Anxiety is an emotion that appears when your brain alerts you to any danger. People get anxiety when they face extreme conditions like accidents, earthquakes, etc. Getting anxious due to snakes, spiders, roaches, etc is common. Facing anxiety once in a while is not an issue. But the problem appears when a person is facing anxiety almost every day. Everyone feels a bit nervous when walking to a new school, job, or a new city. But facing the same nervousness every day is a major concern. Things or situations that look normal to you may seem hard to people with anxiety disorder. This is not a life-threatening illness but won’t let a person live his life comfortably.
Major types of anxiety disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder
People with GAD experience worry about lots of situations. This worry can become difficult to manage. Due to GAD, the person may overthink a lot. He starts mulling over various events in the future. The person will think about all the upcoming situations and how he has to deal with them. People with GAD may start thinking about the situation about 6 months earlier.
Social anxiety disorder
Social phobia or social anxiety disorder is a condition where the person feels conscious of every social situation. Most people get anxious when delivering a speech for the first time. But the anxiety goes with time and experience. People with social anxiety disorder face extreme anxiety in every social situation. They worry that others will judge them. Those people feel comfortable with the known people but talking to new or less known people may make them anxious. Due to this, they avoid all social situations like family gatherings, school events, parties, ceremonies, etc.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Dealing with OCD is difficult as they may find themselves repeating their actions again and again. Many people have OCD for cleaning. They get overly concerned about germs and cleanliness. Due to this, they may spend their whole day cleaning houses and things. Those people often avoid eating or waiting in public places. If any person touches their item, they may clean the item immediately. Many people with OCD avoid any physical contact like a handshake or hug. Some people have OCD for checking doors, taps, knobs, plugs, etc. Whenever they go outside, they overthink whether the doors are closed or not. People also have OCD for counting things. They always count everything near them. These activities are not harmful but they cause stress to your mind. You don’t want to do that but you can’t resist.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is a type of intense anxiety that reaches a peak in minutes. When the anxiety appears, people start feeling chest pain, pounding heartbeat, sweat, etc. Some people also feel like choking or having a heart attack. This disorder mostly appears when a person worries about any situation. The panic attack can last for 5 to 20 minutes.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
PTSD occurs due to any traumatic experiences that occurred in the past. It is a type of long-time condition and the symptoms may appear after many years. In most people, the symptoms of PTSD appear within 3 months of the traumatic incident. People with PTSD may experience flashbacks, trouble sleeping, negative thoughts, anger, bad dreams, etc. Many war veterans face PTSD disorder. Situations like accidents, sexual or mental abuse, kidnapping, etc can cause PTSD. Dealing with PTSD can make your life very difficult. Get anxiety treatment New York to manage your disorder.
Other than these major disorders, there are also some other types of anxiety disorders like separation anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, substance-induced anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.
What are the causes of anxiety disorder?
Genetics
Some anxieties can run in families. However, research shows that children grow anxiety due to the behavior they learn at home.
Brain chemistry
Any type of disbalance in brain hormones can cause anxiety. When a person is facing an extreme situation, the brain releases some hormones to alert the body. The Disbalance of those hormones often leads to anxiety or other mental disorders.
Drug abuse
People often use alcohol or other substances to face certain situations. But depending on those drugs can lead to anxiety symptoms.
Medical conditions
Some medical conditions like head disease, diabetes, rare tumors, chronic pain, etc can cause anxiety.
Trauma
Any type of negative experience can lead to anxiety. Children often develop anxiety due to abuse, neglect, or witnessing any violence.
Treatment options for anxiety disorder
Medication
Most people ease their anxiety symptoms using medication. Common medications for anxiety disorder are antidepressants, bupropion, benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, antipsychotics, etc. Depending on these medications for a long time may worsen your condition. Many people are adopting dynamic medication to manage anxiety as it is fully safe to use.
Psychotherapy
If the anxiety is making your life difficult then seek a psychotherapist. He/she will help you learn how to deal with your emotions. Your therapist will try to remove the negative response and change them to positive ones. Psychotherapy takes lots of time as a few months to years but has good results.