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What is anxiety?

 

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension about what’s to come. For example, going to a job interview or giving a speech on the first day of school may cause some people to feel fearful and nervous.

Anxiety affects everyone in different ways. Sometimes, the feelings of fear and dread don’t go away or get worse over time. Here, you can learn about anxiety, who it affects, and how to manage it.

But if your feelings of anxiety are extreme, last for at least 6 months, and are interfering with your life, you may have an anxiety disorder.

What is an anxiety disorder?





An anxiety disorder is a type of mental health condition. If you have an anxiety disorder, you may respond to certain things and situations with fear and dread. You may also experience physical signs of anxiety, such as a pounding heart and sweating.

It’s normal to have some anxiety. You may feel anxious or nervous if you have to tackle a problem at work, go to an interview, take a test or make an important decision. And anxiety can even be beneficial. For example, anxiety helps us notice dangerous situations and focuses our attention, so we stay safe.

But an anxiety disorder goes beyond the regular nervousness and slight fear you may feel from time to time. An anxiety disorder happens when:

  • Anxiety interferes with your ability to function.
  • You often overreact when something triggers your emotions.
  • You can’t control your responses to situations.

Anxiety disorders can make it difficult to get through the day. Fortunately, there are several effective treatments for anxiety disorders.

 

Symptoms

Common anxiety signs and symptoms include:

·         Feeling nervous, restless or tense

·         Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom

·         Having an increased heart rate

·         Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)

·         Sweating

·         Trembling

·         Feeling weak or tired

·         Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry

·         Having trouble sleeping

·         Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems

·         Having difficulty controlling worry

·         Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

Several types of anxiety disorders exist:

·         Agoraphobia (ag-uh-ruh-FOE-be-uh) is a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and often avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed.

·         Anxiety disorder due to a medical condition includes symptoms of intense anxiety or panic that are directly caused by a physical health problem.

·         Generalized anxiety disorder includes persistent and excessive anxiety and worry about activities or events — even ordinary, routine issues. The worry is out of proportion to the actual circumstance, is difficult to control and affects how you feel physically. It often occurs along with other anxiety disorders or depression.

·         Panic disorder involves repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks). You may have feelings of impending doom, shortness of breath, chest pain, or a rapid, fluttering or pounding heart (heart palpitations). These panic attacks may lead to worrying about them happening again or avoiding situations in which they've occurred.

·         Selective mutism is a consistent failure of children to speak in certain situations, such as school, even when they can speak in other situations, such as at home with close family members. This can interfere with school, work and social functioning.

·         Separation anxiety disorder is a childhood disorder characterized by anxiety that's excessive for the child's developmental level and related to separation from parents or others who have parental roles.

·         Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) involves high levels of anxiety, fear and avoidance of social situations due to feelings of embarrassment, self-consciousness and concern about being judged or viewed negatively by others.

·         Specific phobias are characterized by major anxiety when you're exposed to a specific object or situation and a desire to avoid it. Phobias provoke panic attacks in some people.

·         Substance-induced anxiety disorder is characterized by symptoms of intense anxiety or panic that are a direct result of misusing drugs, taking medications, being exposed to a toxic substance or withdrawal from drugs.

·         Other specified anxiety disorder and unspecified anxiety disorder are terms for anxiety or phobias that don't meet the exact criteria for any other anxiety disorders but are significant enough to be distressing and disruptive.

Diagnosis

See your GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or is causing you distress.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) can be difficult to diagnose. In some cases, it can also be difficult to distinguish from other mental health conditions, such as depression.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress that most people experience throughout their lives. A person may feel anxious when speaking in public, taking a test, or making an important life decision. But if the anxiety is more than temporary worry or fear, does not go away, or worsens over time, this may be a sign of an anxiety disorder.

Causes

The causes of anxiety disorders aren't fully understood. Life experiences such as traumatic events appear to trigger anxiety disorders in people who are already prone to anxiety. Inherited traits also can be a factor.

Medical causes

For some people, anxiety may be linked to an underlying health issue. In some cases, anxiety signs and symptoms are the first indicators of a medical illness. If your doctor suspects your anxiety may have a medical cause, he or she may order tests to look for signs of a problem.

Examples of medical problems that can be linked to anxiety include:

·         Heart disease

·         Diabetes

·         Thyroid problems, such as hyperthyroidism

·         Respiratory disorders, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma

·         Drug misuse or withdrawal

·         Withdrawal from alcohol, anti-anxiety medications (benzodiazepines) or other medications

·         Chronic pain or irritable bowel syndrome

·         Rare tumors that produce certain fight-or-flight hormones

Sometimes anxiety can be a side effect of certain medications.

It's possible that your anxiety may be due to an underlying medical condition if:

·         You don't have any blood relatives (such as a parent or sibling) with an anxiety disorder

·         You didn't have an anxiety disorder as a child

·         You don't avoid certain things or situations because of anxiety

·         You have a sudden occurrence of anxiety that seems unrelated to life events and you didn't have a previous history of anxiety

Other outside factors that can cause anxiety:

  • Medication side effects
  • Use of an illicit drug, such as Cocaine
  • Symptoms of a medical illness (such as heart attack , heat stroke, hypoglycemia)
  • Lack of oxygen in circumstances as diverse as high altitude sickness, emphysema, or pulmonary embolism (a blood clot  in the vessels of the lung)

The doctor has the often-difficult task of determining which symptoms come from which causes. For example, in a study of people with chest pain -- a sign of heart disease -- 43% were found to have a panic disorder, not a heart-related condition.

 

 

 

Anxiety Treatment

 

Your heart is pounding and you feel like you can't catch your breath. You're dizzy and your vision blurs. Thoughts rush around your head so fast that you can't focus on any of them. You start getting afraid that you might faint- what would everyone think if that were to happen? Then you'd be the freak that fainted! Geez, you'd never live that one down! 

Maybe your anxiety focuses on a certain thing like spiders, flying, or germs. You certainly can't be around that thing! Heck, you can't even think about it without breaking out in a cold sweat. And it's keeping you from spending time with your family and friends, not to mention that it's very embarrassing! You can't help but ask yourself what's wrong with you that you can't just stop it! It seems like everyone else just effortlessly goes through life.

 

This anxiety is keeping you as an observer of your own life. You always are on the outside looking in, rather than being an active participant in your own life. Wouldn't you like to be in control for a change rather than being controlled by your anxiety?

 

·         Generalized Anxiety- This is you if you have excessive anxiety, but it's not really about anything in particular and is in a number of different places and circumstances. 

·         Social Anxiety- social anxiety is notable by the anxiety felt in social situations, or when you feel scrutinized or judged by people around you. It can affect you at work, when you are at play, or when you have to perform (like giving a speech or a presentation in front of others). If often is the fear that you will be embarrassed or rejected.

·         Specific Phobias- This is when a very specific thing triggers your anxiety, like a fear of flying, driving over bridges, spiders, or of blood.

·         OCD- or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is primarily an anxiety disorder that effects your thoughts (obsessions) and your behavior (compulsions). People with OCD have recurrent anxiety-producing thoughts which they attempt to control with repetitive, ritualistic behaviors that feel driven to do.

·         Panic Disorder- is a person who repeatedly has debilitating panic attacks that can make it difficult to live your life. It can often morph into a fear of having more panic attacks.

 

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