Recognizing and Reducing Anxiety

Connections to Care Mobile Hero
Home / News & Events / Newsletter

Recognizing and Reducing Anxiety

Dec 22, 2016

Anxiety, an experience of tension and apprehension, is an ordinary response to a threat or danger. Excessive anxiety that causes distress or interferes with daily life is not a normal part of the aging process. Michael Fresé, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist specializing in geropsychology. He recently sat down with e-Connections to talk about the signs and symptoms of anxiety among seniors.

Sad old woman


Have you experienced heart palpitations, feeling out of breath, or a sensation of being suffocated? Are there times when you sense numbness or tingling in your fingers, chills or hot flashes, restlessness? How about difficulty concentrating, memory gaps, irritability, or feeling like you are at the end of your rope? If so, you might be experiencing anxiety or have an anxiety disorder.

Among older adults, many worry about their increasing number of health issues, family, limited finances, and their own mortality. More often than not, these worries can become exacerbated when individuals experience either a mental or physical decline and a loss of autonomy. When the anxiety is at a level which causes significant impairment in daily functioning and is a source of distress, it is considered an anxiety disorder.

Some of the causes of anxiety in older adults include losses during the aging process (loss of autonomy, health, intellectual capacity, loved ones) as well as having thoughts of danger and vulnerability associated with losses.

Similar to depression, when asked, many older adults deny feeling anxious. Individuals might admit to feeling overwhelmed, worried, having a short fuse, or experiencing physical sensations that they attribute to old age. In addition to the symptoms listed above, it is important to inquire about the following:

  • Appetite: individuals who are anxious might overeat to calm themselves, resulting in weight gain or they may lose weight by skipping meals
  • Going out: anxious individuals might stay at home to avoid their fears
  • Interests: those who are anxious have a difficult time finding pleasurable activities as they become more fearful
  • Physical complaints: as older adults are more likely to report physical causes of their anxiety symptoms (as well as experience medical conditions that might overlap the symptoms of anxiety), asking about such physical complaints as chest pain or shortness of breath is important
  • Sleep: People experiencing anxiety might sleep to avoid their fears or have difficulty sleeping due to ruminating about imagined or exaggerated fears
  • Social isolation: social contact and activity is important for lifting a person’s spirit and calming their fears; however, sometimes a person’s anxiety is such that they find a false sense of security in being alone, which can increase their level of anxiety and result in a vicious cycle.


You might be saying to yourself, “that sounds like me!,” or “that sounds like someone I know!” and you are curious to know what you can do to help yourself or a loved one.


  • For some, a family member or friend might be able to provide comfort and reassurance. For others, being engaged in creative, social, or other activities that are of interest can be helpful. Getting to the source of the anxiety and dealing with it directly is very important. For example, helping older adults deal with concerns about being a burden, financial matters, and health issues can make a difference.
  • Psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy, problem solving, and interpersonal psychotherapy are all effective ways of helping those with anxiety. Psychoeducation and support in managing anxiety in structured ways, such as progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing, have been shown to reduce anxiety.
  • When psychotherapy alone isn’t enough, psychiatric medications such as Ativan, Klonopin, or Xanax might be prescribed by a psychiatrist.


If you find yourself feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or worried, don’t hesitate to ask for help, whether from a family member, friend, or healthcare professional. Anxiety can be managed and treated, and your quality of life can be improved.

Sign up for the Los Angeles Jewish Health newsletter, Connections.

Recent Articles

Aug 6

Los Angeles Jewish Health Welcomes Rabbi Marc Kraus

For new Los Angeles Jewish Health rabbi Marc Kraus, there’s something special about working in a residential community.“So many rabbis only have a chance to engage with their communities weekly, monthly, or even annually when they come to synagogue. But, at Los Angeles Jewish Health, I get to see people every day and to develop deep pastoral connections with them,” he says. “Finding this job was a dream come true.”Rabbi Kraus arrived at LAJH this summer as campus rabbi for Eisenberg Village, joining Rabbi Karen Bender, who serves as the organization’s chief mission officer. In his brief tenure, he has already gotten the flavor of what makes LAJH’s community unique.“It’s so wonderful to be part of this huge village in the middle of Reseda,” he says. “I’ve been breaking bread with residents at every meal, getting to know them and seeing just how beautiful Jewish life here really is. I feel so incredibly welcomed.”Rabbi Marc KrausA native of London, Rabbi Kraus has been in the U.S. since 2010. After completing his undergraduate degree in Hebrew literature at Oxford, he received his rabbinic ordination from American Jewish University and a Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from William & Mary. Over the course of his professional career, Rabbi Kraus has served as both a pulpit rabbi and a licensed marriage and family therapist.“I’m a spiritual seeker, an academic, and a therapist,” he says. “I believe my diverse experience—whether it was facilitating Orthodox Jewish holiday services in England as a teenager, spending time at an egalitarian yeshiva in Jerusalem, tending to a Conservative synagogue congregation in Virginia, or logging thousands of hours as a marriage and family counselor—has prepared me well to provide LAJH residents with pastoral services that help them find meaning in their everyday lives.”Avoiding denominational labels is central to Rabbi Kraus’ rabbinic approach. “I see myself as a facilitator of people’s Jewish journeys, no matter where they’re coming from,” he says. “I think there is a lot of wisdom in every denomination, and my goal is to meet LAJH residents where they are—recognizing where they’re coming from and adapting accordingly. Ultimately, I want to help people connect with their spirituality in whatever way is most resonant for them.”Singing is another of Rabbi Kraus’ key areas of focus. “Music is such a powerful way to bring people together. As a vocalist, I feel being able to sing is a gift—and being able to share that gift with others is blessing,” he says.Rabbi Bender notes that the many blessings Rabbi Kraus brings are being felt by LAJH residents far and wide. “It is a mitzvah to ‘find yourself a rabbi,’ and we feel truly blessed to have found Rabbi Kraus—and even more so that he has chosen to join the LAJH family,” she says. “He is a gifted scholar, a soulful singer, and a deeply compassionate pastoral presence. In just his first month, he has already inspired minds and touched hearts across our community. We are profoundly grateful to welcome him as the rabbi for both Eisenberg Village and Fountainview at Eisenberg Village.”In the coming weeks and months, Rabbi Kraus looks forward to meeting as many members of the LAJH family as possible. His energy and enthusiasm are nothing short of infectious.“I was overjoyed on the day I started at LAJH,” he says, “and my excitement has only grown every day since.”Rabbi Kraus speaks to residents of the Newman Building 
Read More
Aug 6

Breaking New Ground On Safe and Effective Reductions in Medication Use

Each year, millions of people in this country are helped by psychotropic medications—drugs that affect the mind, emotions, and behavior and that can play an important positive role in regulating mental health. These medications can be life-changing. They also carry serious risks and dangerous consequences, particularly for older adults.Despite their potential danger, psychotropic drugs (including a class known as anti-psychotics) are often prescribed for older adults, including those residing in long-term care facilities and especially those with dementia. Government and other health regulators require nursing homes to report data on the number of residents they serve that are on anti-psychotics, and the numbers in many facilities across the county show widespread use.An important initiative at Los Angeles Jewish Health is addressing this issue head-on and is implementing innovative ways to reduce seniors on psychotropic drugs while improving their overall health. Thanks to a close collaboration between doctors with expertise in geriatrics, nurses, pharmacists, and social workers at LAJH, residents are increasingly showing dramatic health improvements—and even thriving—without these risky medications.“The use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes in the U.S. is a significant problem,” says Noah Marco, MD, CMD, LAJH’s chief medical officer. “For residents with dementia, the instinct to prescribe the drugs is perhaps understandable: They often exhibit behaviors that are difficult to manage with non-medication treatments, a challenge complicated by the lack of FDA- and insurance-approved medications for the agitation caused by Alzheimer’s dementia.”Aida Oganesyan. Dr. Noah Marco, Ilana SpringerTo address this challenge, LAJH has created a new process, bringing an interdisciplinary team together on a monthly basis to review the cases of residents who are on psychotropics and to identify safe and effective ways to reduce or eliminate the use of the drugs for those individuals.  The protocol is yielding impressive results.“Thanks to the dedicated and compassionate clinicians and staff at LAJH, we’ve achieved a 49% reduction of anti-psychotic medication use from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the second quarter of 2025,” Dr. Marco says. “The new numbers put us well below the state average for usage rates—and we accomplished this without increasing prescriptions of other psychotropic medications.”The LAJH teams’ strategy has been driven by a focus on seeking alternate treatments tailored to the individual needs of each specific resident.“We’re working to put gradual dose reductions in place, prioritizing non-pharmacological interventions to support residents’ wellbeing instead of medications,” says Ilana Springer, LAJH’s senior vice president of In-Residence Services. “Often, that translates to learning what kind of activities might prove triggering to a resident and then finding other, more soothing activities to help them feel better.”According to Aida Oganesyan, director of the LAJH pharmacy, this kind of customized care has been critical to the new initiative’s success.“We reduce anti-psychotic medications on a case-by-case basis—and we only do it in concert with providing substantial support for each resident,” Aida says. “By being extremely measured in our approach and providing patient-centered care, we ensure that we’re only tapering residents from these drugs when they truly don’t need them.”Of course, this level of individualized care comes at a cost—one that is made manageable thanks to support from LAJH’s generous donor community.“We could not be doing this without help from our donors, whose contributions allow us to have a higher nurse-to-resident ratio than many nursing homes,” Dr. Marco says. “The additional staff—as well as the many volunteers, residents’ paid companions, and family members who sit with our dementia residents and keep them safe and calm—are far more effective than any medication.” 
Read More
Jul 9

Los Angeles Jewish Health Welcomes New Chief Information Officer

Rey Lopez brings experience and community commitment to improving local seniorsʼ lives (RESEDA, CA – July 8, 2025) Los Angeles Jewish Health announced the appointment of Rey Lopez as its chief information officer. Lopez arrives at LAJH with two decades of experience strengthening information technology (IT) infrastructure in the medical field to enhance the delivery of high-quality patient care. Central to Lopezʼs portfolio at LAJH is building technology and business solutions to help the organization grow, to assist its employees to be more efficient in their jobs, and to safeguard residentsʼ health and wellbeing by protecting their sensitive personal health information and data.“Whether itʼs securing electronic health records, streamlining our payroll systems, or reducing cost and boosting the performance of our data reporting systems, there are so many ways we can harness technology to be more nimble and to provide LAJH stakeholders with new pathways to success,” Lopez said. LAJH Chief Information Officer Rey LopezLopez joins the LAJH leadership team at a critical time in the healthcare industry, as emerging technologies play a growing role in the provision of vital care and as concerns around protecting data privacy continue to require best practices in the field. His knowledge and expertise will help drive LAJHʼs strategic approach to effective data management. “We are pleased to welcome Rey as a member of the LAJH family,” said Dale Surowitz, LAJH CEO and president. “His commitment to safeguarding the health and privacy of our residents makes him a perfect addition to our leadership team.” Lopez arrives at LAJH after a long tenure as CIO at Kern Medical in Bakersfield and, before that, as Director of Information Systems, St. Joseph Medical Center at Providence Health & Services in Burbank. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, he attended California State University, Northridge, graduating with a degree in business administration and management information systems. It was as a small business owner in the late 1990s—based in Encino, he consulted on issues related to workerʼs compensation—that Lopez developed an interest in pursuing a healthcare career. His new position at LAJH further deepens his connection to the San Fernando Valley, where he currently resides. “Iʼm so happy to be working in the Valley again, contributing to the community that I love,” Rey says. “Through LAJH, I look forward to helping make it an even better—and healthier—place to live.” 
Read More