5 Types Of Anxiety Disorders That Can Destroy Relationships

Five different types of anxiety disorders and how you can deal with them if you see them in yourself or others.

Publish Date: 05/27/2010 7:06

http://themarriagecounselingblog.com/therapy/5-types-of-anxiety-disorders-that-can-destroy-relationships/

You will find some great techniques for reducing stress and anxiety in the article below

Natural Cures for Anxiety | A Stress Free You

Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting over 18% or 40 million adults age 18 and older in the United States. According to “The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders,” a study published in The Journal of Clinical …

Publish Date: 05/30/2010 9:10

http://astressfreeyou.com/natural-cures-for-anxiety/

Is This You?

You step up to the podium to give that speech you’ve prepared. You get butterflies in your stomach, your palms sweat, heart races and you may even feel like running away. But you look down at your prepared remarks, look out at the crowd and start your speech. Before long you’re really into the speech and the butterflies and pounding heart are if not completely gone away certainly are at a reduced level. After the speech you are back to normal and the anxiety you were feeling is gone.

Everybody in the world knows what it’s like to feel anxious every once in awhile. You get butterflies in your stomach before a first date. You start to sweat before a big job interview. Your heart pounds when you almost get into a car accident. Those are all perfectly normal anxieties – but what if you experienced anxiety chronically? What if you felt tense and anxious all the time, usually with no real reason? That’s what someone with anxiety disorders experiences every day.

Symptoms

Someone with an anxiety disorder will usually exhibit the same symptoms, no matter what specific type they have. They’ll get a headache, start sweating, and experience muscle spasms. They’ll also experience heart palpitations which make them dizzy, light-headed or out of breath. They may experience panic, fear, apprehension or nightmares.

Anxiety disorders are considered chronic conditions. A person can begin experiencing symptoms suddenly after an event triggers them, or it can be present from an early age, and the disorders may flare up in times of high stress. Many patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are also diagnosed with clinical depression, and vice versa. The symptoms of anxiety disorders will often occur for no apparent reason and are often unrelated to any actual experiences. These symptoms will often have devastating effects on relationships with family, friends and on the job.

Causes Of Anxiety Disorders

Numerous clinical studies have suggested that there is a correlation between anxiety disorders and malfunctions in the region of the brain known as the parabrachial nucleus. The parabrachial nucleus coordinates signals from the amygdala, the part of the brain involved in regulating emotional reactions such as fear. There are a lot of biochemical factors that come into play as well. Low levels of a neurotransmitter called GABA, which is responsible for reducing over activity in your central nervous system, can contribute to anxiety.

There is evidence that heredity can play a role in the onset of anxiety disorders. Even chronic exposure to things like paint or varnish as well as personality traits and life experiences can cause anxiety disorders.

Types Of Anxiety Disorders

There are many types of anxiety disorders. General anxiety disorder occurs when a person suffers from long-term anxiety that is not focused on anything in particular. Panic disorder sufferers experience brief attacks of intense terror and apprehension when there is no specific cause for the fear. Agoraphobia is the fear of being in a place or situation where getting away is difficult or embarrassing. Most other phobias are classed as anxiety disorders as well. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and separation anxiety are all anxiety disorders.

It’s Not Easy But There Is Hope

People with anxiety disorders suffer symptoms nearly every day. However, with treatment by a licensed therapist or psychiatrist, the proper medication, support of friends and family and self help techniques it is possible for them to live more normal lives and start overcoming the fears that are holding them back.

An interesting study but at my age I’m not sure I agree that anxiety declines as we get older.  What do you think?

Anxiety seems to decline with age – Kingsville Record.  The first study compared people of all age groups to see which group had more anxiety disorders, and then focused on older age groups (55-64years, … more

Anxiety As A Normal Part Of Our Lives

Anxiety is a normal way to deal with day to day stress. This is how we are able to effectively deal with tense situations that come up in our lives such as when we have to prepare a presentation for a customer or when we are facing a difficult exam at school. These anxious feelings are normal and help us to focus on the issue at hand but then after we have dealt with the problem the tension and anxiety is gone.

When Anxiety Becomes A Problem

While anxiety is a normal part of daily living and can actually help us to focus on important events or tasks there is another side to anxiety that can prevent many of us from dealing with those events normally.  There are some people who worry excessively and sometimes irrationally about everday life events such as work, finances, school and social activities.  This worry is exaggerated, unrealistic and puts these sufferers in a constant state of fear and dread.  It is when we reach this point that we need to seek help.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

When you find yourself worrying about every little detail of your life and you are anxious over alot of everyday problems that you can’t seem to get over, even though you realize that your level of anxiety is higher than the situation warrants, then you are suffering from generalized anxiety disorder or GAD.  Those that suffer with generalized anxiety disorder always have the feeling that something disastrous is going to happen and they can’t do anything to prevent it.

Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

GAD affects the thinking process of a person and can lead to various physical symptoms including irritability, sweating, headaches, restlessness, nausea, difficulty in concentrating, fatigue, trembling, difficulty falling asleep, hot flashes and being easily startled.

The causes of anxiety disorders are not fully known but there are various factors that can contribute to its development. These factors are brain chemistry, genetics and environmental stress. People with a family history of anxiety are more likely to suffer from stress disorders.

GAD has been linked to abnormal levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, these are the chemical messengers passing information between nerve cells, and when they get out of balance the brain does not receive messages properly. This alters the brain’s reaction to certain situations and can cause severe anxiety. Certain unpleasant events such as trauma, divorce, death of a loved one, or job stress may intensify the symptoms of anxiety disorders.

Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

Those suffering from anxiety disorders should seek treatment by a psychologist, psychiatrist, or a mental health professional. These professionals are trained to diagnose and treat any kind of mental illness. Treatment can include the combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications.

If the symptoms have started to interfere with daily functioning there are medicines that are available for GAD that can be very helpful. These medicines are also called tranquillizers as they make the person more relaxed and calm by reducing the physical symptoms of anxiety.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps people learn to recognize the factors that cause the troubled feelings, and then they are taught to change their thought and behavior patterns to deal with them. The therapy helps by providing a realistic approach towards worries, and limiting the distorted thinking that brings on the stress.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder cannot be prevented, but there are some things that can be done to decrease or better control the symptoms. This includes reducing the consumption of products that contain caffeine such as tea, coffee, chocolate and cola. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before taking any over the counter herbal remedies or medicines, as they may contain the chemicals that increase the anxiety symptoms. Also, a well-balanced diet and regular exercise may help to calm anxiety and stress.

If you have suffered a disturbing or traumatic experience you should seek support and talk to a mental health professional.

Welcome to AnxietyDisordersInformation.com.  This blog is a guide to anxiety disorders, their causes, symptoms and treatments.  We will post regular informative articles, monitor news sources daily and and post news that is interesting and relevant to our conditions.  So, bookmark this site, visit us frequently, and please feel free to post comments.