Anxiety is your body’s defense mechanism to stress. It comes in many different feelings of worry, unease, fear or anticipatory nervousness. Anxiety can happen quickly and last a few moments or a few months. It can often happen with triggers or not. Some typical triggers are introductions, giving a speech, being the center of attention or having to perform on queue. Extreme cases are likely a cause of an anxiety disorder.
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety disorders are extreme cases of anxiety that are often debilitating to the person experiencing it. It can affect anyone of all ages and can prevent you from doing any activities that trigger your anxiety. Some people avoid putting themselves in situations where they would ever have to speak, or can even lead to phobias so deep they won’t leave their home.
What types of anxiety are there?
Anticipatory Anxiety: is a component of panic disorder. The physical symptoms have been described as intense as someone thinking they’re dying, hyperventilating, or having a heart attack. Panic attacks often happen out of nowhere and causes emotional distress where you develop a fear it will happen again. The fear becomes so strong that you develop anticipatory anxiety. You fear what could happen if you’re in the same situation again.
- Panic Disorder: is a recurring panic attack that happens at unexpectedly. Anticipatory anxiety often develops from a panic attack.
- Phobia: fear of a situation, object or activity
- Social Anxiety: Fear of social settings
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Recurring thoughts that cause specific behaviors
- Separation Anxiety Disorder: is the fear of being separated from a normal setting or loved one.
- Illness Anxiety Disorder: is anxiety about health
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): is anxiety after a traumatic event
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
Anxiety comes in many shapes and forms. Some experience a tickle in their throat before they speak, where some may have a complete out of body experience, which is a result of fight or flight. The human mind is a complicated thing, so a person with anxiety could be short of breathe, they could have an increased heart rate and be red in the face. Anxiety has many symptoms such as:
- heavy breathing
- increased heart rate
- lack of concentration
- insomnia
- dry mouth
- shaking
Each person experiences different symptoms. Some people can get warmed up in front of a crowd after cracking a joke, others are like a deer in headlights once the attention is on them and it’s humiliating to go through.
What causes an anxiety attack?
An anxiety attack is often caused by certain triggers, but can happen out of nowhere. There’s a number of factors ranging from brain chemistry, environmental setting, genetics and other pre-existing conditions such as depression. Researchers are constantly running studies to learn more about the brains behavior and what is responsible for anxiety.
What are the treatments for anxiety?
There are treatment options your physician can provide you with. It depends on the severity of your anxiety, however, there are remedies and treatment options that can help you manage your stress and anxiety from day-to-day.
Treatment for anxiety can be through medication or psychotherapy. Medications that are used to treat anxiety include sedatives or antidepressants. Antidepressants often take weeks or even months to start seeing benefits. Sedatives have an immediate affect, but make you sluggish. You shouldn’t ever drink or drive using sedatives. Seeking therapy through a psychologist can help equip you with the tools you need to go into challenging situations that would evoke anxiety.