Anxiety and depression are mental health conditions that affect how you feel and behave.
Anxiety causes feelings of fear, nervousness, and worry. It’s normal to temporarily feel anxiety before a big test or a job interview.
However, if you’re anxious all the time or excessively worried about everyday things, then you may have an anxiety disorder. With an anxiety disorder, your persistent and excessive fear or worry may affect your relationships or your ability to work or go to school.
Clinical depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a serious mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. These feelings affect how you think and interact with others.
There are many types of anxiety disorders. The most common include:
With GAD, you experience severe anxiety and worry almost daily for six or more months about things such as your health, finances, or relationships.
A phobia is an intense fear about a specific object or situation that’s out of proportion to the actual danger. Fear of heights and flying are types of phobias.
People with a panic disorder experience frequent, unexpected panic attacks. These are episodes characterized by paralyzing fear that last several minutes, causing physical symptoms like shortness of breath and heart palpitations.
Clinical depression is the most common type of depression. However, there are other types of depression that occur under specific situations, including:
Persistent depressive disorder causes a low mood that lasts two or more years.
Postpartum depression occurs during pregnancy or after delivery and affects a woman’s ability to take care of herself and her baby.
SAD occurs during the winter months when there’s less natural sunlight.
Dr. Pandya takes a patient-centered approach to care. Treatment for anxiety and depression depends on the severity of symptoms and your medical and mental health history.
Your treatment plan may include psychotherapy, medication, or both. Dr. Pandya and the team at Floral Park Medical, P.C., and Cross Island Medical work closely with you to provide the care and any referrals you need to ease your anxiety or depression symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Your primary care provider serves as your first point of contact when struggling with a health problem like anxiety or depression. For compassionate care from an experienced team, call our offices or schedule an appointment online today.