What Is Anxiety Disorder?
While everyone experiences feelings of anxiousness every now and then, anxiety disorder is a mental health issue where a person suffers from feelings of worry that don’t get better, but in fact, increase in severity over time. The anxiety often disrupts the patient’s daily responsibilities, the person’s occupation or education, and his or her relationships. Anxiety disorder can occur in a variety of forms but is most often found in 1 of 3 forms including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
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What Symptoms Are Associated With Anxiety?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is categorized by feelings of anxiousness in various situations and stresses in everyday life. Worry exists even when there is no obvious reason for it and people can overly stress about an otherwise resolvable issue. Getting through the day is even difficult. Panic Disorder can be hereditary and is characterized by sudden, repetitive attacks of extreme fear and/or panic, commonly referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks are often described as feeling like a heart attack and the person ends up being very fearful of the attacks and worrying about when the next one will happen. It can cause many difficulties in life because the person will avoid situations he or she associates with the attacks. Social phobia can also be hereditary. Those with social phobia experience fear in relation to social situations and interaction. Interacting with people, even speaking, can be terrifying. Patients with social phobia often have trouble making friends and may even have some type of physical reaction when interacting with others.
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How Is Anxiety Disorder Treated?
Traditionally, a customized combination of therapy and medication is used to treat anxiety disorders. The prescribed treatment plan will depend on the patient, the severity of the disorder, and how he or she is responding to therapy or medication. Dr. Andrade creates individualized treatment plans for each patient with anxiety as every patient has a unique experience and specific needs to be addressed.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.?'
What Is Clinical Depression?
While everyone experiences feelings of anxiousness every now and then, anxiety disorder is a mental health issue where a person suffers from feelings of worry that don’t get better, but in fact, increase in severity over time. The anxiety often disrupts the patient’s daily responsibilities, the person’s occupation or education, and his or her relationships. Anxiety disorder can occur in a variety of forms but is most often found in 1 of 3 forms including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
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What Symptoms Are Associated With Depression?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is categorized by feelings of anxiousness in various situations and stresses in everyday life. Worry exists even when there is no obvious reason for it and people can overly stress about an otherwise resolvable issue. Getting through the day is even difficult. Panic Disorder can be hereditary and is characterized by sudden, repetitive attacks of extreme fear and/or panic, commonly referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks are often described as feeling like a heart attack and the person ends up being very fearful of the attacks and worrying about when the next one will happen. It can cause many difficulties in life because the person will avoid situations he or she associates with the attacks.
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How Is Depression Treated?
Traditionally, a customized combination of therapy and medication is used to treat anxiety disorders. The prescribed treatment plan will depend on the patient, the severity of the disorder, and how he or she is responding to therapy or medication. Dr. Andrade creates individualized treatment plans for each patient with anxiety as every patient has a unique experience and specific needs to be addressed.
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AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
While everyone experiences feelings of anxiousness every now and then, anxiety disorder is a mental health issue where a person suffers from feelings of worry that don’t get better, but in fact, increase in severity over time. The anxiety often disrupts the patient’s daily responsibilities, the person’s occupation or education, and his or her relationships. Anxiety disorder can occur in a variety of forms but is most often found in 1 of 3 forms including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
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What Symptoms Are Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is categorized by feelings of anxiousness in various situations and stresses in everyday life. Worry exists even when there is no obvious reason for it and people can overly stress about an otherwise resolvable issue. Getting through the day is even difficult. Panic Disorder can be hereditary and is characterized by sudden, repetitive attacks of extreme fear and/or panic, commonly referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks are often described as feeling like a heart attack and the person ends up being very fearful of the attacks and worrying about when the next one will happen. It can cause many difficulties in life because the person will avoid situations he or she associates with the attacks. Social phobia can also be hereditary. Those with social phobia experience fear in relation to social situations and interaction. Interacting with people, even speaking, can be terrifying. Patients with social phobia often have trouble making friends and may even have some type of physical reaction when interacting with others.
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How Is Autism Spectrum Disorder Treated?
Traditionally, a customized combination of therapy and medication is used to treat anxiety disorders. The prescribed treatment plan will depend on the patient, the severity of the disorder, and how he or she is responding to therapy or medication. Dr. Andrade creates individualized treatment plans for each patient with anxiety as every patient has a unique experience and specific needs to be addressed.
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OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD)
What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition characterized by uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that the patient is compelled to repeat. Some patients develop obsessions with specific numbers and the compulsive behaviors have to be repeated without interruption that many times while others will continue with a behavior, even if that behavior is or becomes dangerous and harmful. OCD is a common mental health condition that affects patients of all ages. Risk factors for the condition include genetics, brain structure and function, and the patient’s environment.
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What Are the Symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Patients with OCD present obsessive symptoms, compulsive symptoms, or a combination of both. Obsessions are repeated thoughts, mental images, or urges that cause the patient anxiety. For example, a patient may experience a fear of germs, aggressive or harmful thoughts, symmetry and order, and unwanted forbidden thoughts of a sexual or religious nature. Compulsions are behaviors that a patient feels the need to complete over and over again. These may include ordering and arranging items in a specific way, repeatedly checking on things like whether or not the door is locked or the oven is off, counting, cleaning or hand washing. It is important to understand that not all rituals are compulsions and the desire to double check that you locked the door is not a sign of this mental health disorder. OCD is typically diagnosed with these thoughts and behaviors are uncontrollable and excessive to the point of getting in the way of everyday life. People with OCD do not typically experience pleasure when performing their compulsive behaviors.
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How Is OCD Treated?
Dr. Andrade treats her patients with OCD with a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Each patient will receive a full psychiatric assessment before a diagnosis is made. Once a patient is diagnosed with OCD, Dr. Andrade creates a customized treatment plan to address his or her specific needs. Therapy can help patients to learn to recognize and control their compulsive behaviors while medication can address the imbalance in brain chemistry that can lead to this disorder. If the compulsions are driven by a trauma in the patient’s past, psychotherapy can also help to resolve the patient’s feeling about that event as part of the healing process.
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MEDICATION MANAGEMENT
What Is Medication Management?
While everyone experiences feelings of anxiousness every now and then, anxiety disorder is a mental health issue where a person suffers from feelings of worry that don’t get better, but in fact, increase in severity over time. The anxiety often disrupts the patient’s daily responsibilities, the person’s occupation or education, and his or her relationships. Anxiety disorder can occur in a variety of forms but is most often found in 1 of 3 forms including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
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PSYCHODERMATOLOGY
What Is Psychodermatology?
While everyone experiences feelings of anxiousness every now and then, anxiety disorder is a mental health issue where a person suffers from feelings of worry that don’t get better, but in fact, increase in severity over time. The anxiety often disrupts the patient’s daily responsibilities, the person’s occupation or education, and his or her relationships. Anxiety disorder can occur in a variety of forms but is most often found in 1 of 3 forms including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
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What Symptoms Are Associated With Psychodermatology?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is categorized by feelings of anxiousness in various situations and stresses in everyday life. Worry exists even when there is no obvious reason for it and people can overly stress about an otherwise resolvable issue. Getting through the day is even difficult. Panic Disorder can be hereditary and is characterized by sudden, repetitive attacks of extreme fear and/or panic, commonly referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks are often described as feeling like a heart attack and the person ends up being very fearful of the attacks and worrying about when the next one will happen. It can cause many difficulties in life because the person will avoid situations he or she associates with the attacks. Social phobia can also be hereditary. Those with social phobia experience fear in relation to social situations and interaction. Interacting with people, even speaking, can be terrifying. Patients with social phobia often have trouble making friends and may even have some type of physical reaction when interacting with others.
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How Are Psychodermatologic Conditions Treated?
Traditionally, a customized combination of therapy and medication is used to treat anxiety disorders. The prescribed treatment plan will depend on the patient, the severity of the disorder, and how he or she is responding to therapy or medication. Dr. Andrade creates individualized treatment plans for each patient with anxiety as every patient has a unique experience and specific needs to be addressed.
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ATTENTION ISSUES & ADHD
What is ADHD?
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a mental health condition that causes a variety of symptoms related to a patient’s concentration and behavior. ADHD is most often diagnosed in children but can also occur in adults of both genders, especially if diagnosed and untreated during childhood. ADHD affects a person’s ability to retain information, focus, and concentrate. Patients with ADHD often have issues with controlling their behavior and paying attention. The condition occurs in both genders, although women sometimes present with different symptoms than men. Young women often go undiagnosed until early adulthood because they dismiss symptoms such as disorganization and poor attention, as something they are doing wrong instead of signs of an illness. There are three forms of ADHD: predominately inattentive, predominately hyperactive/impulsive, and a combination.
How Do the Forms of ADHD Differ?
There are many symptoms associated with the different forms of the disorder. The symptoms listed below characterize the different diagnosis, but are not a complete list.
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Patients diagnosed as predominantly inattentive often have trouble paying attention or listening when another person is speaking. These patients often have trouble focusing on one task and are easily distracted. As a result, they also often have trouble retaining or learning new information.
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Patients who are diagnosed as predominantly hyperactive, present symptoms like fidgeting, not being able to sit still, talking all the time, interrupting, and may have trouble participating in quiet individual activities.
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Behaviors associated with impulsive patients include regular interruptions, making inappropriate comments or words, impatience, and emotional outbursts without any limitations.
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How Is ADHD Treated?
Dr. Andrade creates a unique treatment plan for each patient she diagnoses with ADHD. The evaluation involves a complete history and set of questionnaires that are completed by the patient and one to two individuals close to the patient that are completed after the initial consultation. Many patients are prescribed a stimulant. While it might seem counter-intuitive to give a person suffering from hyperactivity a stimulant, a prescription can help to focus the patient’s attention and concentration. There are other non-stimulant medications that may be prescribed, depending on the needs of the patient. Therapy for both the patient and his or her family is an important component of a treatment plan. Patients and their families often benefit from behavioral therapy where they learn to recognize thought patterns and behaviors as well as techniques to control unhealthy or poor behavior. Parents and families can also benefit from family and/or marital family to learn how to handle disruptive behaviors and to maintain communication within the family unit.
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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)
What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
While everyone experiences feelings of anxiousness every now and then, anxiety disorder is a mental health issue where a person suffers from feelings of worry that don’t get better, but in fact, increase in severity over time. The anxiety often disrupts the patient’s daily responsibilities, the person’s occupation or education, and his or her relationships. Anxiety disorder can occur in a variety of forms but is most often found in 1 of 3 forms including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
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What Symptoms Are Associated With PTSD?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is categorized by feelings of anxiousness in various situations and stresses in everyday life. Worry exists even when there is no obvious reason for it and people can overly stress about an otherwise resolvable issue. Getting through the day is even difficult. Panic Disorder can be hereditary and is characterized by sudden, repetitive attacks of extreme fear and/or panic, commonly referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks are often described as feeling like a heart attack and the person ends up being very fearful of the attacks and worrying about when the next one will happen. It can cause many difficulties in life because the person will avoid situations he or she associates with the attacks. Social phobia can also be hereditary. Those with social phobia experience fear in relation to social situations and interaction. Interacting with people, even speaking, can be terrifying. Patients with social phobia often have trouble making friends and may even have some type of physical reaction when interacting with others.
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How Is PTSD Treated?
Traditionally, a customized combination of therapy and medication is used to treat anxiety disorders. The prescribed treatment plan will depend on the patient, the severity of the disorder, and how he or she is responding to therapy or medication. Dr. Andrade creates individualized treatment plans for each patient with anxiety as every patient has a unique experience and specific needs to be addressed.