5 Signs You Should Seek Help for Anxiety

Let’s face it, we live in a stressful world these days and it’s having an enormous impact on the general population. Namely, more and more Americans, of all ages, are developing anxiety disorders. They affect more than 19% of adults and nearly 32% of adolescents.

And it doesn’t look like the anxiety numbers are going to improve anytime soon, especially if you consider that, in 2024 alone, 43% of adults in the United States say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year.

Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, our team of primary care providers at Midwest Regional Health Services, which includes mental health specialists, wants to discuss anxiety and when to seek our help.

Anxiety at a glance

We often use the term anxiety, but the reality is that this is a category of a range of disorders that include:

• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
• Panic disorder
• Social anxiety disorder
• Phobias
• Separation anxiety disorder (SAD)

While technically stand-alone conditions, both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) share common attributes with anxiety disorders.

No matter the type of anxiety, it occurs when your brain and body get stuck in a fight-or-flight response. We include the body because the stress response is mental and physical, which means it can cast a wide net over your wellness.

When to get help for anxiety

Each person is unique and processes anxiety differently. Something that may be a source of anxiety for one person isn’t for another. Still, there are some common rules of thumb when it comes to problematic anxiety, including:

1. You’re not functioning well

If you have anxiety that’s preventing you from functioning well on a day-to-day basis, this is a clear sign you should seek help. For example, anxiety can affect cognitive function and reduce your ability to concentrate and remember things.

Anxiety has a way of creating white noise in your brain that prevents you from plugging into the world around you, which can affect every aspect of your life.

2. You have frequent panic attacks

Having one or two panic attacks may not be cause for concern, but if you have them with more regularity, it’s time to come see us. Panic attacks may last only minutes, but they leave you in an unwelcome state of dread in between.

3. Your anxiety is constant

Many people with an anxiety disorder report that they wake each day with anxiety and the anxiety stays present, sometimes in the background and sometimes front and center. If anxiety has become a constant companion, you can benefit from treatment.

4. Your anxiety is overreactive

If your anxiety flares in the face of things that aren’t terribly threatening, things that you’ve done and faced before without issue, it’s become an exaggerated response that can benefit from modulation.

5. You have physical symptoms

As we mentioned, the stress response is very much physical, which means people with an anxiety disorder can experience physical symptoms, such as:

• Lack of sleep
• Muscle tension
• Nausea
• High blood pressure and heart rate

Over time, these physical manifestations of your anxiety can take their toll and lead to much larger health problems, such as cardiovascular disease. That makes treating anxiety a very good idea for both your peace of mind and your overall health.

Help for anxiety

If you or a loved one is stuck in an anxiety disorder, we’re here to help. There are many tools that we can use to help you break from anxiety, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications, which we recommend alongside lifestyle changes that can have a big impact.

The bottom line is that anxiety isn’t something you should live with, there is help. To learn more, we invite you to contact us at 402-745-1145 to schedule an appointment at our offices in Omaha or Gretna, Nebraska, today.