What is Anxiety? & How to deal with Anxiety?

It is natural to feel anxious from time to time. People with anxiety disorders, on the other hand, frequently experience intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Anxiety disorders frequently involve repeated episodes of intense anxiety, fear, or terror that peak within minutes (panic attacks).

Anxiety and panic disrupt daily activities, are difficult to control, are out of proportion to the actual danger, and can last for a long time. To avoid these feelings, you may avoid places or situations. Symptoms may appear in childhood or adolescence and persist into adulthood.

Anxiety is characterized by feelings of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It may cause you to sweat, feel agitated and tense, and have a racing heart. It could be a normal stress reaction. You may experience anxiety when confronted with a difficult problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision. It may assist you in coping. Anxiety may give you more energy or help you focus. However, for people suffering from anxiety disorders, the fear is not fleeting and can be overwhelming.

Anxiety disorders are conditions in which you experience persistent anxiety that can worsen over time. Symptoms can disrupt daily activities such as job performance, schoolwork, and relationships.

Types of Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety is a component of many different disorders. These includes:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

This is a chronic disorder that occurs, with long-term anxiety and concerns about unspecific life events, objects, and situations. GAD is the most common anxiety disorder, and people suffering from it are not always able to pinpoint the source of their anxiety.

• Panic Disorder:

It involves repeated episodes of intense anxiety, fear, or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks). Feelings of impending doom, shortness of breath, chest pain, or a racing, fluttering, or pounding heart are all possible (heart palpitations). These panic attacks may cause you to worry about them happening again or to avoid situations where they have happened.

Panic disorders are most commonly associated with frightening experiences or prolonged stress, but they can also occur without a trigger. A panic attack may be misinterpreted as a life-threatening illness, leading to drastic changes in behavior to avoid future attacks.

• Specific Phobia:

Irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation. Phobias differ from other anxiety disorders in that they have a specific cause.

A person suffering from a phobia may recognize that their fear is illogical or extreme, but they are unable to control their anxiety in the presence of the trigger. Phobia triggers range from situations and animals to everyday objects.

• Agoraphobia:

This is the fear of and avoidance of places, events, or situations from which it may be difficult to escape or from which help would be unavailable if a person became trapped. People frequently misinterpret this condition as a fear of open spaces and the outdoors, but this is not the case. A person suffering from agoraphobia may be afraid of leaving the house or of using elevators or public transportation.

• Selective Mutism:

This is a type of anxiety in which some children are unable to speak in certain places or contexts, such as school, despite having excellent verbal communication skills around familiar people. It could be a severe case of social anxiety.

• Social Anxiety Disorder, or Social Phobia:

This is a fear of being judged negatively by others in social situations or of being embarrassed in public. Stage fright, a fear of intimacy, and anxiety about humiliation and rejection are all symptoms of social anxiety disorder.

This disorder can cause people to avoid public places and human contact to the point where daily life becomes extremely difficult.

• Anxiety disorder due to a medical condition:

It includes symptoms of extreme anxiety or panic caused by a physical health problem.

• Separation anxiety disorder:

When a loved one departs, children are not the only ones who experience fear or anxiety. Separation anxiety disorder can affect anyone. If you do, you will feel very anxious or fearful when someone close to you leaves your sight. You'll be constantly concerned that something bad will happen to your loved one.

• Specific Phobias:

accompanied by intense anxiety when exposed to a specific object or situation, as well as a desire to avoid it. Some people experience panic attacks as a result of phobias.

• Substance-induced anxiety disorder:

It is characterized by symptoms of intense anxiety or panic as a direct result of drug abuse, medication use, exposure to a toxic substance, or drug withdrawal.

• Other specified anxiety disorders and unspecified anxiety disorders:

Labels for anxiety or phobias that do not meet the exact criteria for any other anxiety disorder but are distressing and disruptive.

Symptoms

Excessive fear or worry is the primary symptom of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders can make it difficult to breathe, sleep, remain still, and concentrate. The specific symptoms you experience are determined by the type of anxiety disorder you have.

The common symptoms are:

• Panic, fear, and dread
• Panic, doom, or danger feelings
• Sleep issues
• being unable to remain calm and still
• Hands or feet that are cold, sweaty, numb, or tingling
• Breathing difficulty
• Breathing more quickly and deeply than usual (hyperventilation)
• Palpitations in the heart
• Mouth dryness
• Nausea
• Muscle tension
• Dizziness
• Thinking about a problem repeatedly and being unable to stop (rumination)
• unable to concentrate
• avoiding feared objects or places intensely or obsessively

Causes of Anxiety Disorder

Some of the causes of anxiety disorders are:

• Genetics: This anxiety disorder can be passed down through families.
• Brain Chemistry: According to some research, anxiety disorders may be caused by faulty circuits in the brain that controls fear and emotions.
• Environmental Stress: This refers to stressful events that you have witnessed or experienced childhood abuse and neglect, the death of a loved one, or being attacked or witnessing violence are all common triggers for anxiety disorders.
• Addiction or drug abuse: Certain drugs can be used to mask or reduce anxiety symptoms. Anxiety disorder is frequently associated with alcohol and substance abuse.
• Medical problems: Some heart, lung, and thyroid conditions can cause symptoms similar to anxiety disorders or exacerbate them. When discussing anxiety with your doctor, it’s critical to get a full physical exam to rule out other medical conditions.

Treatment for Anxiety Disorder

There are numerous treatments available to help reduce and manage the symptoms of an anxiety disorder. People with anxiety disorders typically take medication and seek counseling.

Treatment for anxiety disorder are:

• Self-Treatment

In some cases, an anxiety disorder can be treated at home without the need for clinical supervision. However, for severe or long-term anxiety disorders, this may not be effective.

There are several exercises and actions to help a person including:

• Stress reduction:

Stress management can help limit potential triggers. Organize any upcoming deadlines and pressures, make lists to make daunting tasks more manageable, and commit to taking time off from school or work.

• Techniques for relaxation:

Simple activities can help to alleviate both the mental and physical symptoms of anxiety. Meditation, deep breathing exercises, long baths, resting in the dark, and yoga are examples of these techniques.

• Exercises for replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts include:

Make a list of the negative thoughts that may be cycling as a result of anxiety, and then make a list of positive, believable thoughts to replace them. Imagining yourself successfully facing and conquering a specific fear can also help if your anxiety symptoms are related to a specific cause, such as a phobia.

• Support system:

Speak with supportive people you know, such as a family member or friend. Local and online support group services may also be available.

• Exercise:

Physical activity can boost self-esteem and release chemicals in the brain that cause positive feelings.

• Counseling

Psychological counseling is a common method of treating anxiety. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy, or a combination of therapies may be used.

• CBT:

This type of psychotherapy seeks to identify and alter harmful thought patterns that serve as the foundation for anxious and troubling feelings. CBT practitioners hope that by doing so, they will be able to limit distorted thinking and change how people react to objects or situations that cause anxiety.

• Medications:

Several types of medication can help with anxiety management.

Antidepressants, benzodiazepines, tricyclics, and beta-blockers are some medications that may help with some of the physical and mental symptoms.

• Benzodiazepines

These may be prescribed by a doctor for certain people who suffer from anxiety, but they can be highly addictive. Except for drowsiness and the possibility of dependence, these drugs have few side effects. Diazepam, also known as Valium, is a commonly prescribed benzodiazepine.

• Antidepressants

These are commonly used to treat anxiety, but they can also be used to treat depression. People frequently use serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), which have fewer side effects than older antidepressants but can cause jitters, nausea, and sexual dysfunction when first started.

Other antidepressants include fluoxetine, also known as Prozac, and citalopram, also known as Celexa.

• Tricyclics

This is an older class of drugs than SSRIs that help with most anxiety disorders except OCD. These medications may cause dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, and weight gain as side effects. Tricyclic drugs include imipramine and clomipramine.

Other drugs that may be used to treat anxiety include:

• inhibitors of monoamine oxidase (MAOIs)
• beta-blockers
• buspirone