Title: Understanding Anxiety Disorders Word Count: 339 Summary: Anxiety disorders can have a devastating effect on those

who suffer from them. L eft untreated, anxiety disorders often inhibit an individual s ability to function normally in everyday life. Anxiety disorder may also be a source of additional tension caused by the strain the condition places on personal and professional r elationships. Keywords: bipolar, anxiety, anxiety disorder Article Body: Anxiety disorders can have a devastating effect on those who suffer from them. L eft untreated, anxiety disorders often inhibit an individual s ability to function normally in everyday life. Anxiety disorder may also be a source of additional tension caused by the strain the condition places on personal and professional r elationships. Physical manifestations in the form of illness and mental manifest ations in the form of depression are often the consequences of the intense and i rrational worry that characterizes anxiety disorders While new methods of treatm ent are being developed, the most current form of medical care involves a combin ation of therapy to recognize and change the mental thought processes that make anxiety disorders possible along with medication designed to minimize the chemic al imbalances that may facilitate these thought processes. There are several cat egories of anxiety disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disor der, social anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, but the most com monly diagnosed is general anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can be difficult to diagnose as the symptoms associated with t hem are often shared by a variety of illnesses such as depression and chronic fa tigue. In the past, physicians would frequently misdiagnose anxiety disorder by associating the symptoms with other illnesses while neglecting their underlying cause. This often resulted in treatments that were either ineffective or only se rved to inhibit the recurrences of specific symptoms. The end result of an impro per diagnosis usually entailed an increase in other symptoms that were left untr eated. Today, there are several resources on anxiety disorders and the symptoms associa ted with them. An increase in medical information available through the Internet has allowed individuals to obtain facts on the diseases and disorders they coul d potentially be suffering from. The ability to convey the presence of symptoms to your physician can help him or her provide a more accurate diagnosis of anxie ty disorders. With proper treatment, anxiety disorder can be controlled. Many who have suffer ed from this affliction now lead healthy, productive lives as a result of their commitment to maintaining a well planned regimen.