Anxiety Disorders

It is estimated that there are millions of people who suffer from Anxiety Disorders.

There are five major types of Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Social Phobia (or Social Anxiety Disorder). Lets explore each one and get to know them better.(National Institute of Mental Health) Most people that have Generalized Anxiety disorder usually go about their daily life with tension and worry without there being a real cause for the feeling. These type of people anticipate disaster, money, health, and family problems. Just the thought of getting through their day can provoke anxiety. A person is diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder when they obsessively worry about everyday problems for a period of 6 months or longer. They cant seem to let their problems at ease and tend to be easily excited, cant relax, and have difficulty concentrating. There are many symptoms of GED such as falling asleep or staying asleep, headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, trembling, twitching, muscle soreness, sweating, nausea, irritability, sweating, and the list goes on and on. Panic Disorder is a real illness that can be successfully treated. What is panic disorder, well it is sudden attacks of terror usually with the symptoms of a pounding heart, weakness, sweatiness, faintness, or dizziness, The symptoms dont end here people with panic disorder may feel flushed, chilly, their hands may tingle or feel numb, nausea, and chest pain.

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People having panic attacks believe they are having heart attacks, losing their minds, or they are dying. There is no prediction when or where an attack will occur, and between episodes many worry intensely and dread the next attack. Panic attacks can occur at any time, even during sleep. An attack usually peaks within 10 minutes, but some symptoms may last much longer. . (National Institute of Mental Health) Panic disorder affects about 6 million American adults and effects more woman than men. Panic attacks start in late adolescence or early adulthood, but not everyone who has panic attacks will have panic disorder. Many people may have one attack and never have another. The tendency to develop panic attacks appears to be inherited Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that can have unreasonable thoughts and fears, and obsessions that lead to repetitive behaviors. With obsessive-compulsive disorder, a person may have obsessions aren't reasonable, and may try to ignore them or stop them. But that only increases the persons distress and anxiety. This makes the person feel driven to perform compulsive acts in an effort to ease your stressful feelings. (Mayo Clinic) When a person has OCD it often centers on a theme such as a person getting ill from germs. This may cause the person to repetitively wash their hands to the point of damaging the skin on their hands.

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Obsession symptoms may include hair loss or bald spots from pulling hair out, dermatitis from frequent hand washing, skin lesions from picking at skin, avoiding situations that may lead to obsession, checking doors to see if their locked, checking stove to make sure its off, and many other obsessive symptoms. Causes of OCD can be a number of many things such as environment behavior that is learned over time, biology a change in the bodys own chemistry or brain function. There is a possibility that OCD can be inherited, but has been undefined yet. Insufficient serotonin meaning there is a lack of this chemical and may lead to OCD. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may occur after the following experiences have happened witnessing a traumatic event, traumatic event that is life-threatening, military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood Posttraumatic stress disorder does not target a race or certain gender and is not inherited it can happen to anyone at any age. Many people who suffer usually have these symptoms they constantly think about the traumatic event, being alert and on guard, avoiding reminders of the trauma, relationship problems, mistrust, thoughts of suicide and panic attacks. Some physical symptoms can occur with PTSD, chronic pain, headaches, stomach pain, diarrhea, tightness or burning in the chest, and muscle cramps or low back pain. (Mental Health America)

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Social anxiety disorder is also known as social phobia. This is an anxiety disorder in which a person has a fear of social situations. Anxiety can occur when selfconsciousness arises from a fear of being closely watched, judged, or criticized by others. When a person has social anxiety disorder they are afraid that he or she will make mistakes and be embarrassed or humiliated in front of others. The fear may be made worse by a lack of social skills or experience in social situations and could lead to a panic attack. (Web MD) Many people with social anxiety disorder often suffer from distorted thinking. This can lead to untrue beliefs about social situations and the negativity of others. If a person goes without treatment, social anxiety disorder can have a negative effect on the person's normal everyday life, such as school, work, social activities, and relationships. Social anxiety disorder can be linked to other mental illnesses such as panic disorder, OCD, and depression. Anxiety disorders are generally treated with medication, and occasionally types of psychotherapy, or both. Treatment depends on the problem and the persons interests. A doctor must perform a careful diagnostic to determine a persons symptoms before they are treated. There are many causes for anxiety disorder or a physical problems that need to be addressed before a treatment can be prescribed. There are many contributing factors that can cause any one of these

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anxiety disorders from inheritance, mental illness, traumatic events, drug and alcohol abuse, and many more.

References National Institute of Mental Health http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxietydisorders/index.shtml Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/DS00189 Mental Health America http://www.nmha.org/go/ptsd Web MD http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-social-anxiety disorder