Understanding Anxiety: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Options
Anxiety is a normal human response to stress. It’s your body’s way of preparing for challenges or threats. But when that alarm system goes into overdrive — firing too often, too intensely, or without real danger — anxiety stops being helpful and starts being disruptive.
For some, anxiety looks like constant worrying. For others, it shows up as panic attacks, avoidance of social situations, or an inability to relax. Over time, unmanaged anxiety can interfere with work performance, relationships, and overall health.
At Groundbreaker Therapy, we help professionals, students, and young adults understand their anxiety, develop proven skills to manage it, and build more balanced, fulfilling lives.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is more than occasional nerves before a big event. Anxiety disorders involve persistent, excessive fear or worry that is hard to control and lasts for months or longer.
The main types of anxiety disorders include:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Chronic worry about everyday issues such as work, health, finances, or relationships.
Panic Disorder
Sudden, repeated panic attacks with physical symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, or dizziness.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Intense fear of judgment or embarrassment in social situations.
Phobias
Extreme fear of specific objects or situations.
Though each disorder looks different, they share a common theme: anxiety that is out of proportion to the situation and interferes with daily life.
Common Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety affects the mind, body, and behavior. Common symptoms include:
Emotional & Cognitive:
- Persistent, excessive worry
- Difficulty concentrating or racing thoughts
- Sense of dread, fear, or impending doom
Physical:
- Rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling
- Muscle tension or headaches
- Stomach issues or nausea
- Fatigue or difficulty sleeping
Behavioral:
- Avoiding feared situations or responsibilities
- Procrastination caused by fear of failure
- Irritability or agitation
If you recognize these patterns in your daily life, therapy can help you break the cycle and restore peace of mind.
What Causes Anxiety?
Anxiety rarely has a single cause. Instead, it develops through a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.
Contributing causes may include:
- Genetics: Family history of anxiety or mood disorders.
- Brain chemistry: Differences in how the brain regulates stress and fear responses.
- Trauma or adverse experiences: Past events that increase sensitivity to future stress.
- Ongoing stress: Work demands, financial pressure, relationship struggles, or academic expectations.
- Personality traits: Perfectionism, high sensitivity, or a tendency toward negative thinking.
- Lifestyle factors: Lack of sleep, substance use, or chronic health conditions.
At Groundbreaker Therapy, we recognize that many of our clients — especially professionals and students — live in environments where constant stress is the norm, making them more vulnerable to anxiety.
Anxiety Diagnosis
A licensed mental health professional will:
- Assess symptom frequency, duration, and severity.
- Determine how anxiety interferes with work, relationships, and daily functioning.
- Identify the specific type of anxiety disorder (e.g., GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety).
- Rule out medical causes such as thyroid disorders or heart conditions.
- Consider co-occurring issues such as depression or trauma history.
Diagnosis is not about labeling — it’s about creating a clear plan for treatment and recovery.
Anxiety Treatment Options
What Is Best for Anxiety?
The most effective treatment for anxiety is psychotherapy, particularly approaches that teach coping skills and address thought patterns. At Groundbreaker Therapy, we emphasize Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which combines mindfulness and practical skill-building. DBT is especially powerful for clients who feel overwhelmed by emotions or stuck in cycles of worry and avoidance.
Medication may also be recommended by a psychiatrist when anxiety symptoms are severe, but therapy is the foundation for long-term change.
Groundbreaker’s Approach to Anxiety
Our specialties include:
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Skills for mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
- Counseling for Professionals: Practical support for business leaders, healthcare providers, educators, lawyers, and creatives under high stress.
- Anxiety & Depression Treatment: Integrated care for clients whose anxiety overlaps with low mood, irritability, or loss of motivation.
- Young Professionals’ Mental Health: Helping adults in their 20s and 30s balance career growth, identity, and relationships.
- College Mental Health: Supporting students through academic stress, transitions, and social pressures.
Other therapies we may integrate into anxiety treatment:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Gold standard for anxiety. Helps identify and challenge irrational fears, reduce avoidance behaviors, and build coping skills.
- Mindfulness Practices: Proven effective for reducing worry, calming the nervous system, and managing generalized anxiety and panic symptoms.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Useful when anxiety is paired with emotional dysregulation, providing skills for distress tolerance and grounding.
- Schema Therapy: Addresses deeper belief systems (e.g., vulnerability, failure, or dependence schemas) that often fuel chronic anxiety.
- Integrative Therapy: Allows combining CBT, mindfulness, DBT, and schema work for a customized, flexible approach.
Every treatment plan is customized. Our goal is to give clients tools they can use immediately — not just in session, but in real-world moments of stress.
Living With Anxiety
Anxiety doesn’t have to control your life. With the right support, clients often experience relief in a matter of weeks and lasting improvements with ongoing therapy.
Practical strategies we help clients develop include:
- Mindfulness practices to stay grounded in the present, rather than spiraling into “what ifs.”
- Distress tolerance skills for handling panic or overwhelming worry without avoidance.
- Emotion regulation tools to calm physical symptoms and reframe anxious thoughts.
- Daily structure around sleep, nutrition, and exercise to stabilize energy and mood.
- Gradual exposure to feared situations, building confidence step by step.
- Self-compassion practices that reduce perfectionism and self-criticism.
Living with anxiety is about learning to manage it effectively, not eliminating all stress. With therapy, you can build confidence, resilience, and a renewed sense of control.
How Groundbreaker Therapy Can Help
Groundbreaker Therapy is uniquely positioned to support clients with anxiety:
- DBT expertise: We teach skills that address both the emotional intensity and physical symptoms of anxiety.
- Specialized focus on professionals, young adults, and students: We understand the unique pressures these groups face.
- Wide range of therapeutic approaches: We tailor treatment to your personality, history, and goals.
- Safe, compassionate environment: No judgment — only support and practical strategies.
- Flexible scheduling: In-person and virtual sessions that fit into demanding lives.
If anxiety is holding you back — at work, in relationships, or in everyday life — you don’t have to keep struggling. Schedule a consultation with Groundbreaker Therapy today and take the first step toward calm, clarity, and confidence.