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July 10, 2024

Understanding Anxiety & Anxiety Disorders: How to Recognize and Address It

Most people today are aware of mental health issues, but more often than not don’t have a clear idea about it. Take anxiety for example. The most common idea people have about anxiety is stress. But it’s much more than that. Anxiety is our normal reaction to anything that endangers our survival in the world.

We are designed to survive. And hence, when we are faced with any issues, our mind assumes more threats than normally there are. This can make us more anxious than required. Almost all adults experience anxiety in some form or other.

So, when do we need to be concerned about it? When does normal anxiety become an anxiety disorder?

Let’s dive deep into this.


What is Anxiety?

Our normal day-to-day life involves some amount of anxiety and fear. When we are in a stressful situation, our brain triggers the release of chemicals into the bloodstream. Our heart beats faster, our breath becomes rapid and shallow, muscles get tensed and our mind becomes fully alert. These are all parts of a human’s natural reaction to a threat.

At times anxiety can linger on and on, making us overwhelmed. This can interfere with our normal activities. This is when anxiety becomes an issue and is often diagnosed as an anxiety disorder.


What is Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety disorder is a type of mental health condition where a person responds to situations or certain things with dread and fear. This can translate into physical issues such as sweating and a pounding heart.

We are not talking about normal anxiety here that everyone faces from time to time. Anxiety disorder can have severe effects such as:

  • Interfering with one’s ability to function.
  • Overreaction to things that trigger one’s emotions.
  • Loss of control to response to situations.

Performing normal daily activities can be difficult during anxiety disorder. The good news is several treatments are available to treat anxiety disorders. But let’s first understand the types of anxiety disorders to have a better idea about this issue.


Types of Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders can be of different types such as:

General anxiety disorder

People may be unrealistically worried and tensed, even without any trigger, when they face general anxiety disorder. They may worry a lot about topics concerning their lives such as work, relationships, health and other things on most days. One worry can lead to another. The physical symptoms of general anxiety disorders are difficulty concentrating, sleeping issues and restlessness.

Panic disorder

Panic disorder is another form of anxiety disorder where one may experience more intense feelings than other types of anxiety disorders. One may experience panic attacks when experiencing panic disorder.

During a panic disorder, one may experience sudden bouts of terror that may or may not have a trigger. Panic attacks can feel like heart attacks where one may experience palpitations, sweating, chest pain and choking. If you or anybody you know is facing such issues, better to go to the emergency and get it checked out, as the symptoms look similar to a heart attack.

We recommend reading our article on panic attacks to learn more about panic disorder.

Separation anxiety

This is the anxiety of parents and children being away from each other. This kind of anxiety is mostly experienced by children as they fear that their parents may not come back as promised or they may be hurt when they are away. This is very common among preschoolers, but older children can suffer from separation anxiety disorder as well.

Phobias

An acute fear of certain situations and objects is known as a phobia. Some of these fears can be quite intense and sometimes they may not match the situation. People suffering from phobias spend a lot of time worrying about triggers and avoiding situations which may trigger a phobia. A person can have a phobia about anything. The most common ones include the fear of animals, flying, heights, blood and injections.

Social anxiety disorder

Some people call this social phobia, which is characterised by self-consciousness and overwhelming worry about social situations. One may be worried about people judging them, embarrassing themselves in a social situation or being the object of ridicule. This can lead to people avoiding social situations completely.


Treatment of Anxiety Disorder

Like we seek treatment for our health issues, we can get treated for mental health issues too, including anxiety disorder. Dealing with an anxiety disorder by yourself is pretty difficult. It is not a matter of self-discipline and attitude. It takes much more than that.

Here are some of the most commonly used treatment options for anxiety disorders:

  • Anti-anxiety medications such as benzodiazepines can help reduce panic, anxiety and worry. Although they can be helpful, one can develop a tolerance for it, which makes it less effective over time. It is important to work closely with your doctor to manage the dose to ensure your anti-anxiety medication works in the long run.
  • Antidepressants can also help deal with anxiety disorders. These medications can change the way your brain uses certain chemicals, thus improving your mood and reducing stress. However, antidepressants may work slowly. Do not take antidepressants without talking to a medical professional.
  • Beta-blockers are used to treat high blood pressure, which in turn, can reduce physical symptoms of anxiety disorders. They can also provide relief from palpitations, trembling and shaking.

It is essential to work with your doctor while taking any medication. Your doctor can adjust the dosage according to your symptoms to ensure they provide you maximum support.

  • Psychotherapy or counselling can also be useful in dealing with anxiety disorder. Your medical provider can tailor the strategy to help you with situations. Some of the commonly used psychotherapy techniques that can help in treating anxiety disorders include cognitive behaviour therapy (where you learn to recognise behaviours and thought patterns that can trigger troublesome feelings so that you can change them) and exposure therapy (dealing with fears behind anxiety disorders.

A Final Word

Whether it is general anxiety or anxiety disorder, working with a medical professional can be of great help. A qualified medical professional can help you find your way through the web of fear, triggers and worries and live a comfortable life.

Support is an important aspect of dealing with anxiety. If anybody you know is suffering from anxiety disorder, extend a friendly hand to them. Simply being there with them, without judgement of what they are going through, can work wonders for them.



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