It’s normal to feel anxious, worried, or fearful in certain situations. These feelings are our bodies’ natural ‘fight or flight response’ to a perceived dangerous situation. However, if continuous feelings of anxiety impact your ability to carry out life as normal, you could have an anxiety disorder.
Knowing the difference between normal feelings of anxiety and an anxiety disorder requiring medical attention can help a person identify and treat the condition.
Symptoms of anxiety
Everyone’s experiences of anxiety disorders are different. Not everyone who has an anxiety disorder will experience the same symptoms. Anxiety can have both mental and physical symptoms. It can make it difficult to carry out daily tasks and can also often lead to depression.
Common anxiety signs and symptoms include:
- Feeling nervous, restless, or tense
- Having a sense of choking
- Having an increased heart rate
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Sweating
- Chills or hot flashes
- Dizziness
- Trembling
- Having numbness or tingling
- Feeling weak or tired
- Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
- Having trouble sleeping
- Having difficulty controlling worry
- Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
Types of anxiety disorders
Anxiety becomes a disorder when it’s irrational, excessive, and interferes with a person’s ability to function in daily life. Anxiety disorders include:
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Social phobias – fear of social situations
- Specific phobias – for example a fear of open spaces (agoraphobia) or enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)
- Panic disorders – frequent and debilitating panic attacks.
Causes
The causes of anxiety disorders are complicated. Many might occur at once, some may lead to others, and some might not lead to an anxiety disorder unless another is present.
Possible causes include:
- Environmental stressors, such as difficulties at work, relationship problems, or family issues
- Genetics, as people who have family members with an anxiety disorder are more likely to experience one themselves
- Medical factors, such as the symptoms of a different disease, the effects of a medication, or the stress of an intensive surgery or prolonged recovery
- Brain chemistry, as psychologists define many anxiety disorders as misalignments of hormones and electrical signals in the brain
- Withdrawal from an illicit substance, the effects of which might intensify the impact of other possible causes
Treatment for Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders can cause people a great deal of distress and can get in the way of living a full and productive life. Luckily, anxiety disorders are highly treatable. Treatment for anxiety disorders can include therapy, medication, and even lifestyle changes that can help reduce symptoms.
Therapy
Therapy is a front-line treatment for anxiety and can be highly effective at helping people learn skills and strategies to manage and reduce symptoms. Usually, therapy is offered by a licensed counselor or social worker, although that can vary based on a person’s needs. Over time and as people’s symptoms improve, they often come less frequently and eventually complete treatment.
Medication Option
At times, medication for anxiety may be recommended as a part of treatment. Medications can be prescribed by a medical doctor, psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant, but usually not by a therapist or social worker. Speak with your doctor about how anxiety medication can affect you and the timeline for when you’ll see results to determine whether it’s the right option for you.
Lifestyle Changes
In addition to formal treatment options like therapy and medication, there are also certain lifestyle changes that people can make to help their anxiety. Certain activities and routine adjustments can help to reduce stress and control symptoms. Because anxiety has a neurochemical basis, many of the suggested lifestyle changes work to rebalance these chemicals.
These include:
- getting enough sleep
- meditating
- staying active and exercising
- eating a healthy diet
- staying active and working out
- avoiding alcohol
- avoiding caffeine
- quitting smoking cigarettes
Recent Comments