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Turning a Spotlight on Anxiety Disorders:
You may be restless
at night, tossing and turning in your bed because of excessive worry.
You may find yourself cracking under pressure, whether when preparing
for a test or when you get ready to report to the boss. But does your
uneasiness qualify as actual anxiety?
We seem to be an angst-ridden society. Television news programs offer
us a long list of worries: from what’s in your toddler’s
milk to whether your high schooler will graduate with a 4.0 average.
It seems at times as if we are a nation of worry warts. We obsess
about crime, the stock market, civil rights, hunger, AIDs, the SATs,
and global warming. You might even nickname your local newspaper “The
Worry Pages.”
In order to effectively deal with anxiety, we must first be able to
define it. There are certain recognizable symptoms of generalized
anxiety disorder which you should pay attention to. For instance,
anxiety can be characterized by restlessness, an inability to relax,
shakiness, and tics. You may feel your heart racing or feel light-headed.
Your stomach might seem queasy and you may experience shortness of
breath.
You might seem overwhelmed by a feeling of fear. You might dread tomorrow
because you wonder what disasters will befall your family. You may
experience insomnia, irritability, impatience, and an inability to
concentrate. You may also feel impatient or on edge.
If any of these symptoms persist for more than a month, you have probably
succumbed to generalized anxiety disorder. Your anxiety might be so
severe that you also experience a phobia. This is an irrational worry
about a situation—a worry so debilitating that you go out of
your way to avoid a certain object or situation. While you yourself
may sense that something is wrong, you may feel as if you lack the
power to do anything about it. If the fear is severe, it is considered
a full-fledged disorder. While phobias may not always plague those
with anxiety disorders, they may accompany anxiety.
You should know that there are three major types of phobias. Agoraphobia
is a fear of a public place such as a shopping mall or town square.
You may have a fear that you will not be able to escape the area if
you need to. Meanwhile, a social phobia is a fear of talking with
or otherwise interacting with people. You may fear that you will embarrass
yourself in front of a person or group. A simple phobia is a fear
of a particular object or activity such as dogs, flying, or germs.
Anxiety can also lead to a panic disorder. A panic attack generally
involves racing heart beat, chest pain, dizziness, perspiration, or
a fear of dying. It can be highly debilitating, preventing an individual
from being able to perform work or another important function. It
can seriously curtail one’s social life, causing an individual
to become isolated.
There are numerous causes of anxiety. These include stress, nutritional
problems, and chemical imbalances. Treatment most often comes in the
form of prescription drugs such as Clonidine or Clonazepam. You should
be careful, however, to review the side-effects of such drugs. In
some cases, patients might find themselves to be dependent on the
medication.
You might also find that it helps to become part of a support group.
There is a special bond which grows between individuals who are forced
to combat the same demons. You may discover that you can draw strength
from talking with other people who share the same struggles you do.
With such support, you won’t feel so alone. It’s comforting
to know that there is someone you can turn to in the midst of your
pain.
Anxiety can be a painful and debilitating condition, harming one’s
self-image, one’s relationship with family members, and one’s
ability to perform one’s job. It can also lead to panic attacks,
which lead to another set of serious problems. Fortunately, there
has been a great deal of research in recent years regarding anxiety
disorders. With appropriate treatment, people who suffer from anxiety
disorders can learn to function effectively. However, treatment often
involves a great deal of work and determination. In time, you should
be able to ascertain the most effective methods of treating your condition.
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