Counseling Services

These disorders fill people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event such as a business presentation or a first date, anxiety disorders are chronic, relentless, and can grow progressively worse if not treated. There are several different types of anxiety disorders.

Panic Disorder: Repeated episodes of intense fear that occur often and without warning. Physical symptoms include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, fear of death and dizziness. Many people with Panic Disorder develop intense anxiety between episodes, fearing the next panic attack.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Recurrent and unwanted thoughts and rituals which the person feels they cannot control. Rituals include excessive hand washing, counting, checking, and cleaning.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Persistent symptoms occurring after a traumatic experience or witnessing a terrifying event such as rape, war, child abuse, national disasters, etc. Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, a numb feeling, depression, difficulty sleeping, feeling of anger or irritability and being easily startled.

Phobias: Two of the major types of phobias are social phobia and specific phobia. Social phobia is experienced by an overwhelming and disabling fear of embarrassment or humiliation in social situations, which leads to an avoidance of many potentially pleasurable and meaningful activities. Specific phobia is an extreme, disabling and irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. This extreme fear leads to an avoidance of objects and situations and can lead to unnecessary limits in one's life.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Marked by persistent, excessive or unrealistic worry that occurs every day or possibly all day. The anxiety seems impossible to relieve and includes physical symptoms such as fatigue, trembling, muscle tension, headache or nausea.

If you are suffering from any of these problems, or know of someone who is, we are here for you. Undergraduate students should come in or call Counseling Services at (740) 826-8142 or (740) 826-8091 to schedule an appointment to sit down and talk about your concerns.You can also set up an appointment by emailing us at counseling@muskingum.edu. Graduate students should schedule an appointment with UWill Mental Health and Wellness Services (Teletherapy) to talk about your concerns.