Anxiety

A normal amount of stress and daily disruptions can cause symptoms of anxiety, but it becomes a disorder when the excessive symptoms make it difficult to function on a normal level. If someone is experiencing chronic and overwhelming feelings of anxiety and fear that are unattached to any obvious source, they should make an appointment with a licensed health professional. If these feelings are left alone and manifest into Anxiety Disorder, they will eventually cause severe mental and physical health problems such as cardiac disturbances, dizziness, and digestive problems.

Participating in therapy with a licensed professional brings awareness to the important role that someone’s thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors play in determining how to feel and behave. In some cases, medication in conjunction with therapy is necessary.

Types of Anxiety Disorders:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition in which someone exaggerates any feelings of fear, worry, and tension, whether there was an incident to provoke them or not.
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is described as having repetitive behaviors, compulsions, or thoughts that are often performed with the hope of preventing them or making them go away.
• Panic Disorder is characterized as having feelings of severe and intense fear while suffering from physical symptoms such as a fear of dying, difficulty breathing, chest pain, dizziness, heart palpitations, or abdominal distress. Known as a panic attack, most are very unexpected and frightening.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common after someone is exposed to a terrifying or life-threatening event. Although there are numerous events that cause PTSD to develop, some include surviving a violent personal assault, natural or human-caused disaster, severe accident, military combat, or when someone’s life is put in grave physical harm or threatened.
• Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) is caused by feelings of extreme anxiety because they fear being judged by others or behaving in a way that causes embarrassment or ridicule. This disorder is triggered by excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder often dread events where they will be surrounded by people and sometimes suffer from physical symptoms, such as heart palpitations, sweating, heavy breathing, and feeling faint.