Anxiety and Stress-Related Disorders

A rule of thumb:

If you spend a lot of energy dreading your day, or you feel like you are "acting" as if everything is fine around others, it is a clear sign from your body that you are carrying too heavy a burden alone. There is no shame in asking for help.

You should seek help when mental distress starts affecting your daily life, sleep, or relationships, and you notice you cannot turn the negative trend around on your own. It is a common myth that you need to be "seriously ill" or hit rock bottom before contacting a psychiatrist or psychologist. The truth is that the earlier you address the challenges, the faster and easier it usually is to find your way back to a good everyday life.

Here are some concrete signs that it may be wise to book an assessment appointment:

1. 1

   Decline in functioning: When mental struggles make it challenging to carry out completely ordinary tasks. This may involve struggling to get to work or school, isolating yourself from friends and family, or no longer being able to pursue hobbies and activities you usually enjoy.

1. 2

   Prolonged change in mood, energy, or sleep: Everyone has bad days or tough weeks. But if you experience the following symptoms for more than 2–3 weeks, you should consider seeking help:

   • You feel continuously dejected, empty, or hopeless.
   • You experience paralyzing anxiety, constant worry, or panic attacks.
   • Your sleep pattern is completely disrupted — either you cannot fall asleep, you wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts, or you sleep excessively.
   • Your mood swings so dramatically that it creates conflicts or challenges for you and those around you.

1. 3

   You are experiencing an acute life crisis or overload: Sometimes life events overwhelm our coping ability. This could be a relationship breakup, loss of close family members, serious illness, or prolonged extreme stress at work or in your studies. Talk therapy in such a phase can prevent an acute crisis from developing into a long-term depression or anxiety disorder.

1. 4

   Destructive coping strategies: If you notice you are resorting to unhealthy methods to numb the mental pain — such as developing a strained relationship with food (overeating or starving), or that you are increasingly using alcohol or substances to silence racing thoughts (note that with ongoing, active substance abuse, specialist treatment in TSB is required before private practice therapy).

1. 5

   Concerns about children or adolescents: As a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry, I would also highlight the parental role: If you as a parent experience persistent concern about your child's or adolescent's emotional development, isolation, abnormally high stress levels, or changed behaviour, it is better to seek an early assessment rather than "wait and see" for too long.

Do you feel the time has come to talk to someone? Click here to read about how the first session works↗ or Go directly to the contact form to book an appointment↗.

Which treatment method is best suited for you is something we figure out together during the first conversations. The choice depends on your challenges, your personality, your life situation, and what scientific research shows has the best effect on your difficulties.

As a specialist, I have training in and experience with several different treatment approaches. This allows me to adapt the method to your unique needs, rather than forcing you into one specific framework. I do not rely on a single method for everyone but often combine different treatment approaches to create change and promote the best possible improvement.

Psychoeducation (Knowledge sharing)

I use psychoeducation as an integrated part of treatment for all patients. This is a systematic and educational approach where we teach you and possibly your family about the relevant mental health challenge or diagnosis. Understanding your own condition and your own reaction patterns is often half the battle. The goal is not just to provide dry information but to equip you with knowledge that makes it easier to cope with everyday life.

Medication

As a psychiatrist (physician), I can assess whether medication can be a useful support for you during the treatment process. If medication is relevant, it is almost always used in combination with talk therapy and close medical follow-up.

My private practice is based on planned daytime consultations and lacks the multidisciplinary support system and emergency preparedness found in hospitals. To avoid misdirected referrals and unrealistic expectations, it is important to be transparent about whom I am unable to help in my practice.

Unfortunately, I am unable to accept patients with the following challenges:

• Active, moderate to severe substance use disorders (addiction): These conditions often require multidisciplinary specialised substance abuse treatment (TSB). Note: Patients who have had substance use challenges in the past but are now stable and substance-free and need treatment for underlying mental disorders (e.g. ADHD or affective disorders) are warmly welcome.

• Acute psychoses and unresolved schizophrenic conditions: These conditions require immediate help, close follow-up by ambulatory teams (AAT/FACT) or admission to a closed ward. A private practice does not have the emergency preparedness required for severe loss of reality. However, I can follow up patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders who are already under medical treatment and are in a stable phase.

• Acute crises, serious suicidal thoughts, or pronounced self-harm impulses: This requires round-the-clock follow-up and a closer safety net around the patient. These patients belong in public acute psychiatry. In case of acute suicidal danger, the emergency clinic or local acute ward must be contacted immediately.

• Severe anorexia or bulimia: Conditions with critical somatic complications and medical instability require close multidisciplinary follow-up by a nutritionist, internist, and often hospitalisation.

• Deeper intellectual disability (F70–F79) with major behavioural disorders: These patients often need coordinated services from the municipality, NAV, housing, and the specialised habilitation service.

• Coercion and forensic psychiatry: All forms of coercion (compulsory mental health care) and follow-up of convicted patients require formal legal frameworks that lie exclusively within the public health system.