Naugatuck is a town that knows what hard work looks like. The Naugatuck River valley has a long memory — factories, unions, people who showed up every day and didn't complain. That work ethic is real, and it's worth something. But sometimes that same grit becomes the thing that keeps you from admitting something's wrong. You've been pushing through the low mood and the tight chest and the racing thoughts for months — maybe years. You figure everyone feels this way. They don't. If you're exhausted all the time but can't actually rest, if you feel drained and on edge at the same time, you might be living with anxiety and depression together — and that combination deserves real attention. Sindhia Shyras, APRN is a board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with nine years of clinical experience, and she sees Naugatuck residents through telehealth from anywhere in Connecticut and in-person at our New Britain office on 1 Liberty Sq, Ste 301.
People assume anxiety means you're keyed up and depression means you're slowed down — so how can you have both? But that's not quite how it works. A lot of people in Naugatuck and across the Valley are walking around feeling exhausted but unable to sleep. Flat, joyless — and yet somehow still anxious about everything. You're not motivated, but your mind won't stop running. You don't want to do anything, but you can't relax either. This isn't a contradiction. It's actually a very common presentation, and it has a name: mixed anxiety-depressive disorder, or simply anxiety and depression occurring at the same time. The two conditions share overlapping brain chemistry, and they feed each other. Treating just one often isn't enough. Sindhia evaluates the full picture — not just the headline symptom — so the treatment plan actually fits what you're dealing with.
Maybe you wake up after seven hours of sleep and still feel like you haven't slept at all. You get through the workday on autopilot, but a low-level dread runs underneath everything — meetings, conversations, the pile of things you haven't done yet. By evening you're completely depleted, but the moment your head hits the pillow, your brain turns back on. You replay conversations. You worry about things that probably won't happen. You feel guilty for not doing more, even though you've got nothing left. And then you do it again tomorrow. That cycle is real, it's miserable, and it's not something you should white-knuckle through forever. You don't have to.
Your first visit is a full psychiatric evaluation — not a checklist and not a rush job. Sindhia wants to understand what's actually happening: how long you've felt this way, how your sleep is, what your energy looks like, what the anxiety actually targets. Some of it will show up in how you feel. Some of it shows up in your body — tight shoulders, a stomach that won't settle, headaches you've stopped mentioning because nobody connects them to stress. She asks about all of it. She speaks English, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu, and she's attentive to the ways cultural background shapes how people talk about mental health — or don't. From there, you'll build a plan together. That might mean medication, supportive therapy, or both. Whatever it is, it'll be honest and it'll be yours. She accepts Aetna, Cigna, Husky Health, Medicaid, United Healthcare, Anthem, ConnectiCare, and self-pay — so there shouldn't be a financial barrier standing between you and a first appointment.
Serving Naugatuck and all of Connecticut via telehealth. Call us at 860-515-8689 or book online.
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