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Everyone feels some degree of anxiety or nervousness from time to time. Some of the best examples are public speaking or interviewing for a new job. However, if the anxiety you experience is not temporary, and begins to interfere with your functioning in life, you may be experiencing an anxiety disorder. Having an Anxiety Disorder doesn't mean you are crazy. It simply means you are experiencing higher levels of fear or apprehension than others. It is certainly treatable. There is always Hope for an improved quality of life through awareness of the symptoms and counseling to change patterns of behaviors and thinking. There are many forms of anxiety disorders. Below is a list of some of the most common with a short description. If you think any of these might describe you, please seek professional help. There is Hope. Change is possible.
Acute Stress Disorder a reaction to a situation where the person experienced or observed a traumatic event that involved actual or possible injury or death. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Excessive Worry) is almost constant worry and fretting over things in life, usually without good reason. The worry seems endless and the worst is usually expected to happen. The worry may interfere with sleep or concentration. Panic Disorder is having periods of sudden extreme fear where the person feels he or she is dying, going crazy, or having a heart attack. There are intense physical symptoms like shortness of breath, choking, trembling, and a racing heart. Almost always a secondary fear will become a focus - that of having another panic attack. Often the apprehension and dread of having another panic attack leads to the person avoiding places where they experienced any anxiety, sometimes to the point of rarely leaving the safety of home. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a type of anxiety characterized by repetitive thoughts or impulses (the obsession) and the repetitive or rituals (the compulsions) that a person feels no control over. Common obsessions are thoughts of being contaminated by germs, or repeated doubts and worries (such as excessive fear the doors are not locked), or of rigid rules for how things must be arranged. Some common compulsions are behaviors such as excessive washing of the hands, repeatedly checking doors or lights, or precisely arranging things in a particular order. The compulsive behavior serves to reduce the internal anxiety caused by the obsessional thoughts, but only temporarily. Social Phobias are excessive fears about being judged or evaluated in public or of exposure to unfamiliar people. Often social phobias can prevent a person from going to normal and usual places such as restaurants or stores. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a form of anxiety where there is a reliving of some very traumatic event that has happened in life, such as an accident or injury, some natural disaster, or a personal tragedy such as rape. Often the person has recurring dreams, flashbacks, or reliving of the traumatic event, and these moments cause much distress. Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety in which the person fears being caught without an easy means of escape, such as in buildings, driving on the Interstate, crossing bridges, or in elevators. Often this form of fear disorder seriously restricts how far from home a person can travel or where they can go. Often associated with panic disorder, this form of anxiety can significantly restrict a person's lifestyle or movements away from home. Other Specific Phobias are an excessive fear of some object or situation, such as a fear of dogs, a fear of heights, or a fear of flying or public speaking. Phobic individuals avoid the feared object or situation and rarely allow their fears to become very intense through this avoidance. An example would be to never ride an elevator. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms and they are interfering with your functioning in life, you should seek help from a qualified mental health professional. In many cases there may be associated depression, low self-esteem, and reduced self-confidence as a result of the fears present. Often anxiety disorders also lead to abuse of alcohol or drugs as "self medication". How can anxiety disorder be treated? 1. Counseling - involves talking about problems and developing coping skills and solutions to the problem. 2. If medication seems needed, counselors work with family doctors and psychiatrists who will evaluate and prescribe the appropriate medications. 3. Several of the anxiety disorders are usually treated with a combination
of counseling and medication.
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