Anxiety disorder

Ever experienced a sudden surge of emotions, be it fear or anxiety? These episodes of abrupt elevation in your emotions is known as anxiety disorder. It is a mental disorder where the individual finds it difficult to regulate his/her feelings. The early symptoms of this are increased heartrate, difficulty in breathing or stomach ache. Most people experience anxiety in certain situations but they have the capacity to cope with it. However for some, coping with the attacks are somewhat challenging. Treatment to overcome anxiety disorder include medication, psychotherapy and meditation. These mechanisms have proven to be effective as it calms the brain and helps to refocus.

Introduction

An anxiety disorder is a kind of mental health condition in which individuals respond to certain triggers with emotions such as fear or worry. Their bodies become restless or uneasy towards these triggers. Physical signs, to name a few, include sweating, trouble breathing or palpitations.

It is normal for people to feel anxious in various situations. Whether going for a job interview or taking an exam, you may feel anxious while facing these circumstances. However, people suffering from anxiety disorder may find it difficult to regulate their emotions and overcome these situations. It may be caused because of an underlying past trauma that can trigger anxiety.

These triggers maybe:

• A childhood trauma
• A certain memory
• A place, item or an event that is associated to a traumatic experience
• Abuse etc.

Anxiety hinders the basic functioning of the body. Reactions to these triggers are involuntary and difficult to control. The reactions are out of proportion and happening subconsciously.

Types of anxiety

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there are several types of anxiety disorder. Few of these are:

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is characterized as an intense fear of being overwhelmed or feeling unable to escape or having difficulty in getting assistance. People who suffer from agoraphobia many a time avoid going to new places or face situations that are unfamiliar. It can likely be caused because of large, open space or an enclosed facility, crowded places or places outside their comfort zones.

Specific phobias

A phobia is an overwhelming and intense response to a specific stimulus that causes fear. Phobias happen when a certain stimulus or a triggering factor instills fear or anxiety. Such anxiety is severe and if occurs consistently, can negatively impact and interfere with your daily life.

Common symptoms of phobia include rapid heart rate, sweating, and dizziness. Other psychological systems include panic attacks, which happen when you fear something that you anticipate will happen regarding the stimuli.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

This condition is characterized by fear, dread and constantly being overwhelmed. It involves being excessively, frequently and unrealistically worried about day to day duties and responsibilities, such as work responsibilities, health issues or daily errands. A person suffering from GAD is constantly overstimulated by these tasks thus disrupting daily life.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder involves occurrence of multiple unanticipated panic attacks. Panic attacks are brief episodes of severe anxiety where the body goes into fear of an external threat. These attacks usually happen without a prior warning and extreme conditions involve loss of sensation of the external environment. Sometimes, people with agoraphobia also suffer from panic disorder.

Separation anxiety disorder

This condition usually happens in young ones, such as infants, toddlers or children in the early stages of development. Superstition anxiety happens when you extremely fear separation from a loved one such as a primary caregiver. This usually happens when a feeding mother makes a few changes to the infant’s surroundings. Children sometimes suffer from it when they are moved to their separate room. While all this is normal in babies and toddlers during the developmental stages, in a few cases it can affect children and adults.

Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by constant fear of being judged by others. This happens when you continuously fear whatever you say or do will be negatively met with criticism and hence you fear from expressing yourself.

Symptoms

The major symptom of anxiety disorder is sudden excessive feeling of fear or dread. Some other common symptoms that you can look out for are:

• 

  Restlessness

• Lack of sleep
• Breathlessness
• Overstimulation
• Panic and uneasiness
• Feeling lethargic
• Tingling feeling in hands or feet
• Sweating
• Dry mouth and difficulty in swallowing
• Palpitation
• Stomach discomfort
• Feeling weak or dizziness
• Nausea
• Feeling extremely confused

Treatment

Anxiety disorder can be treated through various methods and treatment has been proven to be effective. Research suggests that medication and counselling have yielded fruitful results.

Anxiety medication

Various types and combinations of drugs are used to treat such patients. Patients should visit their doctors and use prescribed medication. Self medication can be harmful.

Few of the medicines that are usually prescribed by the doctors are:

• Antidepressants
• Bupropion
• Tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
• Beta blockers
• Buspiron

All these medicines help to reduce anxiety however like all medicines, they too have certain side effects. Patients must discuss the side effects of these medicines and use according to their prescription.

Note:
Never use these or any medicines without consulting a doctor. Changing the prescribed dosage can also be harmful.

Therapies for anxiety

Psychotherapy

Research suggests that psychotherapy has positive effects to help reduce anxiety. Psychotherapy is a counseling method that helps to regulate your emotions. For psychotherapy, a trained mental health specialist listens to you and then helps to deduce any result. The patient discusses the problems that he/she is facing and the specialist helps to talk it through. The specialist then suggests coping mechanisms and prescribes medicines if necessary.