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Over 40-million adults in the U.S. experience at least one diagnosable mental illness in their life. With 18-20% of the adult population in America suffering from a mental health disorder at any point during the year, research has shown that 70-90% of those who receive mental illness treatment exhibit reduced symptoms and improved quality of life. Receiving an accurate complete diagnosis allows for the development of the proper treatment plan that gives the optimal effective results.

Mental Illness Treatment Defined

Mental illness refers to changes in the thought process, emotions, or behaviors that create distress and impaired life functioning for a person. Mental disorders and complaints can affect a person of any age, race, religion, or income. The treatment of mental illnesses requires intervention by trained mental health practitioners who can prescribe medications or refer to other adjunct treatments and therapy.

Mental Illness Treatment Statistics

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) both track and report on the incidence of mental health disorders, issues, and concerns in America. Some of the statistics related to their research include:

• 18.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder every year
• 6.9% of American adults, or 16 million, had at least one major depressive episode during the course of the past year
• 2.6% of U.S. adults are living with diagnosed bipolar disorder
• 20% adults in the United States have a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year
• 50.5% of adults in U.S. who have a substance abuse disorder also have a co-occurring mental health disorder

Mental Illness Treatment Specialist in Atlanta

With up to 90% of those who receive mental illness treatment reporting improved functional and quality of life, it’s time to take the first step and make the call for a comprehensive evaluation and individualized treatment plan. Call Atlanta mental health specialist, Dr. Hege for a confidential appointment.

High functioning anxiety affects 18% of the 40-million adults who must deal with an anxiety disorder at any given time. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that this type of anxiety brings struggle and stress into their daily lives impacting overall satisfaction with a busy lifestyle.

High Functioning Anxiety Described

Most adults typically viewed as being successful, an overachiever, or even as having an “A” personality, are prone to having high functioning anxiety. While the general public perceives the positive outcomes from having this type of anxiety, it fails to see the struggle involved in getting there, staying there, dealing with constant worry, or with keeping up the effort of presenting a false persona to the rest of the world.

High Functioning Anxiety Diagnosis

In speaking about anxiety disorders, the type, high functioning, is not a real medical diagnosis, but rather a term being used more and more by mental health professionals to describe actions, symptoms, and emotions. This type of anxiety may exhibit many features of an anxiety disorder without the criteria for an actual diagnosis – they may have symptoms but are able to function through the struggle without life disruption.

Common Symptoms of High Functioning Anxiety

Some of the common signs that you may be struggling through life with high functioning anxiety include:

• You are often told you are a Type A personality or a perfectionist.
• You may have unrealistic expectations of yourself along with a fear of not meeting them.
• You exhibit controlling patterns, habits, or strict routines
• You find your life constantly busy and packed with plans and tasks to accomplish
• You do not sleep well, tossing and turning throughout the night
• You find yourself with frequent complaints of aches or pains, feel like there is a knot in your stomach, or find yourself biting nails, tapping your foot or cracking your knuckles as a sign of suppressed anxiety
• You often keep your emotions bottled up, presenting a “false face” to others making it difficult for others to really know how you are feeling
• You have a fear of disappointing or letting others down, often talking negatively about yourself
• You cannot say “no” to the requests of others, often taking on more than you can realistically handle.

High Functioning Anxiety Psychiatrist

Even if the anxiety symptoms experienced are not interfering at work, home, or in social situations, they can still impact enjoyment and quality of life. Reducing the high functioning anxiety symptoms can end the struggle and lead to a more satisfying life all around. Call Dr. Hege for a confidential evaluation and determine the more effective treatment strategy for your needs.

Anxiety is often a common occurrence in everyone’s life. Sometimes common anxieties look like worry about job security, thoughts about making a financial commitment, concerns about relationship or social issues, or worry about being late to an appointment. Anxiety signals can be a warning to help anticipate difficulties or issues, and then taking steps to prepare for them. Anxiety becomes a problem when it interferes with daily living and ability to function.

Symptoms of Anxiety Signals That Increase Over Time

Very often, small indications of anxiety become chronic, meaning they occur more and more frequently, and slowly the symptoms of anxiety begin to make one feel uncomfortable, out of control, or helpless. The following anxiety signals or symptoms may have started out as small annoyances, but over time began to impact and disrupt daily living and functioning.

• Muscle tension
• Feeling physically tired and weak
• Having difficulty with remembering small details, meeting times or appointments
• Finding it difficult to unwind and relax
• Complaining of having an upset stomach more and more often
• Having sweaty hands, heart palpitations, or shortness of breath without a medical reason
• Worry begins to take over your thoughts
• Sleep issues, sometimes not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep

Anxiety Signals for Help

When small symptoms start to add up, combine, or become chronic and more disrupting, it is a signal to a developing problem, alerting you to seek out help and treatment. The first step to easing your worry and anxiety is to listen to the messages your body is sending you and make an appointment with a mental health professional experienced in the evaluation and treatment of anxiety.

Atlanta Anxiety Specialist

If your body is trying to get you to listen to the message that anxiety is affecting your life, then it is time to make the call to Dr. Hege, an Atlanta psychiatrist specializing in worry and anxiety treatment. Make the call for a confidential appointment with weekend and evening hours readily available to meet your life demands.

Experiencing anxiety is a normal part of life, with general and specific worries related to health, family, work, finances, or change. While some anxiety may motivate you to take action, developing Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD, disrupts your life and the lives of those around you. GAD, both a physical as well as a mental health disorder, is the most common and widespread type of anxiety affecting millions of people around the world. With professional help, GAD is treatable.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Defined

Typically, those with GAD suffer from relentless, unspecified worry about general everyday things. For those with generalized anxiety disorder there is a general feeling of unease or dread that follows your thoughts as you move about the day. The tension and worry is less intense than a panic attack but becomes a chronic situation making normal life and relaxation impossible. GAD is a common anxiety disorder that involves chronic worrying, tension, and nervousness without a specific reason which can affect one’s health and physical well-being.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Triggers

The worry about everyday things or the future is a common complaint from most people; however, with GAD the worry rises to a new level where daily activities are filled with exaggerated worry and tension without relief. For those with generalized anxiety disorder a simple comment, about work or family for example, can spiral thoughts out of control disrupting home life, job performance, and social relationships. Triggers to anxiety can be simply the thought of getting up and going to work, going grocery shopping, a news report, or not being able to get in immediate contact with a friend or loved one.

Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Physical and mental health symptoms make it hard to function, and they interfere with daily life. Having any of the symptoms below that re-occur and interfere with your daily life and happiness could be helped with treatment from an experienced mental health professional.

• Persistent worry about everyday things
• Difficulty controlling worries or feelings of nervousness
• Feelings that you worry more than you should
• Difficulty with falling asleep or staying asleep
• Feeling restless and having difficulty relaxing
• Having headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches or unexplained pains
• Finding yourself sweating a lot, feeling short of breath or light-headed
• Feeling irritable, on edge, tense, or nervous
• Complaints of fatigue, tiring out easily, or having low energy
• Worry or anxiety, magnifying small events out of proportion
• Difficulty focusing or concentrating
• Muscle tension to back, neck, shoulders
• Feeling that your anxiety and worry is interfering with your daily life

Treatment for GAD

A psychiatrist specializing in anxiety disorders for a comprehensive evaluation is the first step in developing an accurate treatment plan. Medical issues or other mental health issues may make a GAD difficult to diagnose. GAD is often treated with medication, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and other strategies that your psychiatrist recommends.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Doctor

GAD is mentally and physically exhausting. Break free from the chronic worry, calm your anxious mind, and get back to living. Call the office today.

The American Psychological Association reports the results of a study in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology that shows sex differences in mental illness. Women more likely to receive a diagnosis of anxiety or depression, while men display higher incidences of substance abuse or antisocial disorders. In addition, women are more likely to have been treated for a mental health problem than men, at 29% and 17% respectively.

Sex Differences in Expression of Emotions

Diagnosis and percentages of many mental health disorders are affected by the gender differences of internalizing or externalizing emotions. Study on sex differences found that women with anxiety disorders typically internalized their emotions, resulting in withdrawal, loneliness, and depression. Men were found more likely to externalize emotions, leading to aggressive, impulsive, and non-compliant behaviors.

Sex Differences of Four Common Mental Illness Types

Looking at four common mental health disorders, gender differences are easily identified:

• Depression – One in four women require treatment at some point in their lives compared to one in 10 men.
• Anxiety – Women are 2x as likely as men to experience an anxiety disorder. Approximately 60% of those diagnosed with phobias or obsessive compulsive disorder are women.
• Eating Disorders – This type of disorder is more common in women than men; 1.9% of women, compared to 0.2% of men may experience anorexia in any given year. Up to 1% of women report bulimia during the course of a year.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – More women than men are affected by PTSD. The risk for the development of PTSD after a traumatic event is 20.4% for women and 8.1% for men.

Social Factors Related to Gender Differences

Looking at gender or sex differences, there is also a sex-based difference in the perception of distress and patterns of seeking help. Women tend to report a greater number of physical and psychological issues and are more likely to seek help than men. Women, possibly due to seeking help quicker and more often, are prescribed psychotropic medications more often than men.

Society affects perceptions of acceptable behaviors with men often criticized for expressing feelings of worry or weakness, or intolerance for women expressing anger or antisocial behavior.

Psychiatric Treatment Sensitive to Gender Differences

Call Dr. Hege for a confidential appointment to discuss any mental health concerns that are impacting your daily life and relationships. While we may have differences in how we react or respond to life challenges and stress, a comprehensive and accurate evaluation with development of a successful treatment plan is just a phone call away.

With the end of summer and start of fall, thousands of parents across the country find themselves sending one or more children off to college. The lifestyle change that often occurs abruptly during this period of time is typically referred to as the empty nest syndrome where a parent faces dealing with middle age, loss, loneliness, sadness, fear, and depression. While seeing a child off to begin a new chapter in their lives is a joyful time with reason to celebrate, the changes and emotions can also interfere with a parent’s ability to function at work or home to such a degree that professional help is required.

Empty Nest Syndrome

Being impacted by the empty nest syndrome is normal and can be felt from when the first child leaves home to when the last child moves off to college or to start a new life elsewhere. College, employment, marriage, or military service are but a few reasons that a child may leave their family home. A change in the household status may bring a multitude of feelings and fears to the surface. It is normal to experience strong emotions during this time of change. It is not normal to let those feelings interfere with your daily life.

Empty Nest Symptoms That Require Help

The following more severe symptoms have been known to occur with empty nest syndrome and do indicate a need to seek mental health services as soon as possible. These emotions and feelings require professional treatment as they are impacting one’s ability to function with daily life tasks and in their social and more intimate relationships. If you or a loved one recognize any of the listed symptoms it is important to make the call for psychological help.

• Feeling your life is no longer useful
• Feeling there is nothing left to live for
• Feeling like there is no joy left in your life
• Feeling you have lost your sense of identity
• Excessive crying and weepiness
• Avoiding friends at work or in social situations
• Calling in at work to the extent it affects the job performance
• Turning to drugs and or alcohol to help deal with the situation
• Worry and anxiety about child’s safety that brings paralyzing fear
• Finding mood affects your appetite or ability to eat
• Poor sleep patterns or insomnia related to worry or fears
• Thoughts of suicide or of harming yourself

Empty Nest Syndrome Treatment

Treatment is available and can help you return to a functional life at home, work and in social situations. Change the sadness and fear into joy and excitement – call Dr. Hege, an expert in successfully treating those with empty nest syndrome for a confidential appointment today.

Parenting can often be stressful and for those with an anxiety disorder it can be even more difficult to deal with anxiety-causing situations in a calm and rational manner. With evidence showing children can learn anxious behavior from their parents it is important for parents to learn and model coping strategies instead of “passing on” learned anxiety.

Learned Anxiety and Risk Factors

Stress and anxiety is having an unprecedented impact not only on adult mental, emotional and physical health, parental anxiety is also affecting the children. With children often looking to their parents reactions to different situations and events, a consistently anxious parent may pass on those emotions and feelings to their child. The development of anxious behavior in children may be a combination of genetic risk factors and learned behaviors.

Mirror Neurons Reflect Back Anxiety

In humans, part of our brain is equipped with the ability to recognize and understand the emotions that others express around us. The term “mirror neurons” refers to this ability to reflect back the emotions we see and is the reason that for example an infant will smile back at us when we smile at them. Mirror neurons however respond to all kinds of expressed emotion, including, anxious behaviors. Stressful parenting is often contagious – when your own anxiety neurons are firing, your child’s anxiety neurons are firing too.

Strategies of Change

Working with a mental health professional experienced in the successful treatment of parenting with an anxiety disorder can help you effectively manage your own issues which in turn will help your children manage their own learned anxiety and stress. Passing your anxiety disorder onto your children is not inevitable. Management of your anxiety disorder will help your children learn how to effectively cope with situations of uncertainty, doubt, or anxiety.

Find a Doctor to Help Manage Anxiety

End your struggle with anxiety, stress, and finding daily life difficult to find calm and peace. Call Dr. Hege for a confidential appointment. Convenient weeknight and weekend appointments are available.

Many people may think they have anxiety because they suffer from social anxiety, or they have difficulty making quick decisions or any decision at all. Or some may feel as though they seem to be functioning in “survival mode” in order to just get through the day. While it may be determined that they do have anxiety, in some instances, they may actually be suffering from PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as one or more co-occurring disorders.

PTSD Statistics

It has been estimated that almost 8% of Americans will suffer from PTSD symptoms at some point during their life. Women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD, with the numbers 10.4% and 5% respectively. Approximately 3.6%, or 5.2 million adults in the U.S. have PTSD during the course of a given year.

PTSD Symptoms

Three different kinds of symptoms are experienced with PTSD:

• First set of symptoms involve reliving the trauma in some way
• Second set of symptoms occur when you purposefully stay away from places or people that remind you of the trauma; you become isolated from other people or feel numb
• The third set of symptoms include feeling irritable, startling easily, or feeling on guard

Examples of PTSD Symptoms

While there are numerous symptoms reported with PTSD, following are some of the more commonly reported issues:

• Loss of confidence in trusting your own instincts
• Social anxiety
• Difficulty at times separating reality from imagination
• Waking up frequently at night; having a “fitful” sleep
• Finding yourself flip-flopping on making a decision
• Difficulty with short term memory retention
• Finding it difficult to focus on a task, conversation, idea; difficulty with following through to the end of a thought process
• Physical or mental lethargy
• Feeling hopelessness, despair, or depression
• Becoming exhausted after even small tasks; simple things become “just too hard to do”
• Making poor life choices where you feel shame instead of making choices to change the situation to the positive
• Confusion as to why you feel in a “fog” or feel “shell-shocked” by life in general
• Exhibiting addictive behaviors as a means of escape

Co-Occurring Conditions with PTSD

Those that suffer from PTSD are also commonly diagnosed with other disorders such as depression, substance abuse, anxiety, difficulties with memory or cognition, as well as other problems with mental health or physiological changes.  The disorder itself is associated with impairment of the ability to function in social or family life – it is common to see problems with relationships, family discord, difficulties in parenting, and job instability.

For men, more than half with PTSD also have problems with alcohol; the most common co-occurring issues for men in order are depression, conduct disorder, and substance abuse.

For women, just under half of those with PTSD experience depression; the next most common co-occurring mental health issues are specific fears, anxiety, problems related to alcohol.

PTSD Psychiatric Care

PTSD is not just a “veteran’s ailment.” PTSD can occur across every socio-economic status and life stage. Call Dr. Hege for a confidential appointment at one of his convenient weekend and weeknight office hours for a comprehensive evaluation that addresses your primary and co-occurring issues.

Reporting a sexual side effect while using psychiatric medications is a common complaint for both men and women. The severity of sexual side effects vary widely depending on the person, how they react to their medication, the specific medication prescribed, the dosage taken, and any co-existing medical disorders such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Sexual Side Effects

Psychiatric medication may effect sexual function in a number of ways. The severity of sexual side effects may be minor, may ease up as your body adjusts or become a continuing issue that impacts life enjoyment. Sexual side effects include:

• Erectile problems
• Orgasm difficulties
• Problems with arousal and satisfaction
• A change in the desire for sex

Statistics of Sexual Dysfunction

Most of the research available on impaired sexual function and psychiatric medication focus primarily on depression and antidepressants. Sexual dysfunction however is also a concern for those diagnosed with anxiety disorders, mood disorders, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia to name a few. While 35% to 50% of those with untreated major depression report some type of sexual issue, those taking SSRIs (anti-depressant medication) report 30% to 40% delayed orgasm, 20% report decreased libido, and 10% of men complain of erectile function.

Impact of Psychiatric Medications on Sexual Function

The following classes of medication listed indicate some common drugs within each class that have more reported sexual side effects versus those with fewer reported sexual side effects:

Antidepressants:

• More reported side effects: Celexa (citalopram), Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (paroxetine), Zoloft (sertraline)
• Fewer reported sexual side effects: Wellbutrin, Aplenzin, Forfivo XL (bupropion), Cymbalta (duloxetine), Remeron (mirtazapine), Viibryd (vilazodone)

Antipsychotics:

• Increased side effects: Cozaril (clozapine), Risperdal (risperidone)
• Fewer reported effects: Abilify (aripiprazole), Zyprexa (olanzapine), Seroquel (quetiapine)

Sedatives:

• Increased sexual side effects: Valium (diazepam), Mellaril (thioridazine)
• Less reported effects: BuSpar (buspirone)

Reduce Psychiatric Sexual Side Effects

The solution is not to stop the medication you need for your mental health issues but rather to work with your psychiatrist to find an effective medication or combination of medications that work for you and reduce any sexual dysfunction that you have been experiencing.

Call Dr. Hege for a confidential appointment – there are many avenues of treatment available to help you live a full and satisfying life. Let Dr. Hege help.

Symptoms experienced during an anxiety or panic attack are the results of one’s mind: a “flight or fight” response which produces numerous physiological changes within the body. These “flight or fight” symptoms are not a sign of illness but of the body trying to prepare for a perceived or anticipated threat.

Help for Panic Episodes

Having a panic attack may be one of the worst situations to find yourself in. Even though most panic attacks peak at 10 minutes and end within 20-30 minutes, that time may feel like the “hours” will never end. Mental health professionals experienced in the treatment of anxiety and panic attacks can help end the moments of excruciating fear.

Panic Attack Common Symptoms

While the symptoms experienced during an anxiety or panic attack make for a very long list, varying between each person in severity and occurrence, the following list details some of the most common ones reported.

• Shortness of breath, feeling smothered –may be most distressing symptom experienced
• Heart palpitations, racing or slowed heart beat – due to release of stress hormones
• Chest pain
• Globus Hystericus: Difficulty swallowing; “lump” or pressure in throat
• Shaking (internal or external) or shivering
• Dry mouth
• GI upset (indigestion, heartburn, diarrhea)
• Insomnia, sleep disturbances
• Feeling “electric shock or jolt” is common and often radiates from the chest
• Numbness to face or head, pain to neck and shoulders – muscle tightness restricts blood vessels and nerves which cause numbness, pain and unusual sensations to head/face
• Increased sensitivity to sound, smell, light and touch
• Headaches and “tight band” feeling around head
• Agoraphobia (safety seeking behavior)
• Fear of losing control is high on the list during a panic attack
• Tingling in hands or feet a normal expected symptom
• Derealization and depersonalization can occur with even low level anxiety
• Aggression and fear closely related – a panic attack may lead to aggressive outbursts

While this is a fairly extensive list of panic attack and anxiety attack symptoms, the list grows with individual reported experiences and symptoms. With a history of chronic panic attacks the severity of symptoms may also progress to depression or thoughts of suicide. You do not have to face this alone – work with a psychiatrist to help end the fear and panic.

Panic Attack Psychiatrist

Experienced consultation and treatment is available locally. Stop your anxiety and panic attacks – Call the office for a confidential appointment at a time convenient for you.