Anxiety Disorders, Beyond Medication, How to Get Relief From Anxiety?
Understanding Anxiety Disorders:
Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when you feel threatened, under pressure, or is facing a stressful situation. In moderation, anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, anxiety can help you stay alert and focused, spur you to action, and motivate you to solve problems. anxiety relief
But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with your relationships and activities, it stops being functional, that’s when you’ve crossed the line from normal, productive anxiety into the territory of anxiety disorders.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It might cause you to sweat, feel restless and tense, and have a rapid heartbeat. It can be a normal reaction to stress. For example, you might feel anxious when faced with a difficult problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision. It can help you to cope. The anxiety may give you a boost of energy or help you focus. But for people with anxiety disorders, the fear is not temporary and can be overwhelming.
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety disorders are conditions in which you have anxiety that does not go away and can get worse over time. The symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, schoolwork, and relationships.
Types of Anxiety Disorders?
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders.
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). People with GAD worry about ordinary issues such as health, money, work, and family. But their worries are excessive, and they have them almost every day for at least 6 months.
- Panic disorder. People with panic disorder have panic attacks. These are sudden, repeated periods of intense fear when there is no danger. The attacks come on quickly and can last several minutes or more.
- Phobias. People with phobias have an intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Their fear may be about spiders, flying, going to crowded places, or being in social situations (known as social anxiety).
A. Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms include:
- Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge.
- Being easily fatigued.
- Having difficulty concentrating; mind going blank.
- Being irritable.
- Having muscle tension.
- Difficulty controlling feelings of worry.
- Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness, or unsatisfying sleep.
B. Panic Disorder:
People with panic disorder have recurrent unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear that come on quickly and reach their peak within minutes. Attacks can occur unexpectedly or can be brought on by a trigger, such as a feared object or situation.
During a panic attack, people may experience:
- Heart palpitations, a pounding heartbeat, or an accelerated heart rate.
- Sweating.
- Trembling or shaking.
- Sensations of shortness of breath, smothering or choking.
- Feelings of impending doom.
- Feelings of being out of control.
People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will happen and actively try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors they associate with panic attacks. Worry about panic attacks, and the effort spent trying to avoid attacks, cause significant problems in various areas of the person’s life, including the development of agoraphobia (see below).
C. Phobia-related disorders:
A phobia is an intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious in some circumstances, the fear people with phobias feel is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.
People with a phobia:
- May have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared object or situation.
- Take active steps to avoid the feared object or situation.
- Experience immediate intense anxiety upon encountering the feared object or situation.
- Endure unavoidable objects and situations with intense anxiety.
There are several types of phobias and phobia-related disorders:
I. Specific Phobias (sometimes called simple phobias):
As the name suggests, people who have a specific phobia have an intense fear of or feel intense anxiety about, specific types of objects or situations. Some examples of specific phobias include the fear of:
- Flying.
- Heights.
- Specific animals, such as spiders, dogs, or snakes.
- Receiving injections.
- Blood.
II. Social anxiety disorder (previously called social phobia):
People with social anxiety disorder have a general intense fear of, or anxiety toward, social or performance situations. They worry that actions or behaviors associated with their anxiety will be negatively evaluated by others, leading them to feel embarrassed.
This worry often causes people with social anxiety to avoid social situations. Social anxiety disorder can manifest in a range of situations, such as within the workplace or the school environment.
III. Agoraphobia:
People with agoraphobia have an intense fear of two or more of the following situations:
- Using public transportation.
- Being in open spaces.
- Being in enclosed spaces.
- Standing in line or being in a crowd.
- Being outside of the home alone.
People with agoraphobia often avoid these situations, in part, because they think being able to leave might be difficult or impossible in the event they have panic-like reactions or other embarrassing symptoms. In the most severe form of agoraphobia, an individual can become housebound.
IV. Separation anxiety disorder:
Separation anxiety is often thought of as something that only children deal with; however, adults can also be diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. People who have separation anxiety disorder have fears about being parted from people to whom they are attached. They often worry that some sort of harm or something untoward will happen to their attachment figures while they are separated.
This fear leads them to avoid being separated from their attachment figures and to avoid being alone. People with separation anxiety may have nightmares about being separated from attachment figures or experience physical symptoms when separation occurs or is anticipated.
V. Selective mutism: anxiety relief
A somewhat rare disorder associated with anxiety is selective mutism. Selective mutism occurs when people fail to speak in specific social situations despite having normal language skills. Selective mutism usually occurs before the age of 5 and is often associated with extreme shyness, fear of social embarrassment, compulsive traits, withdrawal, clinging behavior, and temper tantrums. People diagnosed with selective mutism are often also diagnosed with other anxiety disorders.
Causes Of Anxiety Disorders:
The cause of anxiety is unknown. Factors such as genetics, brain biology and chemistry, stress, and your environment may play a role.
Risk Factors for anxiety disorders:
Researchers are finding that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing an anxiety disorder. Although the risk factors for each type of anxiety disorder can vary, some general risk factors for all types of anxiety disorders include:
- Temperamental traits of shyness or behavioral inhibition in childhood.
- Exposure to stressful and negative life or environmental events in early childhood or adulthood.
- A history of anxiety or other mental illnesses in biological relatives.
- Some physical health conditions, such as thyroid problems or heart arrhythmias, or caffeine or other substances/medications, can produce or aggravate anxiety symptoms; a physical health examination is helpful in the evaluation of a possible anxiety disorder.
Signs And Symptoms of anxiety disorders:
The different types of anxiety disorders can have different symptoms. But they all have a combination of:
- Anxious thoughts or beliefs that are hard to control. They make you feel restless and tense and interfere with your daily life. They do not go away and can get worse over time.
- Physical symptoms, such as a pounding or rapid heartbeat, unexplained aches and pains, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
- Changes in behavior, such as avoiding everyday activities you used to do.
Using caffeine, other substances, and certain medicines can make your symptoms worse.
Also, 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.
Diagnosis:
To diagnose anxiety disorders, your health care provider will ask about your symptoms and medical history. You may also have a physical exam and lab tests to make sure that a different health problem is not the cause of your symptoms.
If you don’t have another health problem, you will get a psychological evaluation. Your provider may do it, or you may be referred to a mental health professional to get one.
Treatments for anxiety disorders:
The main treatments for anxiety disorders are psychotherapy (talk therapy), medicines, or both:
-
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): IT
- Is a type of psychotherapy that is often used to treat anxiety disorders. CBT teaches you different ways of thinking and behaving.
- Can help you change how you react to the things that cause you to feel fear and anxiety.
- May include exposure therapy.
- This focuses on having you confront your fears so that you will be able to do the things that you had been avoiding.
-
Medicines: anxiety relief
- to treat anxiety disorders include anti-anxiety medicines and certain antidepressants.
- Some types of medicines may work better for specific types of anxiety disorders.
- You should work closely with your health care provider to identify which medicine is best for you.
- You may need to try more than one medicine before you can find the right one.
For extreme cases of generalized anxiety disorder,
medication may be used for a temporary time period. The three main kinds of medication used for generalized anxiety disorder include the following medications:
- Buspirone – It is generally considered to be the safest drug available for overcoming anxiety. However, it will only take the edge off, not eliminate anxiety.
- Benzodiazepines – These drugs act very quickly (usually within 30-60 minutes), but can be psychologically and physically addictive if taken for more than a few weeks.
- Antidepressants – These drugs may take up to six weeks to be effective and can affect quality of sleep, as well as provide nausea to some patients.
How to Get Relief From Anxiety?
You may feel as if your anxiety is controlling your whole life, but it does not have to. Many people still have problems with anxiety but are able to reduce its effect on their lives, or even eliminate it completely. The tips that you are about to review provide ways to help you regain control over the things in your life once again.
1. Listening to music is an excellent anxiety reducer:
If you feel anxious, play your favorite CD. Follow each note and get lost in the music. Quite soon, your anxiety will be long forgotten. Try to entertain your mind at all times.
2. Medical Advice:
If you are the victim of the common condition of chronic anxiety, it is time to consider medical advice from a doctor. With new medications and treatment advances, you can take advantage of many new ways to treat anxiety. Set aside time to go to the doctor, so you can get the correct treatment.
3. Avoid Bad News:
if negative news deeply affects you, then it might be time to put down the newspaper, to stay up-to-date on current events without increasing your anxiety, find a news channel that broadcasts positive features in addition to negative stories.
4. take charge of your emotional state:
- Sometimes, a little self-discipline is all that you need to take charge of your emotional state.
- once you gain some control over your emotions, you will have more control over your anxiety attacks.
- Negative feelings and emotions tend to trigger the attacks you are experiencing.
- Figuring out how to separate your feelings from your daily activities can help.
5. Stay Busy:
A great way to keep your anxiety under control is by staying busy, when you are sitting around all day, doing nothing, your mind tends to wander and you may begin to focus on your anxiety. Simple things, such as cleaning the house or washing your car can really help.
6. Talk to Someone:
Don’t Bottle in all the Troubles, Talk to Someone. Bottling up your thoughts and emotions will only contribute to your problems. Your anxiety is sure to lessen when you share it.
7. Do not sit down during the day too much:
- If you sit a lot at work, move around, and get exercise on breaks.
- Simply standing up throughout the day is beneficial as well.
- Keep active by taking walks, working in your garden, or finding an engaging hobby.
Yes, you need to sit and relax sometimes; however, too much of this can be a direct link to increasing anxiety.
8. If your mind ends up racing at nighttime, try keeping a journal:
Just a few minutes spent writing your problems down on paper can assist you in getting your thoughts out, helping you with sleep. Write whenever you need a positive outlet.
9. Calm Down and Relax: anxiety relief
A lot of people who have a lot of stress in their lives aren’t taking time to calm down and relax. Make sure you take the time to take a break every day and just kick off your shoes and relax. If you make a habit of getting even 20 minutes of daily relaxation time, the long-term effect you will see on your anxiety levels will be dramatic.
10. Cognitive-behavioral therapy:
The best combination for overcoming anxiety involves utilizing both self-help measures and therapy. Therapy not only can help you to overcome anxiety but is also side-effect-free.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy:
- Is a type of therapy that is particularly effective at overcoming anxiety caused by a generalized anxiety disorder.
- Involves examining distortions in the ways that we look at the world and at ourselves.
- Will help you to identify automatic negative thoughts that contribute to your anxiety in an attempt to overcome that anxiety. anxiety relief anxiety relief anxiety relief
Here’re five main components to cognitive-behavioral therapy:
- Education – by learning more about your anxiety and distinguishing helpful and unhelpful worry, you will learn to have a more accepting and proactive response to it.
- Monitoring – by monitoring your anxiety, you learn what triggers it, the specific things you worry about, and the severity and length of a particular episode.
- Physical control strategies – by employing deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, you help decrease the “fight or flight” response that maintains your state of anxiety and fear.
- Cognitive control strategies – by learning to realistically evaluate and alter the thinking patterns that contribute to generalized anxiety disorder, you will lessen your fears and begin overcoming anxiety.
- Behavioral strategies – by facing your fears head on without trying to escape them, you will begin to feel more in control and less anxious when facing them. anxiety relief anxiety relief
Conclusion:
Based on extensive research it has been found that the most effective treatment for anxiety disorders is the combination of the right form of self help instruction with the assistance of a qualified therapist who specializes in dealing with anxiety recovery. A coach, counsellor, therapist, or even a psychologist who has successfully beaten anxiety in their own life and have been free of medication for at least 3 years are all good choices when choosing the right therapist for assistance in treating anxiety disorders.
Therapists,
Who are currently on medication for treating their own anxiety have proven to not be good sources for anxiety help. Studies have shown that those who work with a therapist that has overcome their own anxiety disorder tend to be the best in assisting others in tackling their own unique form of this disorder. Those who are still using anti-anxiety meds may lead current suffers to wonder how helpful could this therapist be if they are unable to overcome their own anxiety disorder.
Finally,
By seeking professional help and having a medical evaluation, you can determine whether you have an anxiety disorder and the best course of treatment available for overcoming anxiety. Anxiety often feels eternal, but this article has shown that that isn’t the reality. All that you have learned here can help you towards recovering. Why wait?
If you find this article useful, don’t forget to share it with your friends and family, as you might help someone in need. Thanks.
Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment of any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”
Sources
Excellent nutrition is the basis of a healthy Life!
Liked the article? Share the love!
