Anxiety Disorders : Causes, Types, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

 

                           Anxiety Disorders

 

Anxiety is something we all have. Like anxiety helps us to overcome fear. So it’s normal to have anxiety. Because we all feel slight nervous or anxious when we have an exam or interview or while taking some important decision.

Another positive side of anxiety is that it helps us to notice anything dangerous and focuses our attention on it. So it is normal to have anxiety.  Anxiety is a normal emotion of our life. It is actually a strategy of our brain’s reacting to stress, help us to alter the potential danger ahead.

So, feeling of occasional anxiety is ok. But anxiety disorders are something different. It is a kind of disorder, which hampers a person’s everyday life.

In today’s topic we will learn more about anxiety disorders. We will learn

•  Introduction
•  Types
•  Causes
•  Symptoms
•  Diagnosis and
•  Treatment

Without talking too much we should start our post. Let’ have a look here.

 

Introduction

Actually anxiety disorders are a sum of some mental disorders. In which people have a significant and uncontrollable feelings of fear and anxiety. And this impairs people social, personal, occupational life.

Feeling of anxiety is a worry for future events and fear is actually the reaction of present events. Anxiety is referred to as an unpleasant emotional state for which the cause is known or unknown and it is considered as uncontrollable. And fear means an emotional and physiological response to an external thought.

Anxiety disorders occur more often in female than male and females are less likely to seek treatment. It is a common disorder in people. And it often begins in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood.

Types of Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are divided into some types to understand its differences. So here I will give you some types of anxiety disorders. These are

1.  Generalized anxiety disorder

It includes excessive and persistent anxiety and worry about activities or events and this worry is difficult to control and it occurs more than actual circumstances. This disorder occurs with depression or other anxiety disorders.

     2. Social anxiety disorder or Social phobia

It involves high levels of fear, anxiety. Because of this people start to avoid social situations due to self-conscious, feelings of embarrassment or judged by others.

   3.  Panic disorder

This disorder includes a sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear that reach makes a panic attacks which a person can't control. Because of panic attacks there are some physical sensations occurs.

   4.  Separation anxiety disorder

It is a childhood disorder. It involves anxiety of a child that is excessive and it’s related to separation from parents.

   5.  Specific phobias

In this people feel intense fear towards a specific situations, events or objects. Like fear of heights, fear of snakes etc.

  6.   Agoraphobia

It includes fear of being in a situation where it seems too hard to escape or get any help. Like fear of being in the market place or in public transports.

   7.  Selective mutism

In this type of anxiety child normally talk with their family but don’t speak in public place.

 

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

Researchers don’t know the actual cause of anxiety disorders. But this means not that it comes from any kind of personal weakness or flaws of personality. It is a mental disorder like other disorders.

Here are some suspected causes of anxiety disorders.

 1. Heredity

It can run in the families. So anyone can inherit it from their family members.

 2. Chemical imbalance in the brain

It may have a link to some faulty circuit in the brain which controls some emotions like mood or fear.

  3. Some medical conditions

Heart, thyroid or lung can sometimes cause similar symptoms like anxiety disorders so it’s important to know the actual problems behind the symptoms.

  4. Environmental stress

Many environmental stresses like childhood abuse, neglect, death of someone or being attacked can be the cause.

There are some risk factors which can increase the probability of having this disorder. Like any history of having another mental disorder, any chronic or severe health conditions, trauma, low self-esteem, any kind of addiction like alcohol or drug etc.

 

Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders

There are some common symptoms in anxiety disorders which are found in maximum people having it. But the main symptom is excessive worry or fear. Anyone’s symptoms depend on the type of anxiety disorders they are suffering from.

The common physical, behavioral and mental symptoms are

   Shortness of breath, heart palpitations

  Cold or sweaty hands, numbness

  Nausea, vomiting, dry mouth

  Trouble in sleeping

  Can’t stay calm or stable

  Washing hands repeatedly

  Obsessive and uncontrollable thoughts

  Uneasiness or feeling of fear

  Getting flashback of repeated thoughts

  Can’t keep concentrate in anything

 

Diagnosis of Anxiety Disorders

If you think that you are having the symptoms of anxiety disorders then you should consult to a doctor. Doctors will give you some physical exams and if it is proved that you have no medical problem.

Then they will send you to a psychologists or psychiatrists who are specialized in these fields. They will use some assessment tools to and some interview to diagnose if you have an anxiety disorder.

They will ask about your symptoms and how intense they are and also how they are hampering your normal personal, work or school life, duration of the symptoms must be at least 6 months.

Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

There is no specific treatment that will cure the anxiety disorders. But we can certainly control our life by maintaining some things. Medication and psychotherapy both can help a lot in this.

   Psychotherapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most used in treating anxiety disorders. CBT helps us to recognize thought process and behaviors that make problematic behaviors and then try to change them.

Exposure therapy also works well on dealing the fears behind the disorders. Mindfulness based programs can help also.

   Medication

Some drugs can help. But it should be prescribed by a professional because it can have some side effects also. Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines and antipsychotics are used in anxiety disorders.

 

From above discussion we can understand that anxiety disorders have no cure. But we can certainly control our symptoms by following the treatment plan, not taking caffeine, by not taking alcohol or drugs, doing exercise, learning to relax, getting better food and sleep.

So by following this thing we can really keep our life better. That is all for today. Hope that it will help you a little for understanding about anxiety disorders.