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About the Adult Disorders Treated at CUCARD

  • Every time I’m in a crowded place, my heart starts racing - I can’t breathe, I can’t stop sweating, and I feel like I’m about to pass out. Am I going crazy?

  • I feel tense almost all of the time and I have difficulty sleeping.

  • All day, I can’t stop thinking to myself “What if I embarrass or humiliate myself?” It really keeps me from putting myself out there.

  • Whenever I’m in a meeting, I can’t stop thinking “What if I need to escape or get help and I can’t get out of the room fast enough?”

  • I can’t seem to stop worrying about finances, my health, the kids and my marriage, even when things are fine in these areas

  • I’m scared to fly, and consequently I haven’t been able to visit my grandchildren and be as much a part of their lives as I had always hoped

Everyone worries from time to time. In fact, anxiety is a normal part of the human experience, serving an adaptive function in many areas of our lives. But for some, anxiety becomes so persistent and interfering that it overwhelms one’s life, profoundly compromising family functioning, personal relationships, educational attainment, job performance, and overall life satisfaction. When anxiety and associated avoidance are so disruptive that they cause significant life interference, a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder is given and clinical attention is warranted.

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental health problems in the United States, collectively affecting roughly 40 million Americans. These disorders typically onset in childhood or young adulthood—although many cases first present in adulthood—and when left untreated these disorders typically persist into chronic conditions associated with considerably reduced quality of life.

Anxiety disorders are treatable, yet regrettably only one-third of afflicted individuals actually receive treatment. And, for those who do receive psychotherapy, they often are not receiving Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In rigorous clinical research, CBT has been found effective in treating the range of anxiety disorders in adults.

The Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CUCARD) provides evidence-based treatments for all of the anxiety disorders, including: