Receiving Professional Help

Anxiety includes common feelings of worry or fear. It usually ends when the situation that caused it is over. However, when these feelings become extremely out of proportion or constant, it may be severe. Physical and emotional symptoms may occur. Physical signs include heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, stomach aches, or headache. While emotional feelings of restlessness, inability to concentrate, endless fear, or irritability may occur.

How Can Therapy Help?

Getting help early gives you the best chance for recovery. Therapy can help you recognize and accept your anxiety about specific fears or situations. Our staff will help you by looking at your worries more thoroughly while changing the thoughts, behaviors, and patterns that lead to troublesome feelings. Call our office to schedule an appointment.

How Can Medication Help?

Medication is often required to help alleviate the symptoms of anxiety. Often, the most effective approach to treat anxiety is the combination of therapy and medication. Our staff psychiatrist will work with you to determine whether or not you would benefit from medication, and what medication would best suit your needs.

The Affects and Statistics of The Military and Military Families

Anxiety can affect your health. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, research suggests that you may run a higher risk of experiencing physical health problems, too. So when you manage your anxiety, you’re also taking care of your physical health. Since October 2001, about 1.6 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
These military members and their families face unique challenges. Soldiers deal with stressors in combat that may not exist in civilian life.
Those exposed to high levels of combat are significantly more likely to experience acute stress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Learn more facts.

It is not unusual for servicemen and women to suffer feelings of fear, anger, sadness, and worry when returning from deployment. Adjusting to family life can be difficult for everyone. Get tips for soldiers and veterans and families and friends.
Mental pain can be as serious as physical pain, however, and help is available for active and veteran military members and their families. Learn what treatments work and where to find help.
Watch a video of a Staff Sgt. Stacy Pearsall, a combat photographer who experienced PTSD.

The Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program provides clinical care and support services to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in New England who experience combat stress or traumatic brain injury. Home Base also provides counseling for families, including spouses, parents, children, and siblings.
BraveHeart: Welcome Back Veterans Southeast Initiative — Our mission is focused on helping people in the Southeastern United States get help for PTSD. Emory University and the Atlanta Braves have teamed up to offer veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their family members a variety of expert support resources.

Statistics and Facts About Anxiety And Depression

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population.
Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.

Panic Disorder
6 million, 2.7%
Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.
Very high comorbidity rate with major depression.

Social Anxiety Disorder
15 million, 6.8%
Equally common among men and women, typically beginning around age 13.
According to a 2007 ADAA survey, 36% of people with social anxiety disorder report experiencing symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help.

Specific Phobias
19 million, 8.7%
Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.
Typically begins in childhood; the median age of onset is 7.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are closely related to anxiety disorders, which some may experience at the same time, along with depression.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
2.2 million, 1.0%
Equally common among men and women.
The median age of onset is 19, with 25 percent of cases occurring by age 14. One-third of affected adults first experienced symptoms in childhood.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
7.7 million, 3.5%
Women are more likely to be affected than men.
Rape is the most likely trigger of PTSD: 65% of men and 45.9% of women who are raped will develop the disorder.
Childhood sexual abuse is a strong predictor of lifetime likelihood for developing PTSD.

Major Depressive Disorder
The leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.3
Affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
While major depressive disorder can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32.5
More prevalent in women than in men.
Persistent depressive disorder, or PDD, (formerly called dysthymia) is a form of depression that usually continues for at least two years.
Affects approximately 1.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. (about 3.3 million American adults).
The median age of onset is 31.1
Related Illnesses
Many people with an anxiety disorder also have a co-occurring disorder or physical illness, which can make their symptoms worse and recovery more difficult. It’s essential to be treated for both disorders.

Anxiety Is The Most Common Mental Illness In The U.S

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population).
Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only about one-third of those suffering receive treatment.
Anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one-third of the country's $148 billion total mental health bill, according to "The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders," a study commissioned by ADAA (The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60(7), July 1999).

More than $22.84 billion of those costs are associated with the repeated use of health care services; people with anxiety disorders seek relief for symptoms that mimic physical illnesses. People with an anxiety disorder are three to five times more likely to go to the doctor and six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than those who do not suffer from anxiety disorders.
Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events.

 It's not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to also suffer from depression or vice versa. Nearly one-half of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can actually be beneficial in some situations. For some people, however, anxiety can become excessive, and while the person suffering may realize it is excessive they may also have difficulty controlling it and it may negatively affect their day-to-day living. There are a wide variety of anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and specific phobias to name a few. Collectively they are among the most common mental disorders experienced by Americans.

Historically Incorrect Canoodling

In the article "Historically Incorrect Canoodling" author Stephanie Coontz brings to the light the how Valentine's day came about.
One example that supports this statement is in the article where it states that Valentine was actually a christian priest martyred in the third century. As stated in the article it says that Valentine fell in love with his jailor's daughter and wrote her a poignant goodbye letter and it was signed "from your Valentine".
Another example to state how Valentine's day came about is stated in the article where Feb. 14 St. Valentine's Day wasnt being celebrated as an romantic holliday, but it was in honor of Juno, which is a Roman goddess of love and marriage.
I found this article interesting because it shows that one person can change the world and make it into a long lasting event. For example, in the article it says that it would be very hard to find love in the first 1,500 years of church history. Even though it may have been hard to find love, Valentine fell in love with his jailor's daughter. After going after what he has believed in, his beliefs turned the city around because now when every 14th of february comes up, the men of the city line up to pick a name out of the jar to find which girls will be their sexual partner for the rest of the year.
Another reason why I found this article interesting is because back then Valentine's day wasnt even known or thought of and today, all everyone does is either propse to their loved ones, renew their vows, or express their passion and love for their significant other.
"Popular celebrations of valentine's day gained ground in the late 17th century, but not until 100 years later did most Europeans and Americans begin to agree that marriage should be based on love and young people should freely choose their own partners. Even in the 19th century there were still many defenders of traditional marriage who predicted that the new vogue for "marriage by fascination" instead of hardheaded negotiation would undermine the social order, and that high expectations of marriage would lead only to discontent".
This statement stood out to me the most because in 498 A.D, there was no Valentine's day, or if you were getting married it wasnt about being in love, it was about making your own business or getting more land ownership.

All Work & No Play

In "All Work & No Play" author Esther Entin verifies how children's free time is continually decreasing and is keeping them from turning into confident adults.
One example that supports my answer is when peter Gray states, "In another study, mothers were asked to compare their own memories of their playtime, to their children's current schedule. Eighty-five percent noted that their children played outdoors less frequently and for shorter periods of time than they had. The mothers noted that they restricted their own children's outdoor play because of safety concerns, a fact echoed in other surveys where parents mentioned child predators, road traffic, and bullies as reasons for restricting their children's outdoor play.
Another example that supports my answer is when Gray announces, "There has been a significant increase in anxiety and depression from 1950 to present day in teens and young adults, and several studies documenting this rise. One showed that five to eight times as many children and college students reported clinically significant depression or anxiety than 50 years ago and another documented a similar trend in the fourteen to sixteen year old age group between 1948 to 1989.
I found this article very interesting because many parents today feel as though they can live the life they wanted as children through their kids. Many adults try to force their kids to do something only they wanted to do and make them do certain things that they couldn't do when they were younger.
Although, author Peter Gray states a very important fact that I believe should be read multiple times over and over.
"Suicide rates quadrupled from 1950 to 2005 for children less than fifteen years and for teens and young adults ages 15-25, they doubled. I believe that the loss of unstructured, free play for play's sake is at the core of this alarming observation and that as a society, we shoud reassess the role of free play and the factors that seem to have all but eliminated it from our children's lives."
This statement stood out to me because it shows that Gray isn't afraid to speak his mind and stand up against parents taking away their children's free time.
I also thought this article was very interestign because it was compared tro my life as a child also.
Although not including the depression but my parents used to watch me as I played on the playground, but they constantly told me what I could and couldn't do at that matter of time.
However, until this day my mom still tells me about what she couldn't do when she was younger and she refuses to let me do certain things that I want to do because she couldn't do it.

Do We Have The Courage To Stop This

In "Do We Have The Courage To Stop This" author Nicholas D. Kristof brings to the light how easy it is to buy guns off of people and how the rates are increasing for kids ages 5-14 dying from them.
One example from the article that supports the given statement is when a facebook friend included in the article stated his opinion on how it's more easy to buy a gun than to adopt a pet.
Another example that supports my answer from the article is when the aut3hor states "And don't say that it won't make a difference because crazies will always be able to get a gun. We're not going to eliminate gun deaths any more than we have eliminated auto accidents. But if we could reuce gun deaths by one-third, that would be 10,000 lives saved annually."
This article is very interesting to me because someone is finally taking matters into their own hands about gun regulations. Not only is the author stating their opinion on how they feel about no one standing up to the NRA, but they also explain how the rates will affect others and how safe children would be.
Another example that stood out to me in this article is when the author says "The tragedy isn't one school shooting, it's the unceasing toll across our country. More Americans die in gun homicides and in suicides in six months than have died in the last 25 years in every terroroist attack and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined."
This statement stood out to me because, the death rates of Americans should not be higher than the death rates of victims occuring in the war. I prefer that there'd be a specific function to track down the particular gunman if there was a shooting with that particular gun.
Although with many poeple not really stepping up and doing anything about the buying of guns, Australia managed to take things into consideration.
"In Australia in 1996, a mass killing of 35 people inspired the nations conservative prime minister to ban certain rapid-fire long guns. The "national firearms agreement," as it was known, led to the buyback of 650,000 guns and to tighter rules for licensing and safe storage of those remaining in public hands."
I found this example very interesting because unlike other areas, australia took matters into their own hands and decided to ban certain guns in the city.
However, this states that they're not like other people and aren't afraid to step up the NRA.
Australia did what they had to do keep victims harmless and make their country safe.