Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural emotional response to a threatening situation. Feelings of worry, nervousness or unease about an upcoming speaking engagement, exams or workplace pressures are common to all of us. Usually these feelings are reasonable and we adapt to the situation, despite how uncomfortable our initial response might be. These feelings might even last two to three weeks, depending on the stressful nature of the situation. A person may request short term treatment to help cope with the event. However this does not indicate an anxiety disorder and it is important to understand the difference between short term anxiety and an anxiety disorder.

It is estimated that 10% of people suffer from anxiety disorders and that 25% of people will experience at least one anxiety disorder in their lifetime. There are many different types of Anxiety Disorders. Among them are Panic Attack, Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Agoraphobia without a history of Panic Disorder, Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia, Specific Phobia, Social Phobia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder Due to Medical Conditions, Substance Induced Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Each of these disorders has its own specific group of symptoms but all are characterized by excessive irrational fear and dread and therefore many psychological and medication treatments will be common among the disorders. It is important to seek treatment for these conditions, realizing they are treatable medical disorders and not make the mistake of viewing them as weakness or instability of character.

Panic Attack - A panic attack is not a disorder. It is a discrete period of intense fear, usually with a relatively rapid onset, building up and peaking at about 10 minutes and lasting no more than 20 to 30 minutes. People may experience heart pounding, chest pain, shortness of breath, faint, dizzy, nauseated, flushed, chilled, a sense of loss of control or going crazy, light headed, or fear of dying. Not everyone who has a panic attack has panic disorder. Some people might have just one attack and no more or attacks cued by specific situations only.

Panic Disorder - This disorder is characterized by panic attacks which occur without warning and at least some of the attacks are not associated with any specific situational cues. Panic disorder may or may not be accompanied by agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia - is an irrational anxiety or fear of open or public places resulting in people avoiding the situations, performing them under extreme anxiety or needing someone present in order to go into the situation.

Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia - When panic disorder results in people avoiding situations for fear of a panic attack occurring and the person feels unable to escape or need to be accompanied by another person in order to go into the situation such as a grocery store, bus, driving or elevator.

Specific-Phobia - Phobias are extreme or irrational fears of something. In specific phobias this might be to animals or insects such as spiders, environmental events such as storms, seeing blood, situational such as driving, elevators or bridges, or fears of falling or choking. Most people avoid the situation and experience anxiety when they even anticipate it but occasionally people are willing to endure the situation although they do so with an unreasonable degree of anxiety.

Social-Phobia - This is also known as Social Anxiety Disorder. This persistent fear or anxiety might be to a specific performance or may be a more generalized phobic response to a number of social situations such as parties, participating in small group settings, public performances, or other socially interactive situations.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - This is a condition in which people are plagued by persistent unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and the felt need to do certain things (compulsions) which they find impossible to control. Obsessions may be over contamination, a stove being turned off, did they hurt someone in a traffic accident and compulsions might be repeated hand washing, checking, or counting in an attempt to relieve the anxiety symptoms.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - People who have experienced or seen a terrifying event in their lives such as a fatal accident, war, rape, attack or some natural disaster might go on to experience intense fear, helplessness or horror, reliving the terrifying experience in their minds (flashbacks), depression, anger or irritability. The symptoms intense, persistent and may interfere with normal daily relationships and functioning.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder - This disorder is characterized by almost daily, excessive worry or anxiety which lasts six months or more, over a variety of situations. This anxiety is accompanied by a number of symptoms such as sleep disturbance, irritability, concentration problems, or muscle tension.