Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders
Everyone suffers from anxiety, but for some, anxiety can become a lifelong disorder that impairs one's ability to function socially. Chronic anxiety can result in social phobia or the inability to talk with and interact with others.
It is important you understand what anxiety is, and learn helpful tools for reducing anxiety so you can lead a comfortable and happy life.
Overview of Anxiety
To better understand anxiety you should know what it is. Anxiety is a response your body uses to combat events it perceives as threatening. When we feel threatened, whether physically, emotionally or otherwise, our body naturally engages protective mechanisms.
For some people, exposure to threatening or stressful situations leads to anxiety. Anxiety usually involves some of the following symptoms:
- Constant worry about life or fears about events taking place in one's life.
- Rapid or jumping heart rate accompanied by high blood pressure or dizziness.
- Having persistent negative thoughts that do not subside on their own.
- Feeling nauseous or like you have butterflies in your stomach.
- Experiencing aches or pains in the body.
- Visible shaking, sweating or stuttering.
- Insomnia and poor concentration.
Everyone experiences anxiety in different ways. It is important you recognize the ways your body responds to stress so you know how to best treat anxiety.
Chronic and Acute Insomnia Treatments
Anxiety can be chronic or acute. Acute anxiety typically results when someone faces a fearful or unexpected event, like giving a speech. Typically relaxation techniques like deep breathing and meditation are helpful for relieving short bouts of anxiety.
Chronic anxiety may involve many different types of anxiety, including generalized anxiety disorder where someone may feel anxious most of the time or chronically worry with or without cause.
People with anxiety disorders have real physical and emotional responses to stress which in some cases can cause them to withdraw from the public. Some people for example, experience social phobia, or a fear of the public, resulting from chronic anxiety or worry.
Treating Chronic Anxiety
Sometimes anxiety results from an underlying condition like depression. In cases as this your doctor may recommend treating your depression first. Some antidepressants have anti-anxiety components. Your doctor may also recommend psychotherapy.
Cognitive behavior therapy is a form of psychotherapy that teaches people how to reorganize their thought processes, so they think in terms of positives rather than negatives. It can provide dramatic results for patients suffering from chronic anxiety. Sometimes a doctor may prescribe anti-anxiety medications along with psychotherapy to help people suffering from chronic anxiety.
The causes of anxiety vary. Most patients have an underlying condition that facilitates chronic anxiety, while others have stand-alone anxiety. Some studies suggest patients with a family history of mental or mood disorders like bipolar depression are more subject to anxiety. Your doctor will explore all of these avenues and causes before recommending treatment.
If you do suffer from anxiety, you should contact your doctor, but also make a point to get in touch with other people that suffer from anxiety. You can also build a personal support team to help you through difficult times. There are hundreds of online support groups dedicated to patients with anxiety and related mental health disorders. Check out the National Institute of Mental Health NIMH for more information. (http://www.nimh.nih.gov)
With proper care and treatment, you can overcome anxiety and lead a happy, healthy life. Make sure you take positive steps to change your health today.