Frequently Asked Questions

A. Anxiety is the body’s natural reaction to threat and is normally very adaptive.  Under various circumstances of life, unchecked anxiety can evolve into something extreme and interfere with normal activities of work, recreational activities, social activities, or result in the avoidance of life’s everyday activities.  Anxiety can also result in obsessive or intrusive thoughts that can be very disruptive to an individual’s life.

A. The following can represent some of the known risk factors for anxiety, but it is important to keep in mind that these risk factors are not specific to anxiety.  The following may be risk factors for many psychological problems including anxiety.

• A family history of anxiety or depression has been linked to panic attacks. 
• Anxiety affects women at twice the rate of men for such things as panic attacks, generalized anxiety, and phobias. 
• The rate of anxiety is about the same for men and women with social anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. 
• Being raised by a parent with a mental illness or unaffectionate parents, or being raised by parents that are very critical or have excessively high standards can all be risk factors. 
• Also there are a variety of “life stressors” that are risk factors including:
  • Poor physical health
  • Economic deprivation
  • Involuntary loss of job
  • Multiple lifechanges
  • Physical trauma
  • Significant personal loss
  • Poor social support.

A.  Anxiety tends to be a very personal experience and people may want to keep the experience to themselves possibly because they think it’s “a sign of weakness”, or are embarrassed.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Anxiety is universal, and problem anxiety is extremely common, again one out of ten people having problem anxiety.

A. Yes.  Because anxiety has multiple components associated with it such as biological aspects, as well as psychological and behavioral aspects it is always better to address all the components for the most effective treatment.  There are various medications that have an influence on the biological component of anxiety and these may be very effective for some people.  Keep in mind that medication alone only attempts to compensate for an out of balance neurochemistry (one aspect of problem anxiety), it does not actually balance the system.  If the other components of anxiety are not addressed then anxiety can persist or continue to be an episodic problem.  This program takes into account the multiple components of anxiety and addresses them in a systematic way that is tailored to your specific type of anxiety.

A.  If problem anxiety is not properly addressed the likelihood that it will continue or even get worse is very high.  This isn’t because the anxiety is resistant to treatment, but more likely the result of the anxiety not being fully treated or not treated at all.  Behavioral avoidance, for example, if not addressed directly will not be affected by medication treatment alone.  Also, because the biological system is so subject to conditioning it is necessary to have very specific treatments addressing the biochemistry otherwise the sensitivity of the system towards anxious experiences may be very difficult to overcome.  Psychological treatments that are not specific to anxiety may not be effective because they do not take into account the process of how anxiety works.  Because of the various learning factors involved with anxiety (both operant and classical conditioning) it is easy for anxiety to be promoted in the long run by the same behaviors that alleviate it in the short term, namely, avoidance or escape behavior.  A comprehensive approach to the treatment of anxiety is highly recommended.

A. No, not necessarily.  Anxiety is very common, but untreated, it can evolve into a very dysfunctional condition that can carry a psychological diagnosis.  And, more importantly, problem anxiety can be very disruptive in ones life.

A. Anxiety per say is not lethal.  That is to say that a person experiencing anxiety on one occasion isn’t likely to die as an individual might think during a panic attack.  In fact, anxiety is a mechanism intended to save one’s life in a threatening situation.  However, untreated chronic anxiety can lead to a variety of medical conditions that can be very dangerous in nature.  In this regard anxiety and stress are highly related and stress can be a complicating factor in many medical conditions.

A. There are a variety of medications that are prescribed to help with the biological component of anxiety.  Different medications effect different chemical systems within the body and not all medications may be helpful for all people.  Because medications are attempting to compensate for an out-of-balance system there may be side effects, habituation, and tolerance developed by the body.  Properly used, medications can be a valuable aid in the treatment of anxiety and in some instances an essential component.  Improperly used medications can lead to addictions or complicated medical conditions.  A physician should always be monitoring the use of prescribed medications.  As well, certain herbal and food supplements have potent biological effects that interact with prescribed medications.  These remedies should be monitored by appropriate professionals as well as their interactions with prescription medications.  Although medications may be helpful in the short run to help individuals begin functioning again, optimization and balancing of the biochemistry as well as addressing the behavioral and psychological components is what is highly recommended by this program.

A. This program is constructed to assess your anxiety and provide specific information to aid in your approach to managing anxiety.  It highlights the biological, psychological, emotional, and behavioral components of anxiety with specific information about how to affect these aspects of anxiety.  Information is given on how to influence the biochemistry through natural means.  Also, the program provides information about how the psychological phenomena of anxiety interact with both the behavioral and biological components providing a sophisticated and more holistic approach to the treatment of problem anxiety.  Informed consumers are much more likely to have successful treatment outcomes.

A. No.  Anxiety is a complex phenomenon that involves many aspects of Mind/Body interaction.  There are clear biological components to anxiety as well as specific thinking processes that contribute to the creation and maintenance of anxiety, as well as behavioral contributions.  A person saying that anxiety is purely a psychological product would be misinformed.  However, an individual saying that the psychological aspects of anxiety are irrelevant to its treatment would be equally misinformed.

A.  Absolutely.  Left untreated anxiety can persist for very long periods or increase in intensity.  Certain patterns of anxiety can escalate to sever and frequent panic attacks disabling an individual.  People can become house bound through unchecked avoidance patterns.  On the other hand anxiety is very treatable if done in a knowledgeable and systematic way.

A.  Left unchecked anxiety has a way of spreading to other settings.  In psychological terms this is known as “stimulus generalization”.  It basically happens as a result of avoiding things of which we are fearful.  Not only do the things we avoid become more fearful in our minds, but things that are similar in nature then begin to become fearful as well.  This problem of “stimulus generalization” can be reversed through specific behavioral approach techniques.

A.  Anxiety is not a communicable disease like a cold, but because children use adults as models for behavior and ways of viewing the world they can pick up cues as to how we handle fear.  Also, there can be a physiological predisposition to anxiety that is passed along in families.  So we see that often anxiety tends to run in families.  This means that some people may be more disposed to anxiety, but not necessarily bound to have anxiety.  There are biological, behavioral, and psychological components to anxiety and addressing each component will help in the modification of your experience of anxiety.  As you successfully deal with your anxiety your behaviors and attitude will then act as a model for others in your family.