatment settings – from psychiatric inpatient settings to community mental health centers to the private practice setting. I also worked at The National Institutes of Mental Health as a clinical researcher with a focus on children and adolescents with severe mood disorders.

While you or your teenager may feel overwhelmed by anxiety right now, it is possible to live a calm and rewarding life. Anxiety treatment can teach you the tools and tips you need to mitigate your distress and live each day with confidence.

Perhaps you believe you or your teenager could benefit from anxiety treatment sessions, but you still have a few questions and concerns…

I have been an anxious person for my whole life. How can anxiety treatment help me?

While you may believe anxiety is a part of who you are, there is still hope for you to live a calm and fulfilling life. No matter the severity or duration of your stress, counseling can help you alleviate your immediate symptoms of anxiety as well as teach you lifelong tips that can prevent future episodes of worry.

I am worried that others will judge me (or my teenager) for seeking anxiety treatment.

Your decision to seek treatment is a confidential one. You may believe that others will think you are abnormal for attending anxiety treatment. However, since anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues, it’s likely that some of your loved ones, friends and coworkers have experienced debilitating anxiety symptoms themselves. If you do decide to tell your family or friends about your sessions, they may be able to offer you support or words of wisdom. Seeking help is nothing to be ashamed of.

Will my investment of money and time pay off?

Anxiety treatment is an invaluable investment. Whether you are seeking therapy for yourself or your teenager, the positive effects of our sessions can profoundly change your entire life. For you, lifting the burden of worry can improve your performance at work, strengthen your relationships and give you a daily peace of mind. For your teenager, our treatment sessions can help him or her feel more focused at school as well as develop and maintain healthy relationships.

Find Freedom From Anxiety

If you believe you or your teenager may be one of the 40 million people in the U.S. suffering from anxiety, I may be able to help. Please call me today at 202-340-3612 or send me an email at devon@devonking.com to discuss your needs and learn more about how anxiety treatment can help you. My office is conveniently located in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. I am easily accessible from I-495 and I-270, as well as from the Bethesda Metro.