Know Your feelings

Facts about Anxiety Disorders

Most people experience feelings of anxiety before a significant event such as a big exam, business presentation, or first date. Anxiety disorders, however, are illnesses that pack people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear that are chronic, continuous, and can grow increasingly worse. Anguished by panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, flashbacks of traumatic events, nightmares, or numerous frightening physical symptoms, some people with anxiety disorders even become housebound. Luckily, there are successful treatments that can help.


What are the different kinds of Anxiety Disorders ?

Panic Disorder - Repeated episodes of intense fear that strike often and without warning. Physical symptoms include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, abdominal distress, feelings of unreality, and fear of dying.

Obsessive - Compulsive Disorder Repeated, unwanted thoughts or compulsive behaviors that seem impossible to stop or control.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Persistent symptoms that occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event such as rape or other criminal assault, war, child abuse, natural or human-caused disasters, or crashes. Nightmares, flashbacks, numbing of emotions, depression, and feeling angry, irritable or distracted and being easily startled are common. Family members of victims can also develop this disorder.

Phobias - Two major types of phobias are social phobia and specific phobia. People with social phobia have an overwhelming and disabling fear of scrutiny, embarrassment, or humiliation in social situations, which leads to avoidance of many potentially pleasurable and meaningful activities. People with specific phobia experience extreme, disabling, and irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger; the fear leads to avoidance of objects or situations and can cause people to limit their lives unnecessarily.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder - Constant, exaggerated worrisome thoughts and tension about everyday routine life events and activities, lasting at least six months. Almost always anticipating the worst even though there is little reason to expect it; accompanied by physical symptoms, such as fatigue, trembling, muscle tension, headache, or nausea.



What are effectives treatments for Anxiety Disorders ?

Treatments have been mostly developed through research institutions. They help many people with anxiety disorders and often merge medication and specific types of psychotherapy.

A number of medications that were initially approved for treating depression have been found to be successful for anxiety disorders as well. Some of the newest of these antidepressants are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's). Other ant anxiety medications include groups of drugs called benzodiazepines and beta-blockers. If one medication is not efficient, others can be tried. New medications are currently under development to treat anxiety symptoms.

Two clinically-proven successful forms of psychotherapy used to treat anxiety disorders are behavioral therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Behavioral therapy focuses on altering specific actions and uses numerous techniques to stop unnecessary behaviors. In addition to the behavioral therapy techniques, cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches patients to understand and alter their thinking patterns so they can react in a different way to the situations that cause them anxiety.


Do Anxiety Disorders co-exist with other physical or mental disorders ?

It is frequent for an anxiety disorder to accompany depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, or another anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can also co-exist with illnesses such as cancer or heart disease. In such instances, the accompanying disorders will also need to be treated. Before starting any treatment, however, it is vital to have a thorough medical examination to rule out other possible causes of symptoms.

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	Adultery		Dissatisfaction
	Anorexia Nervosa		Divorce / Separation
	Anxiety		Gambling Addiction
	Being worried		Loneliness
	Bulimia Nervosa		Phobias
	Chronic Pain		Rejection
	Conflict		Stress
	Death and Loss		Suicidal Thoughts
	Depression		Violence
	Despair
Warning: if you have moderate depression or suicidal tendencies please seek the advice of a doctor/ therapist or dial 9-1-1.