Anxiety Disorder
What is Anxiety Disorder?
An anxiety disorder is a type of mental health condition. If you have an anxiety disorder, you may respond to certain things and situations with fear and dread. You may also experience physical signs of anxiety, such as a pounding heart and sweating.
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder
- Feeling nervous, restless or tense
- Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
- Having an increased heart rate
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Feeling weak or tired
- Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
- Having trouble sleeping
- Skipping mealsExperiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems or making excuses for not eating.
- Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
- Having difficulty controlling worry
- Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
Causes of Anxiety Disorder
Some causes of anxiety disorders are:
Genetics
Anxiety disorders can run in families.
Brain chemistry
Some research suggests anxiety disorders may be linked to faulty circuits in the brain that control fear and emotions.
Environmental stress
This refers to stressful events you have seen or lived through. Life events often linked to anxiety disorders include childhood abuse and neglect, a death of a loved one, or being attacked or seeing violence.
Drug withdrawal or misuse
Certain drugs may be used to hide or decrease certain anxiety symptoms. Anxiety disorder often goes hand in hand with alcohol and substance use.
Medical conditions
Some heart, lung, and thyroid conditions can cause symptoms similar to anxiety disorders or make anxiety symptoms worse
Risk factors
These factors may increase your risk of developing an anxiety disorder:
Trauma
Children or adults who endured abuse or trauma or witnessed traumatic events are at higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder at some point in life.
Stress due to an illness
Having a health condition or serious illness can cause significant worry about issues such as your treatment and your future.
Stress buildup
big event or a buildup of smaller stressful life situations may trigger excessive anxiety — for example, a death in the family, work stress or ongoing worry about finances.
Personality
People with certain personality types are more prone to anxiety disorders than others are.
Other mental health disorders
People with other mental health disorders, such as depression, often also have an anxiety disorder.
Having blood relatives with an anxiety disorder
Anxiety disorders can run in families.
Drugs or alcohol
Drug or alcohol use or misuse or withdrawal can cause or worsen anxiety.
Complications
- Depression (which often occurs with an anxiety disorder) or other mental health disorders
- Substance misuse
- Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
- Digestive or bowel problems
- Social isolation
- Problems functioning at school or work
- Poor quality of life
- Suicide
Prevention of Anxiety Disorder
Get help early
Anxiety, like many other mental health conditions, can be harder to treat if you wait.
Stay active
Participate in activities that you enjoy and that make you feel good about yourself. Enjoy social interaction and caring relationships, which can lessen your worries.
Avoid alcohol or drug use
Alcohol and drug use can cause or worsen anxiety. If you're addicted to any of these substances, quitting can make you anxious.
Types of Anxiety Disorder
Agoraphobia
Selective mutism
Panic disorder
Separation anxiety disorder
Social anxiety disorder
Specific phobia
How are anxiety disorders diagnosed?
The healthcare provider starts with a complete medical history and physical examination.
There are no lab tests or scans that can diagnose anxiety disorders. But the health provider may run some of these tests to rule out physical conditions that may be causing symptoms.
How Does Medication Treat Anxiety Disorders?
Medications can’t cure an anxiety disorder. But they can improve symptoms and help you function better. Medications for anxiety disorders often include:
Anti-anxiety medications
such as benzodiazepines, may decrease your anxiety, panic and worry. They work quickly, but you can build up a tolerance to them.
Antidepressants
Antidepressants can also help with anxiety disorders. They tweak how your brain uses certain chemicals to improve mood and reduce stress.
Beta-blockers
usually used for high blood pressure, can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of anxiety disorders. They can relieve rapid heartbeat, shaking and trembling.
How Does Psychotherapy Treat Anxiety Disorders?
Psychotherapy, or counselling, helps you deal with your emotional response to the illness. A mental health provider talks through strategies to help you better understand and manage the disorder. Approaches include:
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most common type of psychotherapy used for anxiety disorders. CBT for anxiety teaches you to recognize thought patterns and behaviours that lead to troublesome feelings.
- Exposure therapy focuses on dealing with the fears behind the anxiety disorder. It helps you engage with activities or situations you may have been avoiding.
FAQs
1
What is the rare anxiety disorder?
Illness anxiety disorder (hypochondria) is extremely rare. It typically appears during early adulthood. Illness anxiety disorder can affect all ages and genders.
2
What is the most serious form of anxiety?
Panic attacks are intense, overwhelming and often uncontrollable feelings of anxiety. Physical symptoms can include trouble breathing, chest pain, dizziness and sweating. If someone has repeated panic attacks they may have a panic disorder.
3
What triggers anxiety attacks?
Difficult experiences in childhood, adolescence or adulthood are common triggers for anxiety problems. Going through stress and trauma will likely have a particularly big impact. Experiences which can trigger anxiety problems include things like physical or emotional abuse.
4
What personality types are prone to anxiety?
Research has indicated that individuals with high emotional reactivity (high neuroticism) and introverted tendencies (low extroversion) are more likely to experience anxiety than other personality types
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