Anxiety Treatment

What It Actually Is: 

Anxiety is your brain's threat detection system misfiring. It evolved to keep you alive, to make you run from predators and avoid dangerous situations. The problem is, your brain can't tell the difference between a lion and an awkward email from your boss. So it sounds the alarm for everything. 

That knot in your stomach, the racing thoughts at 3am, the way your chest tightens before something that shouldn't even be a big deal. That's your nervous system convinced something terrible is about to happen, even when it's not. 

Here's the uncomfortable truth: anxiety is real, but avoiding everything that makes you anxious is a choice. And that choice makes anxiety stronger, not weaker. 

What This Looks Like in Real Life: 

Your heart races. Your palms sweat. You can't catch your breath. Sometimes it feels like you're dying, literally, like something is seriously wrong with your body. You've probably been to the ER convinced you were having a heart attack, only to be told it was a panic attack. That doesn't make it feel less real. 

You start avoiding things. The party, the presentation, the phone call, the flight. Every time you avoid something, you teach your brain that the thing was actually dangerous. So the next time, the anxiety is worse. Your world shrinks. Places that used to feel fine now feel threatening. You start planning your life around what you can handle instead of what you actually want. 

Some people don't have the dramatic panic attacks. They just have this low-grade dread running in the background all the time, worrying about things that haven't happened and probably won't. It's exhausting. You're tired but can't sleep. Wired but can't focus. Always waiting for something to go wrong. 

How This Messes Up Your Life: 

Anxiety is greedy. It takes your energy, your sleep, your concentration, your ability to be present with people you care about. Work suffers because you're either too paralyzed to start things or too distracted to finish them. Relationships suffer because you're either irritable from running on cortisol fumes or you're pulling back from situations that feel overwhelming. 

Physical symptoms pile up too. Headaches, stomach problems, muscle tension, fatigue. Your body keeps score, and chronic anxiety wears it down. 

The worst part is the meta-anxiety. You start getting anxious about being anxious. You worry about when the next wave will hit. You feel weak for not being able to just handle it. That shame makes you less likely to get help, which keeps you stuck. 

The Numbers: 

About 19% of U.S. adults have an anxiety disorder in any given year. It's the most common mental health condition there is. Women get diagnosed more often than men, though plenty of men are walking around with undiagnosed anxiety because they've been taught to call it "stress" or just push through. 

Anxiety and depression often travel together. If you've got one, there's a decent chance the other is in the picture too. 

What Actually Works: 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the gold standard. It works by helping you identify the distorted thinking patterns that fuel anxiety and replacing them with more accurate ones. It also involves gradually exposing yourself to the things you've been avoiding, which is the only way to teach your nervous system that those things aren't actually dangerous. 

Medication can help, especially when anxiety is severe enough that you can't engage with therapy effectively. SSRIs and SNRIs are first-line options. They're not happy pills; they just turn down the volume on your nervous system so you can actually do the work. Some people need them short-term to get over a hump, others benefit from staying on them longer. We figure that out together. 

Benzos like Xanax work fast but they're not a long-term solution. They can actually make anxiety worse over time and carry real addiction risk. We use them sparingly and strategically, not as a crutch. 

How We Do This: 

We see people in person and via telehealth across Washington and Oregon. Our approach combines medication management with practical tools you can actually use. 

We're not going to tell you to just breathe and think positive. That's garbage advice for someone whose brain is screaming that they're in danger. But we are going to push you to stop avoiding the things that scare you, because avoidance is the fuel that keeps anxiety burning. 

You're not going to feel ready before you do hard things. You do hard things, and then you feel capable. That's how this works. We'll give you the support and the tools, but you have to be willing to get uncomfortable. 

How Often You'll Come In: 

We typically start with weekly or biweekly visits to get medication dialed in and start building skills. As things stabilize and you're handling more on your own, we spread visits out. The goal isn't to make you dependent on appointments. It's to give you what you need to manage this yourself.