- You feel constantly tense, worried, or on edge
- Anxiety interferes with your work, school, or family responsibilities
- You experience frequent fears that you know are irrational, but can’t shake
- You believe that something bad will happen if certain things aren’t done a certain way
- You avoid everyday situations or activities because they cause you anxiety
- You experience sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic
- You feel like danger and catastrophe are around every corner
One word of warning before proceeding forward with further exploring if you may be experiencing an anxiety disorder. Trying to figure out why you are experiencing emotional distress on your own can take you down a “rabbit hole” where the very process of trying to determine “what is wrong with you” causes you even more anxiety. Quick Answer: Nothing catastrophic beyond that you are human, and to be human means experiencing occasional mental anguish. Light On Anxiety, or other mental health providers, are here to partner with you in assessing your symptoms, co-creating a treatment plan and coaching you through and past your suffering. You need not walk through your emotional pain alone.
Common Adult Mental Health Conditions
Key symptoms of Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), including impulsiveness, disorganization, problems focusing, trouble multitasking, and restlessness can persist into adulthood. These symptoms can have a significant adverse impact on the relationships, careers and personal safety of those who suffer from it.
Depression involves a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression affects how you feel, think and behave, and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.
Depression Symptoms Include:
- Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
- Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
- Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
- Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
- Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
- Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain
- Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
- Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
- Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
- Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
- Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches
- Symptoms cause clinically significant emotional distress and/or functional impairment
GAD is often experienced as the presence of excessive anxiety and worry about a variety of every day topics, events, or activities. The excess worry occurs more often than not for at least six months, and is experienced as uncontrollable.
Key Symptoms of GAD:
- Persistent, frequent worry difficulty controlling worry
- Worries about areas in life such as finances, health, relationships, being late, etc
- Worry causes emotional distress or function impairment Access
Take this assessment to further explore if the symptoms you are experiencing are in line with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Key Symptoms of Illness Anxiety
- Preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness.
- Somatic symptoms are not present or, if present, are only mild in intensity. If another medical condition is present or there is a high risk for developing a medical condition (e.g., strong family history is present), the preoccupation is clearly excessive or disproportionate.
- The individual performs excessive health-related behaviors (e.g., repeatedly checks his or her body for signs of illness) or exhibits maladaptive avoidance (e.g., avoids doctor appointments and hospitals).
- Illness preoccupation has been present for at least 6 months, but the specific illness that is feared may change over that period of time.
- The illness-related preoccupation is not better explained by another mental disorder, such as somatic symptom disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or delusional disorder, somatic type.
Specify whether:
- Care-seeking type: Medical care, including physician visits or undergoing tests and procedures, is frequently used.
- Care-avoidant type: Medical care is rarely used.
OCD is characterized by frequent, disturbing intrusive thoughts, feelings, ideas, or sensations (obsessions) and accompanying behaviors that one feels compelled to engage in (compulsions). Compulsions can be either external (washing hands) or internal (counting or praying). One engages in compulsions to get rid of obsessive thoughts, but this only provides temporary relief.
Key Symptoms of OCD:
- Frequent disturbing intrusive thoughts, feeling, ideas or sensations (obsessions)
- Repeated behaviors that one feels compelled to engage in an attempt to reduce or manage anxiety symptoms (compulsions)
- Obsessions and compulsions cause emotional distress and/or impairment in functioning
Panic disorder involves frequent and debilitating anxiety and fear, often without reasonable cause.
Key Symptoms of Panic Disorder
- Sudden and repeated attacks of anxiety and overwhelming fear that last for several minutes
- Fear of disaster or of losing control even when there is no real danger
- Strong physical reaction during a panic attack that may feel like a heart attack (increased heart rate, sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, blurred vision)
- Frequent avoidance of activities, situations or events that may trigger panic attack
- Fear and physical symptoms lead to clinically significant emotional distress and/or functional impairment
The Anxiety Sensitivity Index above is a clinical assessment tool that will assist you as well as your provider to determine if you are experiencing “fear of fear” or “anxiety about anxiety”.
Freedom from panic attacks and panic disorder is not only about experiencing decreased “anxiety about anxiety” (otherwise known as anxiety sensitivity). It is also about experiencing decreased frequency and severity of panic attacks and related symptoms, as well as decreased emotional distress and life impairment. The Panic Disorder Severity Scale can assist you and your provider in obtaining an objective assessment regarding the frequency and intensity of your current panic symptoms.
Social Anxiety (social phobia) is characterized by overwhelming worry and excessive self-consciousness in everyday situations.
- Anxiety triggered by situations where one may feel judged or criticized by others.
- Fear of acting in a socially inappropriate way that would lead to negative evaluation or embarrassment.
- Avoidance of social situations where judgment or scrutiny may occur
- Fear of judgment causes clinically significant emotional distress or impairment in functioning.
- Specific social anxiety presentations are public speaking anxiety and selective mutism
Key Symptoms of Trichotillomania:
- The individual pulls out his or her hair regularly, which results in hair loss.
- The individual makes a consistent effort to stop hair-pulling.
- The individual’s hair-pulling causes him or her clinically significant distress or impairment in their everyday life.
- The individual’s hair loss is not due to another medical condition.
- The individual’s hair-pulling is not attributable to symptoms of another mental disorder.
The first step in treating Trichotillomania and other Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) is enhancing your awareness of the nuances of these behaviors, such as the frequency, body sites, and the antecedents of the behaviors (in other words, what are some of the triggers that occur right before engaging in the pulling or picking behavior), as well as the thoughts and negative feelings associated with the BFRB. By obtaining a clearer and less emotionally driven understanding of a BFRB, you can begin to implement effective habit reversal therapy to decrease the frequency of the behavior and intensity of the urge to engage in the BFRB.
Common Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conditions
Child/adolescent anxiety and related behavioral health conditions can take many different forms. It is not always obvious to the child or the family that one is experiencing anxiety symptoms. It can be helpful, as a first step in moving past anxiety, to take an assessment obtain an objective picture of current symptoms.
The Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) is a psychosocial screen designed to facilitate the recognition of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems so that appropriate interventions can be initiated as early as possible.
Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17)
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
Depression involves a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression affects how you feel, think and behave, and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.
Key Depression Symptoms:
- Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
- Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
- Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
- Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
- Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
- Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain
- Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
- Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
- Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
- Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
- Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches
- Symptoms cause clinically significant emotional distress and/or functional impairment
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a helpful tool is differentiating the symptoms of depression from the symptoms of anxiety.
Generalized anxiety disorder involves excessive and uncontrollable worry that causes intense emotional distress.
Key Symptoms of GAD:
- Persistent, frequent worry difficulty controlling worry
- Worries about areas in life such as finances, health, relationships, being late, etc
- Worry causes emotional distress or function impairment Access
GAD is often experienced as the presence of excessive anxiety and worry about a variety of every day topics, events, or activities. The excess worry occurs more often than not for at least six months, and is experienced as uncontrollable
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
IED is characterized by recurrent behavioral outbursts representing a failure to control aggressive impulses. Children and adolescents with IED have low frustration tolerances and are disproportionately enraged by small annoyances.
Key symptoms of IED:
- Verbal aggression (e.g., temper tantrums, tirades, verbal arguments, fights)
- Physical aggression toward property, animals or other individuals
- Some children and adolescents with IED will engage in verbal aggression or physical aggression that results in damage or destruction of property or in physical injury.
- The magnitude of aggression expressed during the recurrent outbursts is out of proportion to the provocation or to any precipitating psychosocial stressors.
- The recurrent outbursts are not premeditated, nor are they committed to achieve a tangible objective such as money, power, or intimidation.
- The child or adolescent senses increasing tension prior to committing the act and experiences pleasure, gratification or relief during or following the act.
- The impulsive aggressive outbursts have a rapid onset and typically last for less than 30 minutes.
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
OCD is characterized by frequent, disturbing intrusive thoughts, feelings, ideas, or sensations (obsessions) and accompanying behaviors that one feels compelled to engage in (compulsions). Compulsions can be either external (washing hands) or internal (counting or praying). One engages in compulsions to get rid of obsessive thoughts, but this only provides temporary relief.
Key Symptoms of OCD:
- Frequent disturbing intrusive thoughts, feeling, ideas or sensations (obsessions)
- Repeated behaviors that one feels compelled to engage in an attempt to reduce or manage anxiety symptoms (compulsions)
- Obsessions and compulsions cause emotional distress and/or impairment in functioning
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
All children and adolescents will occasionally disobey, argue with parents and defy authority. Children and teens are more likely experiencing ODD than “normal” striving for independence and autonomy when these oppositional behaviors interfere with learning, school adjustment and disrupt child’s relationships with peers and family members.
Key symptoms of ODD include:
- Having frequent temper tantrums
- Arguing a lot with adults
- Refusing to do what an adult asks
- Always questioning rules and refusing to follow rules
- Doing things to annoy or upset others, including adults
- Blaming others for the child’s own misbehaviors or mistakes
- Being easily annoyed by others
- Often having an angry attitude
- Speaking harshly or unkindly
- Seeking revenge or being vindictive
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
- Persistent difficulties in the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication as manifested by all of the following:
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Deficits in using communication for social purposes
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Impairment of the ability to change communication to match context
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Difficulties for following rules for conversation (taking turns, use of verbal/nonverbal signs to regulate interaction)
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Difficulties understanding what is not explicitly states
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- The deficits result in functional limitations in effective communication, social participation, social relationships, and academic achievement.
- The onset of the symptoms is in the early development period, but may not fully manifest until social communication demands exceed limited capabilities.
- The symptoms are not attributable to another medical or neurological condition or to low abilities in the domains of word structure and grammar, and are not better explained by autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or developmental delay.
Research findings suggest persons with PDD can be placed in one of three very different subgroups:
- A high-functioning group (around 25 percent) whose symptoms largely overlap with that of Asperger syndrome, but who differ in terms of having a lag in language development and mild cognitive impairment. (Asperger syndrome does not generally involve speech delay or cognitive impairment).
- A second group (around 25 percent) whose symptoms more closely resemble those of autistic disorder, but do not fully meet all its diagnostic signs and symptoms.
- A third group (around 50 percent) who meet all the diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder, but whose stereotypical and repetitive behaviors are noticeably mild.
Social Anxiety (social phobia) is characterized by overwhelming worry and excessive self-consciousness in everyday situations.
Key Social Anxiety Symptoms:
- Anxiety triggered by situations where one may feel judged or criticized by others.
- Fear of acting in a socially inappropriate way that would lead to negative evaluation or embarrassment.
- Avoidance of social situations where judgment or scrutiny may occur
- Fear of judgment causes clinically significant emotional distress or impairment in functioning.
- Specific social anxiety presentations are public speaking anxiety and selective mutism
These symptoms may look like other mental health problems. It is best for child/adolescent to meet with a mental healthcare provider who can rule out other emotional and physical causes of these symptoms and to provide you with a formal diagnosis.
