Anxiety
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Anxiety is a feeling of nervousness, apprehension, fear, or worry. 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.
In anxiety, these feelings reach a level that interfere's with a person's life.
Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can be extremely
debilitating, having a serious impact on daily life.
Characteristics include sweating, cold hands, trembling, palpitations,
headache, nausea, hyperacidity, insomnia, restlessness, fatigue, irritability, and
poor concentration.
Generally speaking, anxiety occurs when a reaction is out of proportion with what
might be normally expected in a situation.
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Causes of Anxiety
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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
- 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
- Lack of oxygen in high altitude areas
Medical factors
- 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
- 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.
Characteristics include sweating, cold hands, trembling, palpitations,
headache, nausea, hyperacidity, insomnia, restlessness, fatigue, irritability, and
poor concentration.
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Some anxiety-related disorders
Anxiety may lead to depression. The person feels sad and hopeless. Investigation
reveal an underlying problem - eg stress, heart disease or addiction - and aid diagnosis.
Some anxiety-related disorders are:
- Panic Disorder: In panic disorder, there are repeated
episodes of high anxiety with a feeling that something terrible is going to happen.
The panic attack sufferer may experience their mind going blank or that they somehow
do not feel real, in that they feel as if they are looking at themselves from outside
of themselves.
- Phobias: There are many kinds of phobias, where people
dread different situations. People with phobias experience irrational fear that
may rise to the level of panic attacks in response to a specific thing or situation.
Examples of phobias include fears of spiders, insects in general, open spaces, closed-in
spaces, heights, crowded spaces, air travel, heights, and social anxiety.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): This is a condition
in which an irrational idea recurs or gets stuck in a person's mind. It may be in
the form of 'circular thinking' round and round an idea, so much so that the person
blows it out of proportion in his mind. Often though he realizes, it is not rational,
he cannot avoid it or stop acting on it. One example of fear is germs, when the
person may go on washing his/her hands repeatedly.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Those who endure this
condition experience numerous worries that are more often on the mind of the sufferer
than not. Those worries interfere with the person's ability to sleep or otherwise
function.
What can you do?
- Consult: Treatment may include medications, psychotherapy
methods including counselling and group therapy, behavioural therapy including relaxing
techniques and exercise, and social support.
- Self-treatment: In some cases, anxiety may be treated
at home, without a doctor's supervision. Talk with a person who is supportive, meditate,
exercise, take a long, warm bath, relax yourself completely, learn to replace "negative
self talk" with "coping self talk". Keep an eye on pressures and deadlines, and
commit to taking time away from study or work.
How is anxiety prevented?
Although anxiety disorders cannot be prevented, there are ways to reduce your risk
and methods to control or lessen symptoms. Recommendations include:
- Reducing caffeine, tea, cola, and chocolate consumption.
- Checking with a doctor or pharmacist before using over-the-counter or herbal remedies
to see if they contain chemicals that may contribute to anxiety.
- Exercising regularly.
- Eating healthy foods.
- Keeping a regular sleep pattern.
- Seeking counseling and support after a traumatic or disturbing experience.
- Avoiding alcohol, cannabis
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