Anxiety treatment

People with panic disorder are afraid of losing control of themselves. Frequently occurring panic attack symptoms are heart palpitations, sweating, shaking, nausea or dizziness, leading to thoughts of being about to faint, to die or go mad. Panic attacks often come completely unexpectedly and result in the fear of having another attack, and fear of the fear. Some people avoid situations in which an attack could happen, out of fear of having a panic attack. These can include queuing at the checkout, busy spaces, escalators or being seated in the heart of a theatre – essentially situations where they are afraid they cannot escape if they have a panic attack. If you avoid these or similar situations, you could be suffering from agoraphobia (a fear of public spaces).

Someone with social anxiety disorder experiences fear in social situations where they are afraid of being critically or negatively judged by others. It involves being afraid of showing a particular behaviour (such as blushing, stuttering or shaking), of making a mistake, or of not being liked. People with social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, tend to avoid or escape such situations. People with a fear of failure prefer not to attract attention to themselves because of a lack of self confidence. Fear of failure or far-reaching shyness can often be traced back to social anxiety disorder. If you are avoiding places or situations and this is interfering with your ability to function normally in daily life, you may be suffering from social anxiety disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves the urge to constantly repeat certain actions and thoughts. Obsessions often involve the sufferer having negative thoughts around contamination with disease or dirt, making mistakes with disastrous consequences, having unwanted sexual thoughts, blaspheming or behaving aggressively. These thoughts, impulses or ideas are ignored, suppressed or neutralised with other thoughts or actions (compulsions). Well-known examples of compulsions are the urge to control people and situations, obsessive cleaning (out of fear of contamination) and organising or maintaining symmetry.

Generalized anxiety disorder is accompanied by physical symptoms of stress, such as restlessness and a constant rushed, nervous feeling. Constant concern about all sorts of daily matters is central to the condition. For example, someone suffering from GAD is worried about finances when in reality there are no money problems. Everything can be a cause for worry, whether illness, accidents, death, work, shopping, or holidays.

A hypochondriac has an extreme fear of getting or having a disease. The fear is not real, but is difficult to get rid of. In spite of reassurance by doctors and extensive medical research, someone with hypochondria remains worried and anxious. Like other anxiety disorders, hypochondria can lead to avoidance behaviour or excessive control of the body and the sufferer constantly seeking reassurance from others.

A single phobia is a focused fear of certain things, animals or situations. The fear can be accompanied by intense psychical symptoms and panic. The person in question usually knows well that his fear is not real, but the fear defeats common sense. Common phobias are fear of heights, fear of flying, claustrophobia, fear of the dentist, fear of spiders and fear of mice. A single phobia is almost always accompanied by avoidance behavior, or the situation is endured with great fear.

At U-center we treat many psychological disorders. In particular, we specialize in the treatment of co-occurring disorders (comorbidity). However, our programme is not always suited to everyone’s needs. Read more about our criteria for treatment on our terms & conditions page.

As a friend or family member you often try to be understanding, even though it is difficult to get into that other person's mind. Show that you take the complaints seriously, but pay attention that you do not go too far in the anxious behavior. Contact us for more information.

At U-center you can quickly go for a treatment. Within 1 day we can process your registration and take the first telephone intake. Your spot is usually available within 4 weeks.

In most cases this is the case. However, the exact coverage varies depending on which country you are living in and the terms of your health insurance. For more information please consult our cost and insurance page.

Our international treatment centre is equipped with all the necessary facilities and also provides some extras. For more information please consult our clinic facilities page.