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Misty Mountain Family Counseling Center |
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Specialized counseling for women’s issues in Portland, Oregon |
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Stress/Anxiety |
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Anxiety is the body’s normal reaction to stress that signals your body and brain into action. In general, it helps you cope with life events, like preparing for a speech, studying for an exam, meeting a deadline at work, taking care of a new baby, and/or finding the right childcare for your children. But if anxiety is excessive, this normal response can keep you from coping and cause havoc in your daily life. Anxiety disorders are the most common of all the mental health disorders. In a given year, Anxiety Disorders affect about 18% of American adults age 18 years and older. Common symptoms of anxiety include, trouble sleeping, specific obsessions over stressful topics, irritability, feeling tense, restless, jittery, or dizzy, having trouble concentrating, fluctuations in appetite, being overly cautious, being easily startled, having an omnipresent feeling of impending danger or disaster, experiencing avoidance behaviors, and/or nervousness. Sometimes anxiety can lead to a panic attack or an unexpected episode of intense fear/terror. Symptoms of a panic attack include shortness of breath, increased heart rate, chest pain or discomfort, trembling, dizziness, nausea, fear of losing control or going crazy, and hot or cold flashes. There are both biological and psychological components to every anxiety disorder. The best form of treatment for anxiety is counseling/therapy using a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy interventions and possibly medication. To find out if you are suffering from anxiety, click here to do a self test online.
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