You might need to see a psychologist if: you are experiencing anxiety, depression, stressful life events or any other mental health difficulty. you feel like life is more difficult and need support to cope. you would like an assessment of your mental health.
There's lots of ways a psychologist can help you with your anxiety. These include: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to try to change unhelpful thoughts and build your skills to control your anxiety. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you accept the thoughts and feelings you're experiencing.
Excessive Anxiety, Worry or Sadness
A psychiatrist can help when someone feels excessively sad or worries constantly. It is also critically important to seek help when someone has thoughts of suicide.
Psychiatrists can provide helpful education about different subtypes of anxiety, what contributes to their onset and symptom expression, and adaptive behaviors to address them. Psychoeducation often includes working with patients on forming improved habits and self-care that can improve their anxiety symptoms.
Anxiety becomes a disorder when it's irrational, excessive and when it interferes with a person's ability to function in daily life.
Panic disorder
Panic attacks are intense, overwhelming and often uncontrollable feelings of anxiety. Physical symptoms can include trouble breathing, chest pain, dizziness and sweating. If someone has repeated panic attacks they may have a panic disorder.
Hampton says that over time untreated anxiety will worsen because it affects the individual's quality of life. “In some, more extreme cases, there is also the possibility that a person may become suicidal and need inpatient hospitalization,” the therapist explains.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an example of one type of psychotherapy that can help people with anxiety disorders. It teaches people different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations to help you feel less anxious and fearful. CBT has been well studied and is the gold standard for psychotherapy.
State your concerns plainly. It's important to tell your doctor all of your symptoms. But before you get into that, tell them what you think may be wrong. Use clear statements such as “I think I may be depressed” or “I am having trouble with anxiety.” This will help guide them and let them know what direction to go in.
Remember. You usually need a referral to see a psychiatrist in Australia and New Zealand. Your GP or other medical doctor can write a referral for you. In an emergency you can see a psychiatrist at a hospital emergency department or community health centre.
During the session, the therapist teaches the patient skills to use to relieve symptoms. These skills include ways to manage activities and places that the patient avoids due to anxiety. Then, the therapist might have the patient put their new skills to the test by entering anxiety-causing situations.
However, you may need to see a mental health specialist if you have severe anxiety. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions. A psychologist and certain other mental health professionals can diagnose anxiety and provide counseling (psychotherapy).
If anxiety interferes with your daily life—whatever that might look like to you—that's reason enough to see a mental health professional. “When your world starts to become limited because of anxiety, that is a good signal that it's time to seek treatment,” Reynolds says.
Venlafaxine, sold as Effexor, is the most common SNRI prescribed by doctors in Australia. Medications managing two chemicals in the brain, as SNRIs do, are more likely to come with side effects, Dr Eapen says.
3 million Australians are living with anxiety. Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. 1 in 4 people will experience anxiety at some stage in their life.
Instead, it usually is diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder. The term "high-functioning anxiety" represents people who exhibit anxiety symptoms while maintaining a high level of functionality in various aspects of their lives.
If you find yourself struggling to overcome overthinking, you should seek professional help. Therapy and counselling can help you vent out your worries and irrational thoughts.
The antidepressants most widely prescribed for anxiety are SSRIs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Celexa. SSRIs have been used to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most widely-used therapy for anxiety disorders. Research has shown it to be effective in the treatment of panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, among many other conditions.
feeling tense, nervous or unable to relax. having a sense of dread, or fearing the worst. feeling like the world is speeding up or slowing down. feeling like other people can see you're anxious and are looking at you.
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
your worrying is uncontrollable and causes distress. your worrying affects your daily life, including school, your job and your social life. you cannot let go of your worries. you worry about all sorts of things, such as your job or health, and minor concerns, such as household chores.
People with anxiety disorders feel worry and fear constantly, and these feelings of distress can severely impact their daily lives. Living with an anxiety disorder can feel crippling, but with time and proper treatment, many people can manage their anxiety and live a fulfilling life.