Anxiety Disorder: Meaning, Treatment, Symptoms, Causes & Types

Imagination is a pleasure, bliss, a gift. With it you can be as much as creative you want. This is what a lot of people say. But only a very few have encountered the dark side of imagination: anxiety. Anxiety is such a common emotion. Everyone has it now or then. But anxiety disorder is a little different from the normal anxiety emotion we feel. It is a vastly multipart mental disorder that meddles in your normal survival. Basically anxiety disorders are a clutch of disorders that are characterized by apprehension or fright.

Types of Anxiety Disorder

There are 5 broad major types into which anxiety disorders are categorized. They are as follows:

1) GAD or Generalised Anxiety Disorder

It refers to a situation where in the patient is always worried about something or the other or is constantly having unpleasant thoughts. For instance being stabbed by thief at house or being knocked down by a car on the road are some examples of such thoughts. These patients suffer with heart shivers and unsolicited and bothersome thoughts.

2) Panic Disorder

This involves panic attacks: to put in clear words, panic attacks are the attacks where in the fear over rides your body, your body gets shaken, breathing gets difficult and sensation of dying might even be experienced. Although these attacks get settled within a matter of like half an hour but it renders so much fatigue and scary experience that you’re not able to focus on your work afterwards.

3) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD

it refers to a situation where in one gets worried about particular things and engages into recurring activities. For instance people lock their houses at night and might even check once but people with OCD about security would check it again and again. This interferes in their daily lives and makes their nights sleepless.

4) Social Anxiety Disorder

It is also known as social panic. In these kind of situations the victim is so fearful of being judged by others that he/she totally avoids social interactions. Small tasks like going to the nearby market or going and collecting mails seem a herculean task for them.

5) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD

It refers to the situation that one feels after an incident that has drastically changed and shocked a person beyond repair. For instance being a witness to a brutal murder or survivor of a terrorist attack or victim of a sexual assault are some of the examples of such instances. One get dreams at day and night of the same incident and the resentment and misery doesn’t let them live normally.

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Causes of Anxiety Disorder

1) Medical Causes

Medical roots of anxiety disorder contains diseases like heart attacks, thyroid, diabetes, asthma, spasms in muscles, respiratory disorders, tumours that produce fight or flight hormones etc.

2) Personality Factors

Sometimes the personality of a person makes him more prone to anxiety disorders. For instance people who think that they are flawless or people who lack confidence, both sorts have higher chances of developing anxiety disorders.

3) Environmental Factors

Factors like stress at workplace, stress at school, stress because of financial problems, death of beloved, taxing relationships, disturbance caused due to abuse are some of the factors that can cause anxiety disorder.

4) Genetic Factors

Having family history of anxiety disorder also enhances the probability of having one. But sometimes despite no family history of anxiety disorders a person can be a victim of anxiety disorder which generally happens due to presence of certain neurotransmitters in brain in anomalous levels. The transmitters aid communication and when there is a problem in their formation that communication process gets hampered and anxiety might occur.

Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder

Some signs and symptoms of anxiety disorder are as follows:

1. Sweaty and cold palms and feet
2. Constant feeling of fear and at times irrational fear
3. Fear of the approaching kismet
4. Shortness of breath
5. Health palpitations
6. Burning sensation in the skin
7. Shooting pain in the facial region
8. Feeling of electric shock
9. Fatigue
10. Irritability
11. Throbbing feeling in the ears
12. Nausea or irritable bowel syndromes and sometimes diarrhoeal
13. Headaches, tension in the neck area
14. Upset stomach or stomach aches
15. Feeling of feebleness in the legs
16. Excessive worrying
17. Problem in falling asleep or sleeping for a very long time
18. Tension in muscles
19. Dizziness
20. Twitchy feeling

Treatment of Anxiety Disorder

Here are some ways to treat anxiety disorder:

1) Psychotherapy or the talking therapy or also knows as psychological counselling includes involvement of a therapist in order to lessen the anxiety symptoms,

2) Some anxiety medications like anti-depressants, benzodiazepines, buspirone can be taken to relieve the problem but only when the doctor recommends.

3) Cognitive behavioural therapy also goes a long way in relieve the anxiety disorder by recognizing, understanding and trying to change the behaviour patterns.

So this was all that you should know about anxiety disorder. There is a very thin line of difference between anxiety and anxiety disorder. Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need and be ready to help others if they need it.

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