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anxiety ??
- Jan 20, 2010 at 12:36 AM
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- Comments (16) Total Views (786) Everyone can see this journal post.
What is Anxiety? Anxiety Symptoms and Causes
Anxiety is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. These disorders affect how we feel and behave, and they can manifest real physical symptoms. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can be extremely debilitating, having a serious impact on daily life.
People often experience a general state of worry or fear before confronting something challenging such as a test, examination, recital, or interview. These feelings are easily justified and considered normal. Anxiety is considered a problem when symptoms interfere with a person's ability to sleep or otherwise function. Generally speaking, anxiety occurs when a reaction is out of proportion with what might be normally expected in a situation.
Anxiety disorders can be classified into several more specific types. The most common are briefly described below.
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic disorder characterized by excessive, long-lasting anxiety and worry about nonspecific life events, objects, and situations. GAD sufferers often feel afraid and worry about health, money, family, work, or school, but they have trouble both identifying the specific fear and controlling the worries. Their fear is usually unrealistic or out of proportion with what may be expected in their situation. Sufferers expect failure and disaster to the point that it interferes with daily functions like work, school, social activities, and relationships.
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by thoughts or actions that are repetitive, distressing, and intrusive. OCD suffers usually know that their compulsions are unreasonable or irrational, but they serve to alleviate their anxiety. Often, the logic of someone with OCD will appear superstitious, such as an insistence in walking in a certain pattern. OCD sufferers may obsessively clean personal items or hands or constantly check locks, stoves, or light switches.
What are common symptoms of anxiety?
People with anxiety disorders present a variety of physical symptoms in addition to non-physical symptoms that characterize the disorders such as excessive, unrealistic worrying. Many of these symptoms are similar to those exhibited by a person suffering general illness, heart attack, or stroke, and this tends to further increase anxiety. The following is a list of physical symptoms associated with GAD:
- Trembling
- Churning stomach
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Headache
- Backache
- Heart palpitations
- Numbness or "pins and needles" in arms, hands or legs
- Sweating/flushing
- Restlessness
- Easily tired
- Trouble concentrating
- Irritability
- Muscle tension
- Frequent urination
- Trouble falling or staying asleep
- Being easily startled
Those suffering from panic disorders may experience similar physical symptoms to those with GAD. They also may experience chest pains, a sense of choking, shortness of breath, and dizziness.
Post-traumatic stress disorders have a range of symptoms that are unique to this form of anxiety. Frequent symptomatic behaviors include:
- Flashbacks or nightmares of re-experiencing the trauma
- Avoidance of people, places, and things that are associated with the original event
- Difficulty concentrating or sleeping
- Closely watching surroundings (hypervigilance)
- Irritability and diminished feelings or aspirations for the future
What Causes Anxiety?
Anxiety disorders may be caused by environmental factors, medical factors, genetics, brain chemistry, substance abuse, or a combination of these. It is most commonly triggered by the stress in our lives. Usually anxiety is a response to outside forces, but it is possible that we make ourselves anxious with "negative self-talk" - a habit of always telling ourselves the worst will happen.
Environmental and external factors
Environmental factors that are known to cause several types of anxiety include:
- Trauma from events such as abuse, victimization, or the death of a loved one
- Stress in a personal relationship, marriage, friendship, and divorce
- Stress at work
- Stress from school
- Stress about finances and money
- Stress from a natural disaster
- Lack of oxygen in high altitude areas
Medical factors
Anxiety is associated with medical factors such as anemia, asthma, infections, and several heart conditions. Some medically-related causes of anxiety include:
- Stress from a serious medical illness
- Side effects of medication
- Symptoms of a medical illness
- Lack of oxygen from emphysema, or pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung)
Substance use and abuse
It is estimated that about half of patients who utilize mental health services for anxiety disorders such as GAD, panic disorder, or social phobia are doing so because of alcohol or benzodiazepine dependence. More generally, anxiety is also know to result from:
- Intoxication from an illicit drug, such as cocaine or amphetamines
- Withdrawal from an illicit drug, such as heroin, or from prescription drugs like Vicodin, benzodiazepines, or barbiturates
Genetics
It has been suggested by some researchers that a family history of anxiety increases the likelihood that a person will develop it. That is, some people may have a genetic predisposition that gives them a greater chance of suffering from anxiety disorders.
Brain chemistry
Research has shown that people with abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain are more likely to suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. When neurotransmitters are not working properly, the brain's internal communication network breaks down, and the brain may react in an inappropriate way in some situations. This can lead to anxiety.
How is anxiety diagnosed?
A psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or other mental-health professional is usually enlisted to diagnose anxiety and identify the causes of it. The physician will take a careful medical and personal history, perform a physical examination, and order laboratory tests as needed. There is no one laboratory test that can be used to diagnose anxiety, but tests may provide useful information about a medical condition that may be causing physical illness or other anxiety symptoms.
To be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a person must:
- Excessively worry and be anxious about several different events or activities on more days than not for at least six months
- Find it difficult to control the worrying
- Have at least three of the following six symptoms associated with the anxiety on more days than not in the last six months: restlessness, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating
Generally, to be diagnosed with GAD, symptoms must be present more often than not for six months and they must interfere with daily living, causing the sufferer to miss work or school.
If the focus of the anxiety and worry is confined to a particular anxiety disorder, GAD will not be the diagnosis. For example, a physician may diagnose panic disorder if the anxiety is focused on worrying about having a panic attack, social phobia if worrying about being embarrassed in public, separation anxiety disorder if worrying about being away from home or relatives, anorexia nervosa if worrying about gaining weight, or hypochondriasis if worrying about having a serious illness.
Patients with anxiety disorder often present symptoms similar to clinical depression and vice-versa. It is rare for a patient to exhibit symptoms of only one of these.
How is anxiety treated?
Anxiety can be treated medically, with psychological counseling, or independently. Ultimately, the treatment path depends on the cause of the anxiety and the patient's preferences. Often treatments will consist of a combination of psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, and medications.
Sometimes alcoholism, depression, or other coexisting conditions have such a strong effect on the individual that treating the anxiety disorder must wait until the coexisting conditions are brought under control.
Comments:
It is estimated that at any given time, around 13% of the population will suffer from an anxiety disorder of one kind or another.
ahh thanks!! so many flks know NOTHING about anxiety at all. they thin you are a drama queen or something. but its horrible
i too suffer from it.It started one day when my hubby was getting a vasectomy.A simple procedure in the urolody dept.They werent puting him to sleep or anything serious.Im sitting there and (its at the army hospital)I hear CODE BLUE several times and all kinds of lights going off.I was just sitting ther thinking it was from the er which is right down the hall but no i turn around and the nurses and drs are running in from the er to where I was.I was like ummm OMG my husband is the only one back there.I was yelling"someone please tell me if its my husband back there,please somebody help me"I knew it was him.I was sitting there shaking and praying.My 1 yr old son was there and I was preggo too.Everyone was running around like crazy and the urology dept was filled with drs and nurses.I was crying and I knew he was dead.The nurses finally come over to me to calm me down and wanted me to go to a different room to calm me down.All of a sudden the chaplain walks in and he sits down and hold my hand.I was yelling please tell me if hes ok.about 20 LONG minutes later they came in and said they revived him and he is ok.I was shaking so bad I couldnt even walk.I fell 3 times walking back to see him and thank god they caught me.Thats what caused my ptsd.That feeling of him dying still is inside me now for everyone and everything.Noone gets it.They think Im overreacting.Its so scary and I always think Im dying.I think about death all the time and it scares me.Its good to talk to people with my problem.
LADIES, PLEASE, IF U R SUFFERING ANY TYPE OF MENTAL ILLNESS, COME CHECK OUT OUR GROUP!! IT IS FULL OF INFO AND GREAT LADIES, WHO KNOW WHAT U R GOING THROUGH!!!
If you are having anxiety or have had it for some time, please do seek help! I personally let it go for many years and it eventually turned into agoraphobia. I couldnt leave my home or go anywhere alone.. It was really difficult not only for me but for my husband and son aswell
thank you ladies for the responses ! This is very real and can cause alot of hectic situations in everyday life.... please check us out if you have any of the symptoms.. it is so much easier to talk with people who understand ...
Although I do not have any of these, I think it is wonderful you put it out there. Many hide the fact they have these issues/problems/disorders and they are nothing to be embarrassed about. Best of luck to all you sweet ladies.
Jan. 20, 2010 at 1:33 AM
ahh thanks!! so many flks know NOTHING about anxiety at all. they thin you are a drama queen or something. but its horrible
Hi sweet lady,unfortunately we have a lot of that here on CM. I hope the ladies who need this help get it!
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I will NEVER FORGET the first Anxiety / Panic Attack I HAD !!!!!
OMG !!!!!
I thought, i was having a heart attack.....But my abusive husband, would not help me-- he just yelled at me.....
UNTILL 1 day, we were going over the enclosed metal bridge, in Charleston , S.C.....and IT HIT !!!!!!
I CAME TO A STOP.
70 MPH..... and JUST IN TOTAL FEAR !!!!!
That is when, he woke up...I NEEDED HELP !!!!!
I NEARLY KILLED US ALL !!!
This is nothing to PLAY with, and is VERY REAL......
- SissyAnn141
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