Could You Be Suffering From Anxiety Disorder ?

What is Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety Disorder is a psycho neurotic disorder characterized by anxiety unattached to any obvious source and often accompanied by physiological manifestations of fear (as sweating, cardiac disturbances, diarrhea, or vertigo) called also anxiety neurosis, anxiety reaction, anxiety state.

Anxiety Disorders affect about 40 million American in a given year, causing them to be filled with urgent fear and uncertainty. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event (such as speaking in public or a first date), anxiety disorders last at least 6 months and can get worse if they are not treated. Anxiety disorders commonly occur along with other mental or physical illnesses, including alcohol or substance abuse, which may mask anxiety symptoms or make them worse. In some cases, these other illnesses need to be treated before a person will respond to treatment for the anxiety disorder.

Types of Disorders

The different types of anxiety disorders include panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), specific phobia or simple phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The panic disorder relates to experiencing periods of fear that is very intense or is a psychological distress that comes about abruptly and lasts as little as half an hour and common symptoms are trembling, shortness of breath, palpitations of the heart, sweating, nausea, dizziness and hyper ventilation as well as tingling sensations and also a feeling of being choked.

Social anxiety disorders are an experiencing of fear, apprehension or worry in respect to certain social situations as well as being worried about how they are perceived or evaluated by other people. This is a psychiatric disorder and the patient needs psychiatric treatment. Specific phobia occurs when there is any type of anxiety disorder that can be thought of as being unreasonable or an irrational feeling of fear that is caused by being exposed to definite objects or situations. The affected person is prone to actively avoiding direct contact with the object or situation.

The general anxiety disorder is a condition which has the characteristics of excessive as well as uncontrollable worrying about normal everyday activities. There is a disproportionate intensity as well as duration of this form of anxiety disorder in relation to the actual source of worry and causes the patient to have his or her daily life disrupted.

While obsessive-compulsive disorder is really a psychiatric disorder and more specifically an anxiety disorder that manifests itself in a number of different ways but is mainly linked to obsessive thinking as well as related compulsions that are used to counteract the fixation. Finally, the post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that is caused by exposure to or confrontation with stressful experiences, which are considered highly traumatic by the patient.

Unfortunately, a majority of people that suffer from some of the symptoms of anxiety disorder, are left untreated. In some cases medication is all that is needed, there are herbal supplements that work wonderfully and are very safe. Some find substantial relief from therapy while others find the combination of medication and therapy works for them. It is important to identify the symptoms of anxiety and deal with the issues.