What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling or some kind of uncomfortable state of inner turmoil which is usually accompanied with nervous breakdown and restlessness. Anxiety cannot be termed as fear as well because fear is something that you get from the events happened from the past of something which is going to happen in the near future whereas anxiety is a state of mind that a person experiences when it involves the expectation of future threat. People suffering from anxiety are usually seen over reacting for simple issues, even though it is linked with the mind, it is also accompanied with physical constraints such as muscular tension, restlessness and fatigue .
Symptoms of having Anxiety
There are various types of anxiety that can be differentiated from the behavior of the individual . A person is likely to have anxiety either on a long term or sometimes even for a short period of time. Th most common kind of anxiety that is experienced by almost all the people over the globe is “generalized” or chronic anxiety which affects the behavioral aspect and quality of life of a person where as there is another type of anxiety called as the acute anxiety which happens at short spurts with stressful attacks .
One can find out if they are suffering from anxiety by checking for the following symptoms in themselves
- Thinking too much about a situation again and again .
- Fearing for losing something or someone for no reason at all .
- Too much of negative thoughts such as thinking about harming themselves or even suicidal thoughts .
- Sudden change in the sleeping and behavioral pattern .
- Increase or decrease in the intake of food .
- If you feel like your mind is going blank all of a sudden for no reason on a regular interval or experiencing nightmares in your dream are also considered behavioral symptoms of having anxiety .
There are certain physiological symptoms as well which includes
- Neurological issues that includes vertigo , head ache and parenthesis .
- Digestive problems which includes diarrhea , abdominal pain , dry mouth .
- Respiratory problems like short of breathe or sudden lack of oxygen for not breathing on a regular pattern .
- Muscular problems which includes fatigue , tremors and tetanus
- External discomfort such as perspiration and itchy skin .
When a person is having anxiety for a longer period of time , then he is likely to experience OCD ( Obsessive- Compulsion Disorder ) as the next stage of anxiety , it is better to treat it in the beginning stage rather than letting it get worse over time .
Treatment for Anxiety
Anxiety can be treated over a period of time over under various therapies . Some of the important therapies that are recommended in the recent times are
- Psychotherapy
- Medications
- Complementary and alternative therapies
Psychotherapy
One of the psychotherapy that is considered very effective in treating anxiety is counseling .
Counseling is nothing but a talk therapy where the patient with anxiety is allowed to have a conversation with the doctor about his feelings , his behavior and the fears he / she have on the society and also given solution from the doctors like stress management and interpersonal development skills .
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
This is a kind of therapy used for the people having anxiety attacks due to the negative thoughts in their mind . In this therapy patients are trained to think positive even in the worst of situations and negative environment . They are made to control their emotions and fear of having negative thoughts by incorporating more of positive thoughts and taking only the positives even from a negative situation . The time taken for this therapy ranges from short term to long term with respect to the intensity of the disorder.
Family Therapy
Family therapy is a group therapy where the patient’s family is also included in the therapy . It is usually a short term therapy and this therapy is effective only if the members of the family had played a part in the patient’s anxiety disorder . Here both the patient and the family members are educated on how to over come anxiety and help the patients to recover from the current disorder by making him more comfortable around people.
Also checkout Natural Treatment for Anxiety.
Medication for Anxiety
ANTIDEPRESSANTS
Antidepressants are the medication given to fight depression but also can be used to over come anxiety as well . SSRI and SNRI are the primary class of anti depressant that are used for treating anxiety .
BUSPIRONE
Buspirone is a drug indicated to treat anxiety and it is said that this drug have more effect on patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. It is particularly effective in solving the cognitive and interpersonal problems in an individual.
BETA BLOCKERS
Beta blockers are nothing but the drugs used to block the production of adrenaline in our system which is responsible for the hyper activity in a person affected from anxiety problems .
Complementary and Alternative Therapies
STRESS MANAGEMENT
In this program , a patient is made to do activities that would make their body and mood relaxed . Various activities are done to keep the mind at peace . Every individual is analyzed and given activity accordingly for the root cause of the anxiety .
MEDITATION
Meditation is a practice that makes both body and soul one and maintain the inner peace level . many techniques are taught to the patients to maintain the sync between the body and the mind . breathing techniques and other mind controlling methods are introduced to the patients during the coarse of the therapy .
YOGA
Yoga is a technique that includes physical postures and breathing patterns that are believed to reduce anxiety up to an extent . Yoga has been a part of our culture over a period of time has various effects on problems related to mind such as anxiety and depression .