Anxiety

Each year, millions of people seek the advice of their
physician for difficulties with anxiety or “nervousness”. It is
estimated that 8.3% of the population, or 13.1 million people in
the United States, suffer from an anxiety disorder. Anxiety ranks
closely behind hypertension, cuts and bruises, and sore throats as
the most common reason motivating a physician visit.

According to the DSM-IV, “Panic attacks are manifested by discrete periods of apprehension or fear, and at least four of the following symptoms appear during each attack: dyspnea, palpitations, chest pain or unsteady feelings, a sense of unreality, parasthesias, hot and cold flashes, sweating, faintness, trembling or shaking; fear of dying, going crazy, or doing something uncontrolled during an attack”.

Fortunately, very effective cognitive/behavioral and pharmacological treatments for panic disorder have been developed in recent years. After ruling out other illnesses, we believe that “the treatment of choice” for panic disorder typically involves a 12-15 session course of therapy focusing on teaching the patient anxiety management techniques and encouraging exposure to situations associated with anxiety or panic. Relapse rates are high (approximately 70-80%) if patients are treated with medication alone, but this is significantly improved through the use of behavioral therapy, which reduces relapse rates to 15-20%.

Several of the staff at Northeast Psychological Associates specializes in the cognitive/behavioral treatment of panic and other mental disorders.

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