What Is Anxiety: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and How to Treat

Its not an easy thing to differentiate the anxiety that is felt every day with that experienced by anxiety disorder. Because this disorder is often seen in various forms such as panic attacks, phobias or social anxiety. The difference between anxiety disorders and normal anxiety is not so clear.
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What Is Anxiety

Anxiety is a term that describes a psychological disorder that can have characteristics of fear, concern for the future, prolonged anxiety, and nervousness. Anxiety is common to everyone. However, anxiety is called a psychological disorder when anxiety prevents a person from living everyday life and undergoing productive activities.

What Cause of Anxiety

The exact cause of anxiety is unknown. However, it has been proven that anxiety is caused by a combination of certain factors. Like other mental disorders, anxiety is caused by the failure of the brain's nerves to control emotions and fears. For example, stress can change the flow of communication of nerve cells in brain circuits. This will change certain brain structures that control the emotions. This particular brain structure was originally formed from genetics and family ancestry.

Environmental factors such as childhood trauma (eg domestic violence, loss of parent, etc.) or major problems in life (eg financial crises and failure of romance) can trigger anxiety. Anxiety symptoms can also be caused by systemic disorders such as hyperthyroidism, endocrine problems, low blood sugar, calcium deficiency, and heart disease.

Anxiety or easily anxious is not caused by a person's weak personality or poor education.

Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety is a normal response in the face of difficult situations. In fact, anxiety can be helpful if situations that require an "opponent or flight" response occur. The "opposite or flight" response is a response regulated by the adrenal hormone that will determine whether you should "fight" or "run" in a precarious situation. However, if this response is excessive and prolonged or becomes too paranoid to small problems, you may experience anxiety disorders.

Signs of anxiety disorder

  • Feelings of irritability, offense, sadness, or worry
  • Can not focus and calm down
  • Insomnia
  • Fear and panic
  • Heart pounding for no apparent reason
  • The hands and feet are sweating cold
  • Tingling feeling in the hands or feet
  • The muscles tighten
  • Dizziness and nausea
  • Dry mouth

Anxiety Disorder Types

Anxiety disorders can be classified into several types:

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) / General Anxiety Disorder - This is a prolonged and excessive disturbance of situations or events that are not specific. Patients generally worry about all sorts of things in excess and respond with exaggeration. For example, patients with this disorder worry about financial, health, work, or family problems but can not determine what they are really worried about.
  • Unusual Panic Disorder - Patients with this disorder suffer fear and panic attacks quickly and suddenly.
  • Phobia - This condition has the characteristics of fear that is unknown why against an object, a situation, or a living thing. For example, fear of heights, fear of a narrow space, fear of spiders, or fear of reptiles. Unlike GAD where the patient can not determine what he or she is concerned about, the phobic patient can clearly determine what he or she is afraid of. Although what they fear is sometimes irrational, the patient still can not control their fears.
  • Social Anxiety Disorder / Anxiety Disorders in Socializing - Commonly called social phobia, this disorder occurs when the patient is in a social situation. The patient feels agitated and too self-aware of personal appearance, behavior, attitudes, or words when confronted with someone. Generally, patients avoid social gatherings for fear of self-humiliation and being seen by others.
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Obsessive Behavior - This disorder is an anxious and repetitive behavior and thought. For example, some patients are so obsessed with clean soil that they always wash their hands every hour or see the hands of others dirty they also feel anxious. Patients suffering from this disorder realize what they are doing it should not but still can not control it.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Post-traumatic Disorder - This disorder is caused by past events that cause severe trauma such as accidents, rape, or witnessing a crime. PTSD often leads to changes in behavior and attitudes in the hope of avoiding the cause of trauma.
  • Separation Anxiety Disorder - Patients with this disorder will experience excessive anxiety and excessive panic when they part with someone or somewhere that gives the patient a sense of security.

Anxiety disorder treatment

People who experience symptoms as mentioned before should see a psychiatrist or psychologist trained in diagnosing anxiety disorders. Mental health tests in the form of observations and discussions about what the patient feels are common. In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of family history is also asked. Depending on your answer and the standard diagnostic manual for anxiety disorders, your doctor will be able to identify what type you are suffering, what is causing it, and what treatment is best for you.

There are two common options to overcome anxiety disorders, namely:

Treatment Without Drugs 

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most frequent and most effective therapy to overcome anxiety. Your doctor will help you understand your flow of thoughts and identify whether any bad thoughts or behaviors might be coming from your anxiety so you can avoid those thoughts and behaviors. Your doctor will also recommend the following things depending on your condition: counseling, hypnotherapy, relaxation sessions, and anxiety management courses.

Treatment With Drugs

Anxiety attacks can be treated with anti-depressant drugs, buspiron, beta-blockers (propanolol), sedatives (diazepam), and pregabalin. These medications can relieve symptoms by altering the balance of chemical substances present in the brain that affect anxiety.

Special remedy for overcoming anxiety anxiety has not been found. However, a combination of counseling, medication, and other options can easily overcome interference. Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, breathing exercises, self-relaxation techniques, and yoga are also helpful.

Research proves that people who suffer from anxiety can control or reduce anxiety attacks by avoiding foods or beverages containing caffeine such as coffee, cola, and chocolate.

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