Dr. Michael de Jong, Registered Psychologist
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Anxiety & PTSD
Anxiety
During the first session, Dr. de Jong will get an idea about where you want to go with your life, the types of things you've tried using to fix the problem and where you're at right now. After the initial meeting, he may be giving you things to do on your own between sessions, like listening to CD's, 'thinking about what you're thinking about' or perhaps recording what you've experienced during your day. Sometimes just a few sessions are all that is needed to clarify the issues that have been holding you back or keeping you stuck. A big part of making progress in therapy, however, is having a good client/therapist relationship, so he encourages you to call him so you can discuss your situation before meeting.
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and a very useful one. It helps us deal with a tense situation in the office, helps us study harder for an exam or keep focused on an important speech. In general, it helps us cope. However, when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it has become a disabling disorder.
In any given year about 18% of the population suffer from an anxiety disorder, filling them with fear and dread. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety associated with giving a presentation or writing an exam, anxiety disorders can last many months or sometimes years. Fortunately, there are a variety of very effective Psychological Treatments for the anxiety disorders.
There are five major types of anxiety disorders
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Social Phobia (or Social Anxiety Disorder)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is one of the five major types of anxiety and one that has been receiving a lot of attention over the last decade. It develops after an ordeal that involves physical harm or the threat of physical harm. The person who develops PTSD may be the one who was actually harmed or was a witness of a harmful event. It can result from a variety of incidents, such as a motor vehicle accidents, mugging, child sexual abuse or a natural catastrophe, such as an earthquake.
Some of the symptoms of PTSD include:
- Emotional numbness.
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities.
- Irritable, possibly aggressive or violent.
- Avoidance of situations similar to the original incident.
- Flashbacks or re-experiencing of the traumatic incident.
- Intrusive recollections of the incident.
Dr. Mike de Jong, (604) 999 - 5809 or email
