Understanding anxiety disorders

It’s normal to worry and feel tense or scared when under pressure or facing a stressful situation. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when we feel threatened.

Although it may be unpleasant, anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, anxiety can help us stay alert and focused, spur us to action, and motivate us to solve problems. But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with your relationships and activities—that’s when you’ve crossed the line from normal anxiety into the territory of anxiety disorders.

If you identify with several of the following signs and symptoms, and they just won’t go away, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

• Are you constantly tense, worried, or on edge?
• Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities?
• Are you plagued by fears that you know are irrational, but can’t shake?
• Do you believe that something bad will happen if certain things aren’t done a certain way?
• Do you avoid everyday situations or activities because they make you anxious?
• Do you experience sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic?
• Do you feel like danger and catastrophe are around every corner?

Because the anxiety disorders are a group of related conditions rather than a single disorder, they can look very different from person to person. One individual may suffer from intense anxiety attacks that strike without warning, while another gets panicky at the thought of mingling at a party. Someone else may struggle with a disabling fear of driving or uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts. Still another may live in a constant state of tension, worrying about anything and everything.

But despite their different forms, all anxiety disorders share one major symptom: persistent or severe fear or worry in situations where most people wouldn’t feel threatened.

Emotional symptoms of anxiety

In addition to the primary symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include:

• Feelings of apprehension or dread
• Trouble concentrating
• Feeling tense and jumpy
• Anticipating the worst
• Irritability
• Restlessness
• Watching for signs of danger
• Feeling like your mind’s gone blank

Anxiety is more than just a feeling. As a product of the body’s fight-or-flight response, anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the numerous physical symptoms, anxiety sufferers often mistake their disorder for a medical illness. They may visit many doctors and make numerous trips to the hospital before their anxiety disorder is discovered.

Common physical symptoms of anxiety include:

• Pounding heart
• Sweating
• Stomach upset or dizziness
• Frequent urination or diarrhea
• Shortness of breath
• Tremors and twitches
• Muscle tension
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Insomnia

Many people with anxiety disorders also suffer from depression at some point. Anxiety and depression are believed to stem from the same biological vulnerability, which may explain why they so often go hand in hand. Since depression makes anxiety worse (and vice versa), it’s important to seek treatment for both conditions.

Anxiety attacks and their symptoms

Anxiety attacks, known as panic attacks in mental health circles, ­are episodes of intense panic or fear. Anxiety attacks usually occur suddenly and without warning. Sometimes there’s an obvious trigger— getting stuck in an elevator, for example, or thinking about the big speech you’re giving in a few hours—but in other cases, the attacks come out of the blue.

Anxiety attacks usually peak within ten minutes, and they rarely last more than a half hour. But during that short time, the terror can be so severe that you feel as if you’re about to die or totally lose control. The physical symptoms are themselves so frightening that many people believe they’re having a heart attack. After an anxiety attack is over, you may be worried about having another one, particularly in a public place where help isn’t available or you can’t easily escape.

Symptoms of an anxiety attack include:

• Surge of overwhelming panic
• Feeling of losing control or going crazy
• Heart palpitations or chest pain
• Feeling like you’re going to pass out
• Trouble breathing or choking sensation
• Hyperventilation
• Hot flashes or chills
• Trembling or shaking
• Nausea or stomach cramps
• Feeling detached or unreal

It’s important to seek help if you’re starting to avoid certain situations or places because you’re afraid of having a panic attack. The good news is that anxiety attacks are highly treatable. In fact, many people are panic free within just 5 to 8 treatment sessions. To learn more about overcoming anxiety attacks, see Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder.

Types of anxiety disorders

There are six major types of anxiety disorders, each with their own distinct symptom profile: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder.

Not everyone who worries a lot has an anxiety disorder. You may be anxious because of an overly demanding schedule, lack of exercise or sleep, pressure at home or work, or even from too much coffee. The bottom line is that if your lifestyle is unhealthy and stressful, you’re likely to feel anxious whether or not you have an anxiety disorder. So if you feel like you worry too much, take some time to evaluate how well you’re caring for yourself.

• Do you make time each day for relaxation and fun?
• Are you getting the emotional support you need?
• Are you taking care of your body?
• Are you overloaded with responsibilities?
• Do you ask for help when you need it?

In addition to making positive lifestyle changes, you can reduce your anxiety levels by challenging the irrational beliefs, pessimistic attitudes, and rigid mental habits that trigger and sustain worry.

When to seek professional help for anxiety

While self-help coping strategies for anxiety can be very effective, if your worries and fears have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to seek professional help.

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