Everyone experiences stress and/or anxiety. A new job, moving to a new home or city, marriage, the birth of a child, illness or the beginning or ending of a relationship can all be sources of anxiety or stress.

Are Stress and Anxiety Different?

Stress occurs when we are feeling overwhelmed or overburdened by the events of daily living or by changes associated with life's transitions. Most people are able to overcome or cope with these temporary obstacles. For others, it is difficult to cope or there may be sources of chronic stress in their lives that are hard to manage. Sometimes, the source of stress is hard to identify and often we forget that positive changes may be just as stressful as negative events. Some individuals may even experience physical symptoms that are associated with being under stress. For example, they may have headaches, become irritable or short-tempered, not sleep well, or experience nausea or other forms of stomach distress.

Anxiety generally involves physical, cognitive and emotional components. The physical symptoms are more severe and chronic than those associated with stress. people often describe themselves as feeling nervous, tense, or jittery. They may experience rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, and/or dizziness as well as symptoms of irritability, insomnia, or a range of other physical complaints. Individuals who are experiencing anxiety symptoms also tend to think in catastrophic terms; they think the "worst" is going to happen. Worries about family, becoming ill, or other concerns may become overwhelming. Finally, the emotional hallmark of anxiety includes fear or apprehension. This fear can occur in almost any situation and can keep people from doing the things they enjoy of need to do. Unlike stress, anxiety does not go away over time. Anxiety disorders tend to be chronic and unremitting if left untreated.

Can These Conditions be Treated?

Both stress and anxiety are treatable conditions. The approaches, however, are different. Regardless of whether you think are suffering from stress or anxiety, the first step toward resolving these problems is a thorough evaluation. It is important both for you and your therapist to be sure what the nature of the problem is. Without this necessary first step, it is difficult to develop an effective strategy to address your stress or anxiety. once the evaluation is complete, your therapist will inform you of his/her findings and make recommendations regarding treatment. The two of you will them collaborate on tailoring a plan that fits your specific needs and lifestyle.

Treating Stress:

Treatment for stress typically involves several components. We provide training in various relation methods such as progressive muscle or autogenic relaxation as well as visual imagery. One or more of these approaches can be combined an tailored to meet your specific requirements. We will also assist you in closely examining lifestyles issues in order to determine where the causes for stress may lie an what you can do to reduce them or better cope with the. Further, we will help you to set goals and objectives to overcome these obstacles effectively. For those individuals who may have medical problems that require lifestyle changes, such as weight management, dietary restrictions, smoking cessation, etc., or who are adjusting to medical illness, we will work closely with your physician or other health care professional to help you optimize your ability to self-manage these conditions and the stresses they may cause. Either an individual or group approach to stress management is available. We are also able to provide corporate programs for stress management.

Treating Anxiety:

Research in the area of anxiety disorders treatment consistently supports cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) as the form of psychotherapy most effective for treating all of the anxiety disorders. The staff of the Stress and Anxiety Clinic is skilled in this approach. CBT is a skills-based program of treatment that helps those suffering from anxiety disorders learn how to better manage their physical symptoms or the situations associated with anxiety. CBT places considerable importance on the ways in which thoughts, assumptions expectations, and beliefs affect mood and patterns of behavior. The aim of CBT is to help people better understand this interaction and work toward changing those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are causing problems with anxiety. In addition to CBT, our physicians are similarly skilled in providing psychopharmacological treatment for anxiety. Either of those interventions alone or in combination is available through our clinic. Treatment is available for the following conditions:

• Panic Disorder
• Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Social Phobia
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
• Specific Phobia
• Acute Stress Disorder

After an evaluation, anxiety disorder treatment typically begins with individual CBT. For some, group treatment is recommended. In addition to individual and group modalities, we are able to offer a full continuum of care. As such, traditional outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment (several days per week for two or more hour per day(, or inpatient treatment are available.

Contact Information

For more information or to schedule an evaluation, please call the Anxiety Disorders Program at 312-355-3000.