Anxiety Disorders

What do you do when your spouse or children are a little late from their scheduled arrival time? Naturally, you worry. However, if you start worrying, imagining the worst, fearing irrationally of them getting injured or dead, and this happens time and again then you can say that you are suffering from anxiety disorders. To a certain extent, anxiety is acceptable. It is a natural response to stress. However, when the anxiety gets out of hand, hampering you in performing your daily tasks, then it can be considered as a disorder. You must have felt anxiety at various times of your life like nervousness before an exam, the fear of rejection during an interview or feeling jittery before making a presentation. These are all fine, but in some cases, the fear can make it hard for you to go on with your routine life. This irrational fear and worry, when it starts interfering with your life and relationship, becomes a disorder. Anxiety is the fight-flight response of the body, and so when the mind and body detects any danger then physical sensations like heavy breathing, sweating, trembling of the legs and hands, and tension in the muscles arises. Fortunately, there are various therapies and self-help remedies to help you reduce your anxiety, and get on with life. However, for that it is always better if you know the causes, symptoms, and treatment of anxiety disorders. Read below to learn more.

Causes, Symptoms, And Treatment Of Anxiety Disorders

Causes

If the childhood is dominated by critical or perfectionist parents then the child may get a feeling that he or she can never match their parents’ expectation. This makes them react with anxious behavior.
Chronic insomnia can also result in anxiety disorders. If the anxiety disorder is not due to insomnia then lack of sleep can aggravate the anxiety. That is why sound sleep is always recommended to alleviate anxiety.
A lifestyle that is stressful can also bring about anxiety disorder. Other issues that can result in anxiety are the death of someone near and dear, divorce, health and financial concerns, or trouble in the relationship.
Trauma is another cause of anxiety. The symptoms of trauma are emotional numbness, flashbacks, and depressing thoughts as a result of witnessing a violent attack or a major accident.
There is also a genetic link to anxiety disorder. Parents who are sensitive are more likely to have anxious children. Inherited sensitive personality is more predisposed to anxiety.
Imbalances in the brain chemicals can also cause anxiety disorders. Medications and drug and alcohol abuse can lead to the change in the brain chemical balance and so such types of people suffer a higher level of anxiety.
People who are more sensitive to external and internal events called the fight or flight response like loud noises, deadlines, etc. are more likely to develop anxiety disorders.

Symptoms

The most visible symptoms are excessive worry and tension. This is due to the anxious person’s unrealistic view of the problems. There is also the tendency to brood over the problem, which may be real or imaginary.
There is also an ongoing restlessness and a feeling of edginess. This is coupled with a difficulty in concentrating.
The person also suffers from headaches, muscle tension, excessive sweating, and nausea.
Getting started easily and insomnia are other symptoms.

Treatments

Therapy

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This is a lasting treatment, which focuses on identifying, understanding the cause of the disorder and then changing the thinking and behavior pattern. The success depends on the involvement of the patient in the recovery process. In this therapy, skills are taught to the patients which on practicing leads to alleviating the disorder.

Exposure Therapy: In this therapy, the fear and anxiety responses are reduced. This is done by exposing the patient to the source of the fear, and making him or her less sensitive to it over a period of time.

Medications: There are various medications that can reduce the anxiety disorder. Tricyclic antidepressants can reduce the anxiousness to a great extent but it has a number of side effects.

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