San Diego Psychotherapy for Anxiety

Finding a Therapist for Anxiety, Fear, and Stress in San Diego

Are you feeling on-edge or tense?

Do you have trouble concentrating?

Do you frequently avoid social gatherings by acting sick?

Anxiety, fear, and stress are important as they prepare your body to get ready to act in response to a threat. But when these emotions take over, they can wreak havoc on your day to day life. The therapists at Clear Mind Counseling in San Diego can help. They are experienced at working with patients in the San Diego area who are hampered by anxiety, stress, and fear.

Anxiety is your attempt to keep safe by foreseeing danger. It is an emotional response to an unknown threat. Anxiety is anticipatory and is usually based on an imagined threat, or one that has not yet materialized. Anxiety causes you to get ready to act and deal with the threat. In the same way that different people have different personal stress limits, the level of anxiety felt for a given threat is a very personal thing. Depending on the perceived threat, anxiety could become a general state of distress and last a long time.

Fear is your attempt to keep safe by responding to danger. It is an emotional response to a known or definite threat. Fear can be triggered by either real or imagined threats—the brain cannot distinguish between the two—but in either case the important thing is that you perceive the threat to be definite. Fear causes you to act and deal with the threat, but if no action is taken, your body remains in a state of readiness to act. Fear is your attempt to keep safe by responding to danger; your body’s fight or flight or freeze response is triggered, along with physical changes, including increased heart rate, sweating, and rapid breathing.

Stress is what happens when something disturbs your equilibrium or causes a change to happen. This can be something physical in the external world, or something emotional generated internally because you sense something bad is going to happen. The source of stress is called a stressor. Take the stressor away, and usually the stress will go too.

Everyone experiences stress from time to time. Anything from everyday responsibilities like family and work, to serious life events like a new diagnosis, war, or the death of a loved one can trigger stress. Stress can be good and bad. It can help you cope with potentially serious situations. However if your stress response doesn’t stop firing, and your stress levels remain elevated, it can take a toll on your health.

If you or a loved on in San Diego are having difficulty managing feelings of anxiety, fear, or stress, help is available. Contact the experienced therapists at Clear Mind Counseling in San Diego today to schedule an appointment.