All You Need to Know About Anxiety Disorders
“A year ago, my life seemed perfect . I had just finished college and was out to capture the world. I was vacationing in my favourite places in the world. My Facebook and Instagram posts were receiving many likes and I had many virtual friends around the globe. Life seemed to feel like a breeze and I was happy ….or so I thought. In April 2020 I was diagnosed with anxiety . On the surface, everything seemed to run smoothly but inside me, a strange emotional battle started soon after finishing college…the uncertainty about the future and the question of how to pursue the goal we are programmed to pursue all our lives-to make a decent living, get a respectable job, to support a family. A sinking feeling of the unknown future soon made me into a nervous wreck where I started feeling that my world was falling apart.
I now realise that I haven’t been experiencing life in the true sense. I would move from one day to another, one party to another, chasing one high, one perfect vacation selfie after another, constantly feeding my social media for validation that would make me feel high but I was empty inside for a long time. So when the time came to face the real world, I felt completely lost …paving the way for the anxiety demon to strike me hard.
I started feeling restless and nervous doing tasks which were for many people mundane. Some situations made me nervous and my hands and feet became cold and sweaty. Sometimes my heart would start beating very fast and it would feel like it can pop out at any moment. After a couple of months of keeping myself and my family in dark, I finally consulted a psychologist friend of mine who diagnosed me with anxiety disorder.”
Let me explain to you what anxiety really is. It’s a disorder which involves excessive fear or worry of people /situations/events or places. Sometimes anxiety is misinterpreted with health conditions like blood pressure or heart attack. We all have experienced anxiety at some or other time in our lives like before appearing for an exam, interview or an important event but it can become a disorder when this fear and pressure becomes a constant part of our life.
Let us now look at the ANXIETY SYMPTOMS
While anxiety symptoms vary from person to person, in general, the human body reacts in a very specific way to anxiety. When you feel anxious, your body goes on high alert, looking for possible danger and activating your fight or flight responses.
As a result, some common symptoms of anxiety include:
Physical symptoms
- Dry mouth
- Heavy and fast breathing
- Hot flushes
- Excessive sweating
- Hair loss,
- Fast heartbeat,
- Extreme tiredness or lack of energy
- Dizziness and fatigue sometimes accompanied by fainting or blackouts
- Stomach aches and sickness.
Mental Symptoms of Anxiety are:
- racing thoughts,
- over thinking,
- difficulties concentrating,
- feelings of dread, panic or ‘impending doom’,
- feeling irritable,
- heightened alertness,
- sleeping disorder,
- changes in appetite,
- Disassociation with situations and events
Let us now go through different types of anxiety disorders which affect the human mind
1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
People afflicted with this type of anxiety tend to worry about anything and everything in life. They don’t seem to pinpoint a specific cause for their worry- it can be anything, which gradually starts affecting their physical and emotional well-being.
Phobias
Phobia is defined as an irrational fear of an object or situation. Phobia of an object or a place can easily trigger through exposure or thinking of a feared object or situation.
Panic Disorder
It causes panic attacks where a person experiences sudden intense fear of imaginable and real situations and objects.
Social Anxiety
It is the fear of social situations and society in general. People with social anxiety are perceived by others as shy, quiet, withdrawn, unfriendly, and aloof. In reality, they are fearful of being rejected /humiliated and unaccepted by society.
Separation Anxiety
Children at a young age are majorly affected by separation anxiety. It is an excessive fear of losing or getting harmed by the major attachment figure in our lives. People get anxious if separated from their loved ones/objects for long.
Retroactive Jealousy
It involves obsessive and unhealthy thoughts about our partner’s past sexual relationships. Retroactive jealousy, in its extreme form, can easily lead to divorce and break-ups.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
In OCD people exhibit compulsive behaviour in a particular form to deal with anxiety-provoking situations. OCD comes in various themes- checking, repeating, cleanliness, organizing and obsessive thoughts. Its symptoms usually begin gradually and may vary throughout life.
Substance – Induced Anxiety
Overuse or mix of different substances or alcohol abuse can also lead to increased anxiety, palpitations and other symptoms.
What are the main causes of anxiety disorders?
Science has yet not discovered the causes of anxiety disorders. For some, anxiety can be related to an underlying health issue and in some cases, anxiety signs are the first symptoms of an impending health issue. Here are a few general causes which can be defined as causes of anxiety.
- Life Experience. Our experiences and our reactions to them, such as being bullied in school or losing a loved one can induce anxiety. It could also include big changes in life such as moving home, losing your life partner or a loved one or a job.
- Genetics. Genetics plays an important role in understanding this disorder. Some people seem to be born more anxious than others. So our genes also play an important role in determining whether we would be anxious or not in future.
- Drugs. Caffeine in coffee and alcohol can also induce anxiousness. Certain Drugs can also trigger anxiety as an effect.
- Anxiety can be easily treated with medication therapy and help and support from our loved ones. Medication can give relief from physical symptoms of anxiety. Therapy predominantly deals with causes to cure the problem on a long-term basis. It has proved to be an effective way of treating this disorder. Therapy takes into consideration all elements like thoughts, emotions and behaviours and either deal with each element separately or in combination.