The Biological Basis of Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural part of our human experience, and not everyone needs “anxiety therapy” like that we provide in our Delray Beach psychotherapy practice. Our brains have evolved over thousands of years to watch our environments carefully, scanning for danger or uncertainty in people and situations. This continuous vigilant watching has served to protect us and ensure our survival from a long-ago time when dinosaurs roamed the earth with us and threatened our destruction.

With modern enhancements in brain scanning techniques, research has shown that different areas of the brain are responsible for this “vigilance”, especially a tiny, almond-shaped piece of our brain structure called the “amygdala”. It serves several functions, chief among them is emotional processing, or the ability to detect and react to emotionally important things, especially danger. It helps us “sense” when something is threatening, even before thinking about it. This is central to our reaction pattern known as “fight, flight, or freeze”, and promotes the production of hormones that prepare us for survival under threat.

The amygdala works closely with another brain structure called the hippocampus to store emotional memories (like anger, grief, or fear) and tag them as important. It also helps with the interpretation of facial cues, particularly fear or anger, which is part of how we read social situations as safe/unsafe. Our amygdala may become hyperactive for several reasons, including adverse childhood experiences still locked in memory, causing heightened anxiety or exaggerated fear responses. This ever-present vigilance or fearfulness riding along just below our conscious awareness is usually what brings clients to anxiety therapy in Delray Beach.

What are the Different Forms of Anxiety?

Sometimes, excessive anxiety can feel automatic and hard to control. It’s as if the body has an “emotional thermostat” that is set on high, causing all kinds of uncomfortable feelings and behaviors.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized anxiety disorder is the most common diagnosis for excessive and uncomfortable fears. Ones that are often hard to consciously identify and manage. GAD feels like your mind won’t stop going over every little thing. Thoughts keep spinning, especially when you try to relax. The body stays tension-filled, like you can’t fully unwind. And, of course, sleep is difficult because your brain is still “on.” Even when nothing is wrong, it can feel like something bad is around the corner. Each moment is attended by a lingering fear that everything is not ok.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

Social anxiety disorder is quite commonly seen in our Delray Beach anxiety therapy practice. Experiencing mild symptoms, young adults and college students come frequently to our offices, having found dating, small talk, and socializing awkward. Many have begun to use alcohol and cannabis, or “micro-dosing” on psilocybin, to take the edge off. For reasons we’ll explore later, using substances to mediate psychological problems without medical oversight is a slippery slope.

More serious cases of social anxiety can develop if left unexamined. Fear of others in social settings can turn into a severely debilitating condition. Referred to in its most egregious expression as agoraphobia, it’s literally translated from the Greek word for fear of public spaces (agora), a “fear of the marketplace”. A person drifting into agoraphobia will often conceal this embarrassing predicament. Touting a commonly used excuse that “dating is hard” or “friends are hard to meet”. While these things are true to some degree for all of us, for the agoraphobic, they become reasons to become anchored to staying home, ordering in, and avoiding calls and contact with the outside world. Someone with this condition will often turn to hoarding for sources of comfort. Endlessly ordering goods online and filling their space with items. For the agoraphobic, it’s safer to be surrounded by things, rather than people.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is another condition practitioners often associate with anxiety. A panic attack comes on suddenly and is a complex of sensations, all of them extreme. It can feel like the body quickly goes into high alert in emergency mode. The heart races to high levels, and it can feel like you can’t catch your breath. Tension around the chest and abdomen is common and might include symptoms of shaking or feeling dizzy. Eyes dilate, and breathing can become quickened and labored.

Fear literally takes over one’s body, and it can feel like you’re about to pass out or lose control. Some people think they’re dying. Panic attacks can become habitual over time and more difficult to control. After a few attacks, it’s common to start worrying about the next one. Worrying about how to prevent it, and then worrying about this worry. It’s as if the amygdala has fired off a false alarm, flooding the body with adrenaline. Even when there’s no danger, the body stays on high alert.

Phobias

Phobias occur when the fear of something is far worse than the actual danger calls for. It causes someone to avoid the perceived triggering circumstances or stimuli. Fear of flying, elevators, escalators, tall buildings, snakes, lizards, and dogs are all examples of phobic reactions. They can have life-altering consequences if left unexamined and untreated.

Separation phobia, normal for infants and toddlers, is problematic for a number of reasons, especially when left untreated into adulthood. It can feel like you’re not okay when a special person isn’t close by. You worry that something bad could happen to them or to you if you’re apart. Even short separations can cause panic and even make one emotional or physically sick. You may feel a strong need to call or check in excessively. In adults, it often looks like needing a lot of reassurance, feeling very anxious when a partner goes away, or avoiding situations where you’d have to be apart.

Can Mild Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Cause Anxiety?

Often overlooked anxieties are the milder forms of PTSD. They occur when something threatening happens that overwhelms our capacity to cope. It can leave behind negative impressions, resulting in intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and other symptoms. Here’s a recent example of someone I was working with in my anxiety therapy practice.

Abby: A Client Vignette

Abby called during one of my conference trips, and I couldn’t set up a meeting with her for several more days. She’d been a regular patient for some time, dropping in occasionally for a “tune up’ or to work out some issue she couldn’t get around. Clearly uncomfortable, she asked for my first available appointment. We met at 8 AM on a Wednesday the following week. I could see by her first glance that she was shaken. In minutes, she was in tears before me.

She reported striking a female pedestrian by accident with her car, turning through a difficult multi-lane intersection. It was only a “bump,” she said, but the woman fell into the street briefly before scrambling to her feet and screaming loudly and hysterically at Abby when she rolled her window down. In a mixture of fear and anger, Abby drove away from the scene without talking to anyone or waiting for law enforcement.

They were waiting for her at her home when she drove in. They immediately arrested her and took her to jail, where she spent an uncomfortable night and part of the next day. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, causing bodily harm, and failure to render aid.
“I can’t sleep, nor eat”, she said. “I keep replaying the incident in my mind. I’ll be sitting and working when thoughts of the accident intrude, and I can’t shake it or make it stop. I’ve had crying spells throughout the day, and I feel I’m not in control of myself”.

Trauma Can Impact Anyone

Abby was one of the most generous people I’d known. She and her husband were wealthy donors to many local charities, and Abby had served for years as a guardian ad litem for the Department of Children and Family Services. She worked hard as CEO of their construction firm, but when she could, she volunteered her time helping many less fortunate. Abby saw and believed herself just and ethical, and it was beyond her comprehension to have acted so poorly in the stress of the accident. She described that it felt as if she were “falling from grace” by doing so, and as she described this, she wept profoundly.

Our Shadow Selves

Carl Jung used the term shadow to describe the parts of ourselves we don’t want to see — traits, impulses, emotions, and memories we push away because they feel unacceptable, embarrassing, or threatening to our self-image. We all have a “shadow” side, but most of us would pretend it doesn’t exist and ignore its hallmarks, like overreacting to small things and reacting with more intensity than the moment calls for. Hypersensitivity, such as somehow disliking someone instantly without really knowing why, as if something about them touches a nerve you didn’t know you had. We can blame others for qualities or behaviors we can’t see in ourselves—projecting our own discomfort onto people around us. Self-sabotage is often associated with “shadows”, getting in our own way without understanding the deeper reason. And at other times, it can break through as sudden emotional outbursts that come out of nowhere.

A Path to Recovery

Abby couldn’t understand or accept her inhumane treatment of the woman she hit. It was like a darkness descended on her during and long after the event. This was very traumatic. Abby was close to panic when she saw me for the first time. Her anxiety was very intense.

She was able to reduce her symptoms quickly in our first session. We practiced deep, mindful breathing to help her stay in the present moment. With cognitive behavioral techniques, we explored her beliefs about herself and how she’d allowed the trauma to distort her self-image. We worked with grounding techniques to help her stay present when the “sticky” thoughts began to intrude. During a follow-up session, Abby reported great relief. She’d been working with an attorney and was developing plans for restitution to the victim, all of which aligned with her core beliefs in her own goodness.

What Are the Warning Signs of Anxiety?

Warning signs of anxiety often show up in your body, your thoughts, and the way you react to everyday situations. You might notice a constant tension, like your body is bracing for something, even when nothing is wrong. Your mind may get stuck in loops—worrying and imagining worst-case scenarios or feeling unable to “turn off” your thoughts. Sleep can get lighter or deeper, and you may be restless or easily startled.

Anxiety is very physical: a tightening chest, a racing heartbeat, stomach discomfort, shaky hands, or fear that you can’t take a full breath. Emotionally, you might feel irritable, overwhelmed, or on the verge of panic without being able to explain why. Sometimes it makes you avoid things—situations, people, or responsibilities—because they feel too stressful or draining.

In general, anxiety feels like your mind and body are stuck in “alert mode,” even when there’s no real danger.

How Can You Discover What Your Triggers Are?

Discovering your triggers starts by paying mindful attention to the moments when your anxiety suddenly shifts and seems larger or more intense. As a seasoned anxiety therapist in Delray Beach, I recognize that analysis in the moment is tricky. We learn best after calming down and reviewing behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Better to try and remember what was happening before the feeling hit. Maybe it was a casual remark, or someone’s tone of voice. Certain types of situations can regularly bring on anxiety. Sometimes a physical sensation like being tired or hungry can cause the wheel of anxiety to spin.

Mindfulness practice can help us slow things down afterward and replay the scene in our mind. Ask yourself: What was going on? What was I reacting to? What did this moment remind me of? Often, a trigger is less about the event itself and more about what it represents—feeling judged, losing control, being ignored, being trapped, disappointing someone, or risking conflict. Almost always, it’s possible to trace these present experiences back to memories of the past. When we do this skillfully, we learn that other, more desirable reactions are possible.

Keeping a written log or journal can help. A notepad can allow us to jot down where we were, who we were with, what we were thinking, and what emotions were present. Patterns can emerge quickly, allowing us to notice connections we’d missed. Sometimes, for example, certain conversations may make you tense, or crowds, uncertainty, or particular people set something off inside you.

It’s helpful to approach with gentle curiosity rather than judgment. It’s not about catching yourself doing something wrong—you’re trying to “decode” your nervous system’s automatic reactions and change them. With patience, triggers can become clearer, less mysterious, and less threatening.

How Does Anxiety Affect A Person’s Life?

Anxiety is a common human experience, and we are all afraid to some extent of the uncomfortable experience of feeling fear. When it becomes excessive, it can cause difficulty in many aspects of our lives, especially family and romantic relationships. Anxiety is like being “on guard” at times when it is unnecessary and can get in the way. We are fearful of being ourselves and of revealing our vulnerabilities to others, and so we remain aloof or unnaturally quiet. Here’s a good example:

James and Carli: A Client Vignette

James came with Carli to my practice for couples counseling. After their first child was born, they struggled to get along, fighting over the smallest of household chores and gradually drifting away from each other and drinking more often. James reported that it had been impossible to understand Carli, and her reactions seemed excessively harsh and unfair. This would cause him to grow stern and “put up the wall” in self-defense. His anxiety would go through the roof.

James had grown up with a proudly stoic father who had taught him never to talk about his feelings. And this is how he greeted the world, as if “feelings” were an unnecessary and uncomfortable part of human relations. This stance, of course, made him nervous all the time, but blind to Carli’s feelings when she so desperately wanted to feel heard, seen, and validated. Expressing words of feeling is a bridge to another’s experience and can be hugely liberating for a couple wanting intimacy.

Some people, like James, were taught not to do so. James’ default setting was to appear strong, like Dad. He’d grown up as an adult with constant anxiety, one of the chief reasons he’d become a heavy alcohol abuser. Carli had grown up in a family of immigrants and was no stranger to loud expressions of strong emotion. This only served to further exacerbate James’ reactions and the couple’s anxiety as a whole. There was nothing wrong with him. He just needed to learn a new language of feelings.

Medication for Anxiety: Pros and Cons

The amount and intensity of anxiety carried by a person determines any approach to resolve it. Medication can help, but often, it becomes habit-forming. A popular drug is Xanax. For short-term and occasional use, it works. See your doctor for a prescription. But any drug like this can become a crutch, and with a pattern of habitual use, and can often cause anxiety to return worse than before. It can also slow down reaction times, making a person groggy and delayed. Some people report feeling emotionally “flattened,” as if everything is muted. It can interfere with driving, sharp thinking, and problem-solving.

Some younger people come to my Delray Beach anxiety therapy practice after becoming dependent on cannabis for relaxation. They started using it to decrease anxiety, usually social anxiety. Predictably, their bodies have grown accustomed to the drug, requiring greater and stronger doses to achieve the same effect. Adverse effects are numerous, such as slowed reaction times, dulled thinking, and inappropriate emotional responses. But the greatest danger is its tendency to make anxiety stronger and more prevalent.

Natural Solutions—Treating Anxiety Without Medication

In our Delray Beach holistic counseling practice, we turn to various natural remedies for anxiety that people can do at home and/ or through their work with us. Meditation and mindfulness practices can bring quick and dramatic relief from anxiety and panic. They offer far deeper therapeutic insights than are available through “talk therapy” alone. We encourage exercise of all kinds, especially yoga and Pilates. We also integrate these large and expansive experiences into the cognitive behavioral work we do.

Occasionally, we use a variety of forms of hypnosis, especially self-hypnosis. Anxiety is best understood as a condition of excess tension in the body caused by unreasonable fear in the mind. Experiences of light trance and guided imagery can quickly diminish the bodily tension associated with high anxiety. This often leads to much clearer and stronger thinking, along with a deep sense of calm and safety.

Keep Calm and Carry On: Final Thoughts From an Anxiety Therapist in Delray Beach

It’s believed that Winston Churchill first uttered the words “Keep calm and carry on” in a radio broadcast. Subsequently, it became a British government slogan during World War II. It was meant to encourage the English people to stay steady, not panic, and continue with daily life even while facing fear and uncertainty. If you’ve any familiarity with that long, dreadful period of history in which England was under German bombing attack, you can only imagine how difficult it was to remain calm.

Calmness is a learned skill and a powerful antidote to anxiety. It is possible to live peacefully in a world that can often feel terrifying. If you or someone you love is struggling with anxiety that is affecting relationships, it can be empowering to ask for help. Anxiety therapy can create a path to new adult health and bring fresh success to difficult relationships. Therapy can be a wise investment and may take time, but the payoff can be priceless.

I would love to help. Call or text me at 561-213-8030 or email me at jdlmhc@gmail.com for a consultation.

Find Relief and Clarity Through Anxiety Therapy in Delray Beach, FL

Anxiety can quietly shape your daily life, draining your energy, clouding your thinking, and making even simple tasks feel overwhelming. When symptoms go unaddressed, they often intensify, affecting your mood, focus, sleep, and overall well-being. Anxiety therapy offers a structured, compassionate space to understand your triggers. It guides you in reducing emotional overwhelm and developing practical strategies for long-term relief. At my Delray Beach counseling practice, I help clients move from constant worry to greater calm, confidence, and stability.

Here’s how you can begin your path toward emotional balance:

• 1. Explore your symptoms and triggers in a confidential, supportive setting—schedule a consultation to get started.
• 2. Learn evidence-based tools to manage anxiety, reduce tension, and regain control. All with guidance from an experienced anxiety therapist in Delray Beach, FL.
• 3. Start building a life grounded in clarity, resilience, and inner calm as you move beyond the cycle of fear and overwhelm.

Other Therapy Services John Davis Provides in Delray Beach, Florida

Whether anxiety leaves you feeling tense, overwhelmed, or constantly on alert, working with a therapist can help you understand what’s driving those reactions and teach you how to regain control. Through anxiety therapy, many clients begin to feel calmer, more confident, and better equipped to handle everyday stressors. Because anxiety often overlaps with other emotional challenges, I offer a broad range of services to address the full scope of what you may be experiencing.

Beyond anxiety treatment, my Delray Beach counseling practice provides support in areas such as relationship therapy, couples counseling, trauma recovery, addiction treatment, and grief work. I also assist clients navigating ADHD/ADD, chronic impulsivity, narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), and spiritual or existential concerns. Every client receives a customized treatment plan rooted in an integrative therapeutic approach, which may include CBT, EMDR, Gestalt techniques, mindfulness tools, psychodrama, or clinical hypnosis.

My goal is to help you strengthen emotional resilience, build healthier coping patterns, and restore a sense of steadiness to your daily life. To learn more about the services available or to schedule an appointment, feel free to explore my mental health blog or reach out to my office directly.

About the Author

John Davis, LMHC, is a highly experienced anxiety and relationship therapist based in Delray Beach, FL, known for helping individuals, couples, and families navigate the emotional challenges that arise when anxiety takes hold. With a strong foundation in child and family therapy, John understands how anxiety develops across the lifespan—and how it can influence everything from communication and decision-making to self-worth and daily functioning.

John uses a trauma-informed and integrative approach, drawing from evidence-based methods such as EMDR, CBT, Gestalt therapy, mindfulness practices, psychodrama, and clinical hypnosis. His work focuses on helping clients identify root causes of anxiety, interrupt long-standing patterns of fear and avoidance, and build practical coping strategies that restore clarity and calm.

As Executive Director of the Mental Health Counselors’ Association of Palm Beach and recipient of the Outstanding Community Service Award, John is recognized for his leadership and commitment to mental health. He is also featured as an expert therapist on StayMarriedFlorida.com. Through his practice, John continues to support clients in creating steadier, more emotionally grounded lives—one step, one session, and one skill at a time.