When Anxiety Goes Wrong and Dealing with it

   An Appointment with Anxiety

Got an exam? Have an interview for your first job? Will be having a blind date? You tend to feel nervous, tense and worried. It's normal to to feel these things during an encounter with a challenging situation, Anxiety. It is a normal human emotion that people experience at times. But if your worries and fears seem overwhelming and interfere with your daily life, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY DISORDER

Anxiety is different from just a feeling of nervousness. Feeling with anxiety disorder suffer from depression, and they may be also abused achohol and use of drugs to gain relief from their symptoms.If you identify with several of the following signs and symptoms, and they just won’t go away, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

• Are you constantly tense, nervous and feel restless?
• Do you feel like danger and catastrophe are approaching everywhere?
• Do you believe that something bad will happen if things did not happen in a certain way?
• Does your anxiety affect you in your school, work or family responsibilities?
  
• Are you plagued by fears that you know are irrational, but can't shake?

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY DISORDER

Because anxiety disorders are a group of related conditions rather than a single disorder, they can look very different from person to person. Despite their different forms, all anxiety disorders share one major symptom: persistent or severe fear or worry in situations where most people wouldn’t feel threatened.


EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY


In addition to the primary symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include:

• Feeling of Apprehension or dread
• Trouble concentrating
• Feeling tense and jumpy
• Anticipating the worst
• Irritablity
• Restlessness
• Watching signs of danger
• Feeling like your minds gone blank

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY

Anxiety is more than just a feeling. As a product of the body’s fight-or-flight response, anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the numerous physical symptoms, anxiety sufferers often mistake their disorder for a medical illness.

Common physical symptoms of anxiety include:

• Pounding heart
• Sweating
• Stomach upset or dizziness
• Frequent urination or diarrhea
• Shortness of breath

• Tremors and twitches
• Muscle tension
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Insomnia

SELF-HELP FOR ANXIETY ATTACKS AND ANXIETY DISORDERS

Not everyone who worries a lot has an anxiety disorder. You may be anxious because of an overly demanding schedule, lack of exercise or sleep, pressure at home or work, or even from too much coffee.

The bottom line is that if your lifestyle is unhealthy and stressful, you’re more likely to feel anxious—whether or not you have an anxiety disorder. So if you feel like you worry too much, take some time to evaluate how well you’re caring for yourself

• Make time for relaxation and fun
• Challenge your negative thoughts
• Write your worries, accept uncertainty, enjoy good things happening in your life
• Adopt healthy eating habits, reduce alchohol and nicotine
• Take care of yourself, exercise regularly, get enough sleep

While self-help coping strategies for anxiety can be very effective, if your worries, fears, or anxiety attacks have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to seek professional help.

If you’re experiencing a lot of physical anxiety symptoms, consider getting a medical checkup. Your doctor can check to make sure that your anxiety isn’t caused by a medical condition, such as a thyroid problem, hypoglycemia, or asthma. Since certain drugs and supplements can cause anxiety, your doctor will also want to know about any prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies, and recreational drugs you’re taking.

If your physician rules out a medical cause, the next step is to consult with a therapist who has experience treating anxiety attacks and anxiety disorders. The therapist will work with you to determine the cause and type of your anxiety disorder and devise a course of treatment.