Types of Anxiety

Generalized Anxiety Disorder involves chronic, excessive worry about multiple areas of life, like, work, school, health, family, that is difficult to control. Physical symptoms often accompany the worry, including muscle tension, restlessness, sleep disruption, and difficulty concentrating. Outpatient treatment for GAD typically combines CBT, skills training, and medication management when appropriate; IOP for anxiety provides a more intensive, structured option when weekly therapy isn’t enough.

• Persistent, hard‑to‑control worry most days for six months or more
• Physical symptoms: tension, fatigue, sleep problems, irritability
• Treatment focus: reshaping thought patterns, behavioral experiments, routine building

Panic Disorder is marked by recurring, unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden waves of intense fear with physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, or a sense of losing control. People often develop anxiety about having future attacks and may avoid places where attacks occurred.

•  Discrete, intense panic episodes with strong physical symptoms
• Worry about additional attacks and avoidance behavior
• Treatment focus: exposure to bodily sensations, CBT for panic, and coping strategies; outpatient IOP can accelerate progress for frequent or disabling panic.

Social Anxiety Disorder involves intense fear of social situations where one might be judged, embarrassed, or scrutinized. The fear leads to avoidance or enduring situations with extreme distress. Symptoms can show up around public speaking, dating, work meetings, or everyday social interactions.

• Fear of negative evaluation in social or performance situations
• Avoidance of social activities or severe distress when unavoidable
• Treatment focus: exposure‑based work, social skills training, cognitive restructuring; effective in outpatient settings and within IOP groups.

PTSD arises after exposure to a traumatic event and includes intrusive memories or nightmares, strong distress to reminders, avoidance, hypervigilance, and emotional numbing.

Complex trauma or repeated interpersonal trauma can produce more pervasive symptoms that require phased, careful treatment. Outpatient PTSD treatment in NJ at Blue Star emphasizes stabilization, skills, and evidence‑based trauma processing when ready.

•  Intrusive recollections, flashbacks, or nightmares tied to trauma
• Avoidance of reminders, heightened startle, sleep or concentration problems
• Treatment focus: safety and stabilization, CBT for trauma, prolonged exposure or trauma‑focused CBT, EMDR when appropriate; outpatient and IOP tracks offer consistent, intensive treatment without inpatient stays.

Specific Phobias are intense, focused fears of particular objects or situations. They include things like, a fear of heights, animals, injections, or flying. Specific phobias lead to avoidance and intense worry that can disrupt everyday life. Fortunately, these phobias are highly treatable with targeted exposure therapies we can provide in outpatient mental health treatment here at Blue Start

• Immediate fear or panic in presence of the phobic stimulus
• Avoidance that disrupts daily life or activities
• Treatment focus: graduated exposure, often brief and highly effective in outpatient care.

OCD involves intrusive, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) performed to reduce distress. While OCD is distinct from other anxiety disorders, it shares the cycle of fear and avoidance and responds well to specialized outpatient treatments.

• Persistent intrusive thoughts and time‑consuming rituals
• Distress and impairment in work or relationships
• Treatment focus: ERP (exposure and response prevention), CBT, and medication coordination in outpatient clinics or IOP settings.