Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension about what’s to come.
Anxiety is likely a combination of factors playing a role. These include genetic and environmental factors, as well as brain chemistry.
Researchers believe that the areas of the brain responsible for controlling fear may be impacted.
It’s normal to feel anxious about transitions or big moments in your life such as moving to a new place, starting a new job, or deciding to get married, or buying a new home. This type of anxiety is unpleasant, but it may motivate you to work harder and to do a better job.
Ordinary anxiety is a feeling that comes and goes, but does not interupt with your everyday life.
When anxiety goes unmanaged it can lead to a feeling of fear that may be with you all the time. It is intense and sometimes debilitating.
This type of anxiety may cause you to stop doing things you enjoy. If left untreated, the anxiety will keep getting worse. Anxiety is the most common form of emotional distress and can affect anyone at any age.
For some people, medical treatment isn’t necessary. Lifestyle changes may be enough to cope with the symptoms. In moderate or severe cases, however, treatment can help you overcome the symptoms and lead a more manageable day-to-day life.
Treatment for anxiety falls into two categories: psychotherapy and medication. Meeting with a therapist or psychologist can help you learn tools to use and strategies to cope with anxiety when it occurs.
Dr. Madrid will work together with you to identify the source of your anxiety and change your response to stress. Being able to relax and focus on what is important without worry has been proven to help individuals cultivate closer relationships with family members, significant others, and make more progress at work.
When you reduce your anxiety, you may feel that you can concentrate better, or accomplish more. You may find that you are able to sleep better, and find more fulfillment in your daily life.
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.
There are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, medications, and medical problems. It's believed that several of these forces interact to bring on depression.
Also called major depressive disorder, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn't worth living.
Depression is more than run of the mill blues. If you are feeling depressed, you can't simply "snap out" of it; and it's not a weakness.
Therapy can be highly beneficial in helping you take control of your life again. In therapy with Dr. Madrid, you can learn to make sense of your thoughts and feelings, alleviating your depression.
Therapy may help you sleep well again, develop healthy eating habits, and engage in healthy relationships.
Dr. Madrid will work with you to develop practical skills and techniques that will help you with enable you to control and channel overwhelming feelings, bringing joy and happiness back into your life.
She will help you set goals and assist you in creating a plan to reach your potential.
You can start to make meaningful changes which will bring a new richness to your life.
Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster.
Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea.During a traumatic event, the parts of the brain responsible for memory are deliberately suppressed in order to help us cope emotionally in the short term. People who undergo traumatic events may struggle to fully remember them afterward.
A disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event.
The condition may last months or years, with triggers that can bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions.
Symptoms may include nightmares or unwanted memories of the trauma, avoidance of situations that bring back memories of the trauma, heightened reactions, anxiety, or depressed mood.
Treatment includes different types of trauma-focused psychotherapy as well as medications to manage symptoms.
This includes a positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with a major life crisis or a traumatic event. Most people who experience posttraumatic growth would prefer to have not had the trauma. Nevertheless, most people who experience posttraumatic growth are often surprised by the growth which comes as the result of an attempt at making sense of a terrible event.
Trauma treatment includes three evidence based therapies (EBTs), of which Dr. Madrid is trained in. These therapies are highly effective in reducing trauma symptoms and helping the individual to regain their quality of life:
Trauma therapy allows you to process and understand why certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors occur. Dr. Madrid will help you learn to understand your experiences in order to help you shift from feeling helpless to feeling more empowered in your life. Trauma therapy also allows you to recognize that you are not alone in your experiences.