(425) 457-7799 | Dr. Lara Litov | Online Doctor | Telehealth | Naturopathic Doctor

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety
OCD
Panic Attacks or Anxiety Attacks
Social Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
PTSD

What are some of the types of anxiety disorders?

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Panic Disorder, Panic Attacks, Anxiety Attacks
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Specific phobias
  • PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
  • Social Anxiety Disorder
  • Agoraphobia
  • Separation Anxiety
Anxiety Disorder Types - Dr. Lara Litov

Anxiety Disorders

If you are struggling with anxiety, you are not alone. Anxiety is the most common mental health concern in the US affecting about 18.1% of the population every year.

Most people have experienced anxiety at some time in their lives. Like before a test or public speaking. That is a pretty normal reaction to a stressful situation.  When worry and anxiety negatively affect your daily life, health, and wellbeing or your relationships or work, it is a good the time to reach out to get some help and find some healthy and long-lasting solutions.

Symptoms of anxiety can include some of the following– remember, everyone is different so anxiety can be experienced differently for different people.

  • feelings of fear, danger, panic, or dread – this can be felt in your chest or stomach or just a ‘sense’ that you can’t shake and can’t get out of your mind.
  • Being nervous, tense or restless – needing to move around or needing to be very still in order to decrease the anxiety. Difficulty relaxing.
  • Sleep troubles include insomnia, waking abruptly in sleep, racing thoughts keeping you awake, restless sleep
  • Difficulty thinking about or reading about anything other than what is causing you anxiety or you are worried about.
  • A strong desire to avoid the things that trigger your anxiety
  • Physical symptoms may include: increased sweating, trembling, feeling chilled, increased heart rate or hyperventilating or digestive symptoms.
  • Obsessions about certain ideas and/or compulsions (like checking the door lock a certain number of times)
  • Hypervigilance- being acutely aware of all going on around and ready to react to danger
  • Anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past

Anxiety Disorders - Anxiety Symptoms

I have worked with many people with Anxiety Disorders and other mental health concerns for almost 30 years!  That long term clinical experience has led me to become very successful at helping most people.

There is research supporting the idea of multi-factorial underlying causes for anxiety. Genetics is important, as is nutrition, hormonal, neurological, medication side effects, environmental factors, history of trauma or other adverse life events, and more.

Depression is common in conjunction with anxiety.

Substance abuse

Sleep disorders

Eating disorders

Headaches

Chronic diseases such as autoimmune conditions

Other mental health conditions

ADHD/ADD

How I help you if you have an anxiety disorder

  • The goal is to improve your day-to-day quality of life, to function better at home and work, and to decrease underlying and exacerbations of anxiety. Stabilize.
  • Many people who struggle with anxiety have other health concerns, mental and physical. I treat those other conditions as we are all a whole, not just our individual diseases.   Those other conditions are taken into account and are usually part of the larger treatment plan.
  • The long-term goal is to work together to help you get back in balance, decrease your anxiety in the present. AND a goal is to give you the tools to take with you to manage your anxiety on your own and to return for appointments as needed for tune-ups or new problems.

How do I achieve those goals? 

  1. I conduct a thorough medical evaluation, medical history, labs, and imaging,  and take the time to really listen to your story/journey and how the anxiety is affecting you in the present and past.
  2. I address both the acute symptoms and the underlying root cause of the symptoms. It is like a leaky house.  You need to find buckets and tarps to not let rain in, but ultimately the roof needs to get fixed to prevent leaking. Both are important to remedy.
  3. My treatment plans are integrated and multi-faceted and usually include other health concerns that are related to your anxiety. Treatments are to help alleviate symptoms and based on what root causes of the symptoms are.  It is individualized and is fluid, so as you improve, we can adjust the plan.  This is why the work we will do together is time-intensive.   My treatment plans focus on integrating natural with conventional medication as needed.  Click here to see a list of the treatments I utilize.