Anxiety disorders are some of the most common mental health disorders. While everyone worries from time to time, anxiety disorders are different. These common mental health disorders cause anxiety that interferes with daily functioning. If you think that you may have an anxiety disorder, it’s key that you seek help from a mental health professional. There’s no need to suffer through anxiety in silence. Many people who have anxiety disorders attempt to self-medicate and end up abusing drugs and/ or alcohol to quiet their disorder. If you’re someone who is misusing drugs and/ or alcohol to try to help with your anxiety, you’re not alone, and Serenity Light Recovery can help.
Common Mental Health Disorders – Anxiety
While anxiety disorders are common mental health disorders, they can be debilitating. If you’re struggling with anxiety, know that treatment is available and effective. You don’t have to live with anxiety ruling your life. Let’s take a look at the five most common anxiety disorders.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
- People who have GAD experience a nearly constant stream of anxiety, tension, and worry. GAD symptoms may flare up with stressful life events, or with hormonal changes in the body. GAD can severely interfere with normal daily functioning, especially in the workplace and in personal relationships.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- OCD causes two different types of symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive, unwanted thoughts that drive anxiety. These can be seemingly insignificant (wondering whether they remembered to send an email) to torturous (feeling like they have a deadly disease). People who have OCD often feel that they can control their intrusive thoughts through compulsive behavior. These behaviors can include checking and re-checking
Panic disorder
- Panic disorder is more than having panic attacks at times when a stressful event occurs. People who struggle with panic disorder feel panic for seemingly no reason at all. Panic attacks can include many symptoms, including racing heart, feeling of impending doom, sweating, nausea and vomiting, and even fainting.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- No science explains why some people experience PTSD after a traumatic event while others do not. PTSD sufferers are people who experience uncomfortable, debilitating symptoms following the experience of trauma. Symptoms may include feeling like they’re reliving the event, avoiding talking or thinking about the event, experiencing flashbacks, sleep disturbances, and more.
Social anxiety disorder
- Some feelings of nerves before tough social situations (such as a first date) are completely normal. Social anxiety disorder goes beyond normal social anxiety. People who have social anxiety disorder may find it nearly impossible to interact with others due to their anxiety. People with the disorder may struggle to make phone calls, answer the door, and even leave the house.
Anxiety and Addiction
When a person struggles with anxiety, it makes sense that the noise in their brain can feel overwhelming. They may use drugs or alcohol to feel normal. When the effects of drugs or alcohol wear off and the person is dealing with withdrawal, their anxiety can increase. This prompts them to use more of the drug, creating a cycle that’s difficult to break.
How Serenity Light Recovery Can Help
If you’re struggling with the anxiety and addiction cycle, we can help. At Serenity Light Recovery, we understand how common mental health disorders, such as anxiety disorders, can play a role in addiction. We offer treatment for many different addictions, including:
- Alcohol rehab
- Heroin, opiate, and opioid rehab
- Prescription drug rehab
- Benzodiazepine rehab
- Cocaine rehab
Call Serenity Light Recovery
If you’re ready to take the first step toward a healthy, happy life, Serenity Light Recovery is here to help. Call us today at (281) 431-6700 to talk with one of our caring counselors about our admissions and treatment process. You don’t have to live a life of addiction – recovery is possible. Make the phone call so that the rest of your life can begin.
As our CEO, Heather’s main calling is to stay true to the vision of the organization, which is saving lives and striving to redefine statistics by raising the standard of care with evolving treatment methods. Heather studied psychology at LSU and both the main and Clear Lake campuses of the University of Houston, and she is a certified IASIS provider and CPI instructor. She’s been helping people in recovery since 2011. Heather’s motto to live by is “I am not what I’ve done; I am what I’ve overcome.”
