Understanding anxiety
Anxiety can be a normal response to uncertainty or stress. An anxiety disorder involves fear or worry that becomes persistent, difficult to manage, or disruptive. It is not simply a matter of being too sensitive. Generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, and specific phobias can have different patterns, so understanding your particular experience matters.
What daily life can feel like
You might spend hours anticipating what could go wrong, replay conversations, or find it hard to settle at bedtime. Some people feel anxiety most strongly in their bodies, with tension, restlessness, sweating, or a racing heart. Others avoid situations where they fear judgment or feel unsafe. Panic can arrive as a sudden surge of intense fear. These are examples, not a checklist that establishes a diagnosis.
How anxiety can affect your life
Preparing for everyday tasks may take more energy than other people realize. Avoidance can narrow social opportunities or make school and work harder to navigate. Sleep and concentration may suffer, while relationships can become strained by misunderstandings about what you are experiencing. You may still meet your responsibilities while carrying substantial distress privately. The effect on your life matters, even when your difficulties are not obvious to others.
How assessment and care can help
An evaluation considers when symptoms began, where they occur, how they affect functioning, and what you have already tried. Medical conditions, medications, sleep difficulties, and substance use can sometimes contribute to anxiety-like symptoms. Evidence-based care may involve psychotherapy, medication, or both. Treatment choices depend on the type of anxiety, your health history, preferences, and response over time. A referral may be appropriate when specialized therapy or a different level of support is needed.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is one established option that helps people identify unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and develop skills for responding to anxiety. These therapy options are educational; we can discuss whether a referral is appropriate.
Exploring care at Mountain States Psychiatry
Our proposed Colorado practice serves adults and adolescents ages 12 and older. Psychiatric assessment and individualized medication-management planning begin with your concerns and goals, not an assumption that every person needs medication. You are welcome to bring questions about prior experiences with treatment and what you hope could be different. See New Patients for the proposed appointment process and Insurance and Billing for confirmed self-pay fees. This preview does not accept appointment requests, and this page cannot diagnose a condition. There is space to discuss uncertainty before choosing a next step.
Assessment & additional information
Comprehensive assessment and clinical tools
A comprehensive psychiatric evaluation starts with your story, not a questionnaire score. We review symptoms, daily functioning, medical and treatment history, sleep, substance use, safety, and possible overlapping conditions. An assessment also considers the timing and context of symptoms, strengths, supports, and what you want treatment to address.
Age-appropriate screening and symptom-rating tools can help clarify concerns and track progress, but they do not replace clinical diagnosis. A positive screen is not a diagnosis, and a low score does not necessarily rule out a concern. Tools are selected according to the person, clinical question, age range, and applicable licensing requirements.
Examples for clinician selection include PHQ-9 for depression and GAD-7 for anxiety, with developmentally appropriate alternatives when needed. Adult ADHD assessment may use an ASRS; adolescent assessment may draw on youth, parent, and teacher ratings. OCD severity may be tracked with Y-BOCS or CY-BOCS, rather than treating either as a stand-alone diagnostic screen.
For trauma symptoms, the adult PCL-5 or an age-validated youth measure may help assessment and monitoring. Adult alcohol or drug screening may use AUDIT-C or DAST-10; CRAFFT is designed for ages 12 through 21. Bipolar assessment emphasizes the history of mood episodes, sleep, energy, functioning, and changes over time, rather than relying on a screening score.
These are examples under clinical review, not a committed testing battery or a promise that every patient will receive every measure. No instrument questions are reproduced here. Any direct testing, consent, records review, and caregiver involvement will be selected and explained as appropriate.
Supporting resources
Further reading
Educational resources reviewed October 27, 2026. This information is not a diagnosis or an individualized treatment recommendation.
Planning your next step
New Patients · Insurance & Billing
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