Anxiety

What is anxiety?
What is the difference between anxiety, fear, and phobia?
How do I know if I have an anxiety disorder?
Common anxiety disorders
Online anxiety disorder screening
Resources

 

What is anxiety (back to top)

 

Everyone feels some degree of anxiety or uneasiness from time to time. Having to stand up and speak in public is first on many people's list of anxious moments. So is taking a test or the first day on a job. Common symptoms are: feeling shaky; heart pounding; clammy hands; stomach churning or nausea.

Feeling anxious temporarily is one thing; but when your anxiety is so serious that it interferes with you life and work, leads you to avoid certain situations or keeps you from enjoying life, you may have a medical condition know as an anxiety disorder.

 

What is the difference between anxiety, fear, and phobia? (back to top)

 

Anxiety

Anxiety is a disturbing feeling of impending doom, when there is no specifically feared object or circumstance. Physical symptoms include shortness of breath, dizziness, a sinking feeling in the stomach and rapid heart beat.

Fear

Fear can be described as an unpleasant emotion that occurs in response to a consciously recognized source of danger, real or imaginary. The physical symptoms that occur during fear are rapid pulse rate and breathing, raised blood pressure and increased muscle tension. Phobias A phobia is an excessive fear of an object, activity or situation that disturbs a persons functioning by leading them to avoid the cause of that fear. Some of the more common simple phobias are fears of animals, insects, heights, enclosed spaces and flying.

 

How Do I know if I have an anxiety disorder? (back to top)

 

A medical doctor or psychiatrist can officially diagnose you. Here are some possible symptoms:

• You feel very anxious and tense even when there is no real danger
• The symptoms cause significant distress and interfere with your daily activities
• You take extreme steps to avoid situations that make you feel anxious.
• In addition, anxiety causes physical symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, disturbed sleep, muscle aches, headaches, gastrointestinal distress and difficulty concentrating.

 

Common Anxiety Disorders (back to top)

 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
People with generalized anxiety disorder are constantly worrying about all sorts of things and expect the worst. They suffer distress about any number of things-their job performance, relationships, school grades, possible misfortune-even though there may be no real threat of any one of them.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by involuntary obsessions and compulsions that interfere with normal life. Obsessions are unwanted ideas, worries, thoughts, images or impulses that occur repeatedly. Compulsions are behaviors that are repeated over and over again in a very set way. Obsessions often cause anxiety and compulsive behaviors or rituals seem to occur as a way to reduce this anxiety. Obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors can become so time consuming and disturbing that it can destroy one's work, social life and even relationships. Common obsessions include: repeated thoughts about being contaminated with germs from doorknobs and/or shaking hands; repeated doubts about having left doors unlocked or the stove on; feeling that items-such as one's dishes or books or shirts-must be arranged in a particular order; aggressive impulses like hurting one's child, for instance; or sexual images like repeatedly picturing a pornographic image; etc...

To neutralize or ward off their obsessions, many people with OCD make up "rituals" that they feel must be followed without exception. These rituals or compulsions often are repetitive behaviors. Performing these acts gives some relief from the anxiety, but only temporarily. Common compulsions include: excessively washing one's hands or showering again and again; excessive and repetitive cleaning or dusting; constantly requesting or demanding assurances; repeatedly checking door locks, light switches, paperwork; precisely arranging items in a particular order for no useful reason.

People with OCD realize their obsessions and compulsions are unreasonable, but can't stop them. Often they suffer needlessly with OCD because they are embarrassed to bring these symptoms to their doctor's attention. Unfortunately, this delays their getting effective treatment. In many cases, OCD is made worse by coexisting symptoms of depression.

Panic Disorder

People suffering from panic disorder experience repeated feelings of intense, sudden terror or impending doom. These panic attacks can happen several times a week or even within the same day. Panic attacks are sudden "spells" of intense anxiety that usually come on without warning. Panic attacks seem to last from 1 minute to 1 hour and occur on average 2-4 times a week. Some symptoms of panic attacks include the following:

 

• Dizziness or faintness
• Difficulty breathing
• Choking or smothering sensation
• Unsteadiness or shakiness
• Rapid, pounding or "skipping" heartbeat
• Chest pain or pressure
• Tingling or numbness
• Nausea or diarrhea
• Feelings of "strangeness" or "unreality"
• Fear of dying, "going crazy" or losing control

Panic disorder sufferers often live in fear of having another attack because the attacks can occur without warning. Since there is no way to predict when the next panic attack might occur, the individual may avoid the place or situation where the first attack occurred-or become afraid to go out in public at all. It's not surprising that many of these people also suffer from depression.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Persons with PTSD re-experience an extremely traumatic event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury to themselves or another person. Typically, the traumatic event left the person with PTSD feeling intense fear and helplessness. Examples of such events are military combat, sexual assault, natural disasters and severe auto accidents.

Symptoms of PTSD:

• Continued flashbacks and reliving of the event
• Nightmares and intense distress when exposed to an object or situation that was related to the event
• Avoidance of certain situations, conversations, activities or people that remind them of the incident

 

Online Anxiety Disorder Screening (back to top)

 

In order to take an Anxiety Disorder test go to:
https://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/screening/login.asp?keyword=BVU0203

 

Resources (back to top)

Anxiety Disorders Association of America
http://www.adaa.org

National Mental Health Association
http://www.nmha.org

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
http://www.nami.org/

Phobia Clinic website
http://www.ChangeThatsRightNow.com/