Treatment for Anxiety

We all know what it’s like to feel anxious. Most of us experience anxiety when we’re faced with stressful situations or traumatic events. Our heart pounds before a big presentation or a tough exam. We get butterflies in our stomach during a blind date. We worry and fret over family problems or feel jittery at the prospect of asking the boss for a raise. Anxiety is part of our natural “fight-or-flight” response. It’s our body’s way of warning us of possible danger ahead.

However, if anxiety is overwhelming you with fear and worry, preventing you from living your life the way you’d like to, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. Fortunately, there are effective treatments for anxiety attacks and disorders. Therapy, relaxation techniques, and a balanced, healthy lifestyle can help you reduce your anxiety and take back control of your life.

Anxiety disorders can take many forms. You may experience free-floating anxiety without knowing exactly why you’re feeling that way. You may suffer from sudden, intense panic attacks that strike without warning. Your anxiety may come in the form of extreme social inhibition or in unwanted obsessions and compulsions. Or you may have a phobia of an object or situation that doesn’t seem to bother other people.

Despite their different forms, all anxiety disorders share one thing in common: persistent—and often overwhelming—fear or worry. The frequency and intensity of these fears can be immobilizing, distressing, and disruptive.

Characteristics of an anxiety disorder include:

Anxiety which is constant, unrelenting, and all-consuming
Anxiety which causes self-imposed isolation or emotional withdrawal
Anxiety which interferes with normal activities like going outside or interacting with other people

The toll an anxiety disorder takes on your life can lead to other problems as well, such as low self-esteem, depression, and alcoholism. Anxiety can also negatively impact your work and your personal relationships. But the good news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. With the help of a qualified mental health professional, you can get relief from your worries and lead the life that you want.

PANIC ATTACKS

A panic attack is a sudden and unexpected period of intense fear or discomfort. It comes out of the blue, without warning. Your heart begins to pound in your chest. You feel dizzy and sick to your stomach. It’s hard to catch your breath. You may feel like you’re dying or going crazy. You may even think you’re having a heart attack.

Panic attacks are terrifying. They can happen anywhere and at any time. Panic attacks often strike when you’re away from home. You may have one while you’re in a store shopping, walking down the street, or driving in your car. Panic attacks can even happen while you’re sleeping, causing you to wake up in a state of overwhelming fear.

Panic attacks are common. The Merck Manual reports that panic attacks occur in more than one-third of adults each year. You may experience an isolated panic attack yet be otherwise perfectly happy and healthy. Or your panic attacks may occur as part of another disorder, such as panic disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, or major depressive disorder.

OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unwanted, disturbing thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive, ritualized behaviors that a person feels driven to perform (compulsions). Like a needle getting stuck on an old LP, OCD causes the brain to get stuck on a particular thought or action that it just can’t let go. People with OCD often say the symptoms feel like a case of mental hiccups that won’t go away.

The Obsessive Compulsive Foundation reports that 1 in 50 adults in the United States currently experiences OCD, and twice as many have experienced it at some point in their lives. Symptoms of OCD occur in people of all ages and may change in severity over time. Most people with OCD have both obsessions and compulsions, but a minority have obsessions alone (about 20 percent) or compulsions alone (about 10 percent). Compulsions generally accompany obsessions as a result of the brain’s attempt to dismiss or neutralize the obsessions.

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after you’ve gone through a traumatic experience, usually one that has caused or threatened death or severe injury. Most people associate PTSD with battle-scarred soldiers, and indeed, military combat is the most common cause of PTSD in men. But any catastrophic life experience—a hurricane, a mugging, a horrific accident—can trigger the disorder, especially if the event is perceived as unpredictable and uncontrollable.

PTSD can affect those who personally experience the catastrophe, those who witness it, and those who pick up the pieces afterwards, including emergency workers and law enforcement officers. It can even occur in the friends or family members of those who went through the actual trauma.

ACUTE STRESS DISORDER

Acute stress disorder develops within one month after an individual experiences or sees an event involving a threat or actual death, serious injury, or physical violation to the individual or others, and responded to this event with strong feelings of fear, helplessness or horror.

Psychiatric or emotional trauma refers to an experience that is emotionally painful, distressful or shocking, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects. It is essentially a normal response to an extreme event. It involves the creation of emotional memories about the distressful event that are stored deep within the brain. In general, it is believed that the more direct the exposure to the traumatic event, the higher the risk for emotional harm.

SOCIAL ANXIETY/ SOCIAL PHOBIA

Social anxiety disorder, also called social phobia, is defined as an overwhelming and disabling fear of scrutiny, embarrassment, or humiliation in everyday social situations which leads to avoidance of potentially pleasurable and meaningful activities. Most people experience some shyness or nervousness in certain social or work situations, but for someone with social anxiety disorder, the anxiety is so extreme that it can become debilitating.

Social anxiety disorder is common, affecting from 7 to 13 percent of American adults in any given year, making it the third most common psychiatric disorder in the United States after depression and alcohol abuse. Unlike other anxiety disorders, which affect women more than men, social anxiety disorder is an equal problem for both men and women. Adolescents and young adults, who often are unsure of themselves around others and concerned with image and conformity, are especially susceptible to social anxiety. However, social anxiety disorder is sometimes seen in children under twelve.

You may have social anxiety disorder if your feelings keep you from your work or isolate you from activities with others.
Warning signs of social phobia include:

Intense worry for days or even weeks before an upcoming social situation.
Extreme fear of being judged by others, especially people you don’t know.
Excessive self-consciousness and anxiety in everyday social situations.
Fear that you’ll act in ways that that will embarrass or humiliate yourself.
Avoidance of social situations to a degree that limits your activities and causes disruptions to your daily life.