Anxiety, also known as anxiety disorder, is a psychological disorder. It is normal to experience occasional anxiety in our daily lives. Because we can worry about the events we face in time or we can have material-spiritual concerns about the future. Although it is normal to have anxiety in daily life, if there is an excess in the dose, then we can talk about a medical illness.
People with anxiety disorders have an intense, constant state of anxiety and fear of situations encountered in daily life. It can also manifest itself with panic attacks. This state of extreme worry, anxiety and panic interferes with the continuation of daily activities. It is difficult to control and manage, and it is not possible to predict time. Symptoms of this condition can begin in childhood and adolescence and continue into adulthood. It tends to decrease after adulthood.
Anxiety disorders in themselves; There are also sections such as social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety. In this context, you may suffer from more than one anxiety disorder, not just one. Sometimes it may be necessary to reach a solution with medical treatment.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety prepares you to cope with the problems you encounter in your daily life and prepares the environment for you to make faster decisions. Anxiety is actually your brain’s way of responding to stress and warning you of potential dangers ahead.
Approximately 18% of the society suffers from anxiety disorder and may progress to the level of illness with the degree of increase in the problem. A person with anxiety always thinks about the worst-case scenario and these thoughts are out of their control.
The social life of a person who constantly experiences anxiety and worry may be interrupted, his mental health may deteriorate and his efficiency in daily work may decrease. Therefore, the quality of life of people with anxiety disorders decreases considerably.
Who Is Anxiety More Common?
According to statistics, anxiety disorders are more common in women than in men. Anxiety is more common in children who were brought up with an overprotective attitude, and in people who always get negative reactions from their environment and who are suppressed.
As the negativities, traumas and unhappiness experienced in childhood increase, the risk of anxiety increases simultaneously. In addition, the presence of anxiety in the family or relatives increases the risk. Because genetic transmission is possible in this disease.
What are Anxiety Disorders?
There are several types of anxiety disorder:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A feeling of extreme anxiety and tension for no apparent reason.
Panic Attack: Sudden and intense fear can cause panic attacks. In the meantime, you may feel pain in your chest, you may experience sweat discharge in your body, and you may observe an acceleration in your heartbeat. Sometimes the process can be so severe that you think you are drowning or having a heart attack.
Social Anxiety Disorder: In your personal relationships, it is called the state of worrying and stressing that others judge your actions and ridicule them.
Specific Phobias: It can manifest as a fear of heights. People with this fear may worry about getting on a plane or living in high-rise houses.
Agoraphobia: In the crowd, when an emergency occurs, you may feel fear and anxiety because your mobility is limited.
Separation Anxiety: You may have a separation anxiety problem if you are very worried when your loved ones leave you and you want to be in front of you all the time.
Selective Mute: While some children can communicate with their families by speaking, they cannot speak in public. This social anxiety is called selective mutism.
Reasons
What Are the Causes of Anxiety Disorders?
The causes of anxiety disorders are not clearly understood. However, it is seen that factors such as traumatic events, various experiences, health problems, hereditary factors can trigger anxiety disorders.
- Anxiety disorders can occur due to genetic reasons. Therefore, if any of your relatives have this disease, you are at risk.
- Incorrect connection of the parts of your brain that control fear and emotions can cause anxiety disorders.
- You may experience anxiety disorder due to environmental traumas (such as childhood abuse, death or assault of a loved one).
- Health problems such as heart, lung, thyroid, sugar can cause anxiety disorders.
- Anxiety may be a side effect of the medications you use.
If your family or relatives don’t have an anxiety disorder, if it didn’t happen when you were a kid, and it’s just starting to come out, there may be a medical reason. It should be checked by the physician and a road map should be drawn accordingly.
What are the Anxiety Risk Factors?
Certain factors can increase your risk of having an anxiety disorder.
- Experiencing sexual abuse or neglect during childhood greatly increases the risk of anxiety.
- Individuals exposed to traumatic events are more likely to experience anxiety disorders.
- Being depressed increases your risk of anxiety.
- Worry and stress about your own health or the health of those around you can increase anxiety disorders.
- Substance abuse increases the risk of anxiety.
- The risk is high in people who are afraid of strangers, withdraw themselves, and do not communicate in childhood.
- Negative thoughts and perceptions such as lack of self-confidence and being the subject of ridicule can cause anxiety disorder.
- People with certain personality types are prone to anxiety disorders.
Symptoms
What Are the Symptoms of Anxiety?
Some symptoms of anxiety disorder are as follows.
- Feeling tense, restless, panicked
- experiencing shortness of breath, dry mouth,
- Worried as if something bad is going to happen
- Excessive acceleration in heartbeat
- excessive sweating
- trembling in hands
- Focus, concentration problems
- indigestion troubles
- The state of avoiding the effects that will trigger anxiety
- Sleep problems are among the main symptoms.
Diagnostic Methods
What are Anxiety Diagnostic Methods?
If you are sure of the presence of symptoms, your doctor will perform a physical examination and then fill in your history with information about your medical history.
It may require some tests to be done in order to eliminate some health conditions that may trigger it. None of the laboratory tests can specifically diagnose anxiety disorders, so the tests, medical history and examination stages are all important for the diagnosis of the disorder.
Your doctor may refer you to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health professional as needed. These professionals may ask various questions, use certain tools, or perform some tests to find out if you have an anxiety disorder.
Another important point in the evaluation phase is how long your symptoms have been present and how intense they are. It is very important for the diagnosis to let the doctors know if your anxiety is at a level that prevents you from enjoying daily life.
Treatment Methods
What are Anxiety Treatment Methods?
There are many treatment alternatives available to reduce the symptoms of anxiety disorder and to manage the discomfort. But the two most common treatments are psychotherapy and medications. Which treatment method you will respond better to can be determined by trial and error.
Psychotherapy: Known as counseling or talk therapy, psychotherapy involves working with a therapist to reduce your anxiety symptoms. In this type of counseling, you can witness how your emotions affect your behavior. Psychotherapy is a highly effective treatment for learning ways to understand and manage your anxiety disorder.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This type of psychotherapy guides you in how to turn negative and panic-inducing thoughts and behaviors into positive ones. It is an effective treatment method where you will learn how to approach and manage situations that cause fear and anxiety without worry.
Medication: Your doctor can use various antidepressants, medications, sedatives to relieve anxiety symptoms. The main purpose of drugs is short-term relief, they are not intended for long-term use. It would also be good to meet with your doctor to decide which drug will be better for you and to talk about the pros and cons.
