What is anxiety and how it can be treated?

     

   Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. Maybe you feel nervous when you need to speak in public, when you need to make some important decision or when you face some school, work or relationship problems. We can say that the anxiety is normal human emotion and a natural alarm system in your body that can be activated when you are dealing with dangerous situations in your life. In these situations, the anxiety in your body is there to protect you from the danger, not to hurt you. But, anxiety can become a serious problem, if your anxious feelings don’t subside or if your body reacts as if there is danger when there is no real danger. The people who experience anxiety imagine that things in their life are worse than they really are. They can’t control these anxious feelings that start to limit their ability to lead a normal life.

An anxiety disorder is a really serious mental problem. There are several types of anxiety disorders: panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias and generalized anxiety disorder. This anxiety disorders affect our body, thoughts and behaviors. Some of the general psychological and behavioral symptoms are: 

· Excessive worry- worrying too much about everyday things and having persistent anxious thoughts most of the time.

· Feelings of panic and irrational fears.

· Increased heart rate.

· Tingling in the hands and feet.

· Difficulty in breathing.

· Feeling sick.

· Shaking.

· Sweating.

· Dry mouth.

· Sleeping problems.

· Muscle tension.

· Compulsive behaviors.

· Thinking that you might die.

· Feeling that people are looking at you and observing you.

· Feeling detached from your environment and the people in it.

Anxiety is a very common disorder that affects millions of people. Most of the anxiety disorders begin in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. There are no lab tests to specifically diagnose anxiety disorders. The doctors try to indicate these disorders by asking questions about your medical history or they may use various tests to look for physical problems as the cause of the symptoms. If no physical problems are found, the doctor will recommended you visit other mental health professional, like psychiatrist or psychologist. They use specially designed tools to evaluate a person for an anxiety disorder. The anxiety treatment depends on the type of the disorder. The treatment may include medications like anti-depressants and anxiety-reducing drugs. Also, the psychotherapy (counseling) plays a big role in the treatment. It’s a process in which professionals help people to deal with their disorder. Effective psychotherapy treatments help people with anxiety to learn how to control the condition so it doesn't control them.

So, these were some of the main things that you need to know about anxiety. I hope that these important informations will help you recognize anxiety in your or someone else's life. If you want to learn more about the anxiety disorders, don’t forget to read my next blog post.