Anxiety

Anxiety Disorders

In general, Anxiety is a feeling of worry, fear, or unease. Some people use the word anxiety to describe mild feelings of nervousness, like when you have to give a presentation or go on a first date. But clinically, anxiety refers to a range of disorders that cause feelings of intense worry and fear. Anxiety disorders can have a lasting impact on people's lives. The anxiety does not go away on its own, and it can even get worse over time if it is not treated. This can have a major impact on a person's quality of life and ability to function in daily life. 

The most common anxiety disorders include: 

• Social Anxiety Disorder: Social anxiety disorder also know as social phobia  is a common type of anxiety disorder. It is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. This fear can affect work, school, and other daily activities. It can even make it hard to make and keep friends. This type of anxiety disorder causes excessive fear and avoidance of social situations. persons with social anxiety disorder feels symptoms of anxiety or fear which includes  Intense fear of being judged by others, difficulty in making eye contact and avoidance of situations where they may be observed, evaluated, or judged by others. The fear of people with social anxiety can be so severe that it may seem uncontrollable. This can get in the way of everyday activities. While for some people, they can accomplish these activities but might experience intense fear when doing it, but people with social anxiety disorder can stress about engaging in such situations for weeks before they happen.

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Many people experience a type of anxiety that is more general, not linked to any specific event or circumstance.  It is characterized by feelings of constant worry, even when there is no immediate threat or danger.  This anxiety can affect everyday tasks and situations, such as work, relationships, health, or finances. For example, people with GAD might worry about a minor problem at work, their health or financial security, and this anxiety can make it difficult for them to focus at work, sleep at night or carry out daily activities. They may feel restless, having hard time concentrating, have headaches, have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep etc. Being in a stressful environment or experience of past traumatic event may put you at a high risk of developing GAD.

• panic Disorder: Panic disorder is a common mental health condition. It causes episodes of overwhelming fear when there is no specific cause for the fear. It is different from the normal fear because, it is often extreme and may seem to strike out of the blue. People with panic disorder may have difficulty coping with everyday situations, which can trigger intense panic or anxiety.  This can lead to disruptions in their daily functioning. If you have repeated, and unexpected panic attacks, you may have panic disorder. Some symptoms of panic disorder may include: Extreme feeling of terror, trembling, sweating, Difficulty in breathing, pounding or racing heart, stomach pain or nausea, numbness of the hands and feet, chills, weakness or dizziness etc.

Experience of a traumatic event, going through life transition or difficult life events which may include death of a loved one can increase the risk of developing panic disorder. According to the general institute of mental health, women have more than twice the risk of panic disorder than men.

• Specific phobias: A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder which can cause an individual to experience extreme irrational fear about a situation, living creature or object that usually poses little or no danger. When people with specific phobias are exposed to the feared object or situation, they can experience extreme anxiety and panic. Sometimes people avoid situations where they might be exposed to the object of their phobia. Common specific phobias include:

1. Arachnophobia, or fear of spiders
2. Aerophobia, or fear of flying
3. Claustrophobia, or fear of enclosed spaces
4. Mysophobia, or fear of germs and dirt
5. Atychiphobia, or fear of failure
6. Thanatophobia, or fear of death
7. Driving phobia: Fear of driving a car
8. Emetophobia: Fear of vomiting
9. Erythrophobia: Fear of blushing
10. Hypochondria: Fear of becoming ill
11. Zoophobia: Fear of animals
12. Aquaphobia: Fear of water
13. Acrophobia: Fear of heights

 Phobias mostly begin during early stages of childhood, teenage years or early adulthood. They can be caused by stressful experience or frightening events. 

We've covered some common Anxiety disorders, we'll talk about Depression; types, causes, symptoms and treatments on my next post. Stay tuned for more.

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