Life is not fair to all of us. There are rough patches of time and difficult situations that occasionally make you feel anxious. However, there is a difference between being anxious for some time and suffering from an anxiety disorder. These two are totally different things to experience.
You may have heard of anxiety from a colleague or relative sometimes. But how does it feel to experience it?
Anxiety symptoms include constant worrying and overthinking about specific issues, which could be huge or very irrelevant to even pay heed to, but the patient is unable to shift his focus on anything else except the thing that bothers him.
In this article, we will take you through everything related to the types of anxiety, the physical and mental symptoms displayed by anxiety patients; what are the risk factors? Causes and what helps you to cope with this mental health condition.
What are the different types of anxiety disorders?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
It refers to a persistent feeling of anxiety that develops slowly over the time and affects persons quality of life severely. GAD patients experience symptoms of constant worrying and fear for months or years, if they remain untreated.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
It is a common medical health disorder in which the patient experiences obsessive thoughts, which leads him to exhibit compulsive behaviors. Men, women, and children could become prey to this disease without any distinction.
Panic Disorder
It is a type of anxiety disorder. Patients experience sudden fits of panic or fear in this condition, even with negligible inconvenience.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
It often occurs in people who have experienced some shocking, dangerous, or violent event in the past.
Social Phobia (or Social Anxiety Disorder)
It is a long-term mental illness triggered in specific social situations, such as the fear of being judged or laughed at while performing some tasks before the audience.
Agoraphobia
It is an anxiety attack when you feel trapped in a situation and cannot escape it.
Separation anxiety disorder
It is the fear of being away from the home or your loved ones. It is often diagnosed in the developmental age, e.g., a child fears being lost from his mother.
What are the causes of anxiety disorders?
Anxiety is the most common mental health problem in the United States, and the world health organization suggests that every 1 in 13 people worldwide suffers from some anxiety disorder.
There could be one specific or multiple reasons. Some common causes are described below;
Genetics
Studies indicate that if someone in your close family is suffering from GAD, then chances are that you can suffer from it too. It happens due to the presence of a gene RBFOX1, which enhances the risk of someone developing GAD.
If we focus on biological reasons for anxiety, our brain chemistry also plays a big part in it which is also related to genetics.
Many researchers believe that anxiety is somewhat caused by a mis-proportion of neurotransmitters of the brain, e.g., serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and GABA. These are all the brain chemicals that, one way or another, control our moods.
Current life situation
Stress in your daily life could also be the cause of anxiety disorder. It is commonly related to studies or work. These factors may not be worth inducing stress for some people, but it could be nerve-wracking for others to attend a board meeting or go for a viva exam.
Anxiety can also be due to by money issues, a bad relationship, or a chronic health issue.
Past traumatic experiences
Just like some other mental health illnesses, anxiety could also result from a bad experience. This could be anything like the death of a loved one in childhood, physical or mental abuse by your parents or partner, an assault, or witnessing something violent.
The incident could be a one-time thing, or an experience accumulated over multiple negative events in someone’s life.
Some drugs, alcohols, and medications
Excessive use of alcohol, recreational drugs or taking too many anti-depressants can sometimes lead you towards anxiety disorder. You indirectly become habitual and cannot function without these things.
Sometimes it could also be the reason that a person already has a genetic tendency towards anxiety, and it is added on by environmental factors such as work stress financial crisis, and since he already has weak nerves, he is overtaken by anxiety easily.
What are the complications of anxiety disorders?
If your anxiety remains untreated, it could lead you to severe complications that could even be life-threatening.
Depression
Anxiety and depression are often co-related. The patient could suffer from both at the same time, and since the symptoms of both are almost the same, it is difficult to tell the difference. When they both occur together, they can cause symptoms like agitation, sleeplessness, and brain fog.
Suicide
Almost 90 percent of the people who commit suicide have been previously diagnosed with some mental disease. It could be anxiety disorder or a combination of more mental problems such as depression, OCD, specific phobias, chronic stress, or drug addiction. The risk of suicide becomes greater with the severity of mental health diseases.
Addiction
People who suffer from anxiety often look for something to lean on when they cannot bear the stress. Their relief could be alcohol, drugs, or some anti-depressant medications. But the problem is constant anxiety means constant intake of these harmful substances, which also causes dependency. This becomes a habit that leads the person toward addiction.
Physical diseases
Chronic stress will ultimately destroy your immune system, leaving your body prone to certain diseases such as colds, flu, and other viral, bacterial, and fungal infections.
If any of the above-mentioned conditions occur, immediate medical help is needed. Which should be provided on time, or the situation will become worse.
What is the prognosis for anxiety disorders?
First of all, it is important to be clinically diagnosed for anxiety by an experienced psychiatrist, then, consult your doctor for a suitable treatment method to treat your anxiety.
There are multiple ways to treat GAD, but it does not work the same for all.
For example, if we talk about oral medications (anti-psychotic drugs), many patients are not compliant with this method of treatment. Whether because of the adverse effects of drugs or the tiring regime to follow which takes months to show difference.
Such patients are called treatment-resistant. Ketamine treatment for anxiety is the best option for such patients because of its no side effects and mild dose, which will provide you instant relief for a longer period.
Sometimes ketamine therapy is combined with an anti-depressant if the patient’s symptoms are severe. Or CBT sessions are thought to be helpful along with medication or ketamine therapy if the patient experiences long-term negative thoughts.
Bottom line
Anxiety disorders should not be ignored for long because they can have a negative effect on a person’s quality of life, causing them to miss out on work, school, or social activities.
At Nepenthe Wellness Center, we provide you with best healthcare facilities for treatment of anxiety. Our aim is to look for your underlying complications rather than just treating the symptoms.
