Anxiety Disorders are when our minds and our bodies react to stress in ways which can become disabling.
Anxiety is part of our ‘fight or flight’ inbred reaction to stress which has been with human beings since they existed on earth. ‘Fight or flight’ helped early man react to animals which threatened his life. He did not think about what would happen if he was attacked by a wild creature. His reactions took over and he ran. He broke out in a sweat as adrenalin automatically pumped around his body. His heart rate and blood pressure quickened, providing a burst of energy to his muscles, and he took flight.
If he couldn’t escape, those same stress reactions gave him the burst of energy and strength he need to help him fight the beast and perhaps helped him survive his encounter.
Without Anxiety as a stress reaction, humans as a species would not have survived.
However, those same symptoms of anxiety - rapid heart beat, sweating, panting and all other normal reactions to sudden stress, can get out of hand in everyday life. That’s when Anxiety becomes an Anxiety Disorder.
Most of us react with some increased anxiety to stressful events. For example, having to make a public speech for the first time will make most people display signs of nervousness - perhaps a ‘jittery tummy’ or sweating hands for example. However, for millions of people, this increased Anxiety can be felt on a daily basis and often when undertaking events or tasks which are usually considered unstressful.
Sufferers from Anxiety Disorders may experience some or all of the following physical symptoms:
Heart palpitations, increased sweating, stomach aches, nausea, diarrhoea, chest pain, shortness of breath, or headaches.
They may also suffer from disorientation with their surroundings, caused by the sudden increase of physical symptoms and, in turn, the increased sense of panic this brings.
There are 5 Major Anxiety Disorders recognised my most mental health professionals. These are:
Panic Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Social Phobia (or Social Anxiety Disorder)
Other Anxiety Disorders include Specific Phobias such as Aviophobia (fear of flying; Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces); Acousticophobia (fear of noise); and Botanophobia (fear of plants) (you can see a very long list of these phobias here).
Panic Disorder (Panich Attacks) is perhaps the most recognised Anxiety Disorder and one which can go hand in hand with some forms of Depression.
Panic attacks can occur at any time - as if they have come ‘out of the blue’. A person can be doing everyday things and suddenly be overcome with panic and fear, feeling all the physical and mental symptoms described above.
The first time someone suffers a Panic Attack they may feel they are suffering heart failure, because of pain and tightness in their chest. They may feel they are going mad, because they feel so afraid for no reason they can figure out. This leads to more stress.
People who experience Panic Attacks can find them so frghtening that they interfere with their everyday lives. They may resist going out in case they have a panic attack away from home or begin to avoid all places where their panic attacks have occurred. This can be very restricting on their lives and if not treated can become a very debilitating illness.
However, Anxiety Disorders can be treated, usually with medication and psychotherapy. Anxiety Disorders often accompany other illnesses, most often Depression, in which case antidepressants will be prescribed along with anxiety treatment.
Treatment for Anxiety Disorders
Medication:
Anxiety Disorders cannot be fully treated with medication, but this can be very effective in helping the sufferer cope with the symptoms of anxiety while undergoing pschotherapy or other forms of self-help for Anxiety.
Benzodiazepines, such as Diazapam (Valium), Clonazepam, and lorazepam, are extremely effective in the short term for quelling the symptoms of Anxiety Disorders. They are also useful for specific Anxieties or phobias, such as fear of flying. However, some mental health professionals will only prescribe them in extreme cases, as they can be addictive. If prescribed, they will only usually be prescribed in the short term, possibly for two to four weeks at the most.
Buspirone is a newer anti-anxiety medication. Unlike Benzodiazepines, Buspirone has not been found to be addictive and can be taken for a longer term. However, like antidepressants, Buspirone takes about two weeks to be fully effective, so it cannot be used to treat short term but intense Anxiety symptoms. However, Buspirone has been found to be very effective in helping sufferers from GAD (General Anxiety Disorder).
Beta-blockers, usually prescribed to treat certain heart conditions, have been found to be very effective at treating the physical symptoms of Anxiety Disorders. They are most useful when prescribed for particualr events, such as before taking a driving test or making a speech. They may also be prescribed for longer term use when an Anxiety sufferer finds the physical effects of Anxiety the most debilitating.
Psychotherapy:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is usually thought to be the most effective form of therapy for Anxiety Disorders. This will involve the patient and therapist working together, one to one, to work out a plan of ‘homework’ for the patient to follow. This will involve questioning the reasoning behind the Anxiety Disorder and steps to face the disorder.
For instance, someone with a fear of train travel will be asked to make steps over the weeks to deal with this, perhaps first of all by standing at a train station, then on the platform, then taking a small journey by train. All the time the patient will be writing down their feelings and questioning them and monitoring their results.
Before these steps are taken, the patient will usually be offered help with deep breathing techniques and relaxation exercises, so that they can learn to control the physical symptoms of Anxiety which may arise during their training session.
What to do if you feel you, or someone close to you, may be suffering from an Anxiety Disorder:
The first thing to do is talk to your doctor. Tell him and her all your symptoms. As with Depression, your doctor will carry out some physical tests, to ensure that your symptoms are not due to a physical cause.
Your health professional will then ask you a series of questions, such as how things are in your personal life and your work, has anything happened recently to upset you, or are there any problems which you feel may be making you feel anxious.
Once your doctor feels you are suffering from an Anxiety Disorder, he or she may prescribe medication straight away, or refer you to a professinal dealing with mental health. If your symptoms are severe, he will probably prescribe some short term medication to tide you over until you can see the mental health professional.
Anxiety Disorders can be extremely frightening; they can be debilitating, but they can also be treated with the correct help and advice.
Millions of people throughout the World suffer from Anxiety Disorders. You may be one of those people. It is nothing to be ashamed of, so, if you feel you are suffering from an Anxiety Disorder, then please seek help.
Further Reading:
National Institute of Mental Health
Panic Away - Help With Anxiety and Panic Attacks
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