What You Should Know About Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is a natural human reaction. And contrary to popular opinion, anxiety can be beneficial because it alerts poeple to potential dangers and gives off an adrenaline rush that can help them accomplish a task in record time.

But like many things, anxiety when taken into the extreme can have disastrous results. These feelings can lead to panic attacks and chronic worrying that can slowly affect the way a person deals with other people and with normal life situations.

Anxiety disorder, as psychologists would want to call this condition, can range from something as simple as feelings of uneasiness to responses as severe as feelings of terror and claustrophobia. Fortunately, among the psychological disorders, anxiety problems are one of the most common and the most treatable. Combinations of medications and behavior therapy are often given. Symptoms of anxiety problems include fast heartbeat and palpitations, chest pains and difficulty in breathing, anxious thoughts that persist even without any concrete reason, dizziness and nausea, sweating, trembling, difficulty in concentrating, fearful thoughts and feelings of disorientation and claustrophobia.

Below are the types of anxiety disorders as mentioned in the DSM-IV.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is characterized by excessive but unwarranted worries that a person cannot stop having. Although most people will experience these kinds of feelings every once in a while, a disorder is only diagnosed if the feelings persist for six months and start to affect work and the persons relationships with other people. Some of the common symptoms that people should watch out for are physiological reactions such as headaches, trembling, muscle tension, sweating, and trouble staying or falling asleep. There are also bouts of restlessness and sweating.

Panic disorder is another type of anxiety disorder characterized by feelings of terror that strikes so suddenly without immediate cause. Often, people who are having panic attacks feel pains in their chest with their heartbeats going fast. Some will also feel lightheadedness and even nausea. They will find it hard to breathe and may feel unwarranted fears. Although most attacks usually last for about a few minutes, there are some that last for almost ten minutes and even those that continue on for an hour. A disorder is diagnosed when the attacks happen in a time frame of just four weeks.

We fear a lot of things but there are some people who are quite irrational with their fears. These fears on things are called phobias. There is a long list of phobia forms, having a specific name for each item that is feared. A person, for instance, who is afraid of open spaces has what psychologists like to call agoraphobia. Phobias are characterized by extreme anxiety and even panic attacks when confronted by the object being feared. Many of the symptoms that are felt during panic attacks are also felt during phobic episodes.

Post-traumatic stress disorder also falls under anxiety disorders. PTSD, as it is often called, often developed after experiencing, witnessing or participating in a traumatic and terrorizing event such as death, war, torture and other extreme circumstances. PTSD is characterized by intense anxiety and nightmares at night. People who have PTSD also find it difficult to sleep and to concentrate on things. Often, anxiety attacks go to the extreme when confronted with situations that have similarities with the one experienced.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides anxiety resources on http://www.your-anxiety-resources.info

Anxiety Cures
Given the difficulty that people suffer from anxiety disorders in simply leading their lives, it becomes imperative that they...

Recognizing Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
Social anxiety disorder is a very serious mental illness that affects many more people than most imagine. Due to the nature o...

Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder is a condition in which the patient or sufferer experiences great trepidation from being around other...

Anxiety Disorders Depression Can Be Very Frightening
Anxiety disorders depression actually affects many people around the world today. Anxiety disorders can make a person feel te...

Anxiety Symptoms: Top 5 Most Common Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
Social anxiety disorder is the fear of social interaction and other aspects of social life. It is also a fear of confrontatio...

Treating Anxiety Disorders
If you believe you may suffer from one of many anxiety disorders it is important to learn about treating anxiety disorders. W...

Types Of Anxiety Disorders
In medicine, one of the keys to effectively treating diseases and disorders is having the right information on the condition....

Anxiety and Panic Disorder
Everyone will experience anxiety sooner or later, it is the normal response to perceived threats. For some, however, the anxi...

Anxiety Medication
Medicines help relieve anxiety and depression. Anxiety is a state of mind in which you constantly anticipate something bad. T...

Cause of Social Anxiety Disorder
There is no clear mandate on the exact cause of social anxiety disorder. There are many assumptions about it, which include a...

Causes of Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety in people is considered to be a normal emotion, but at times being over anxious can turn our lives into a living nigh...

Anxiety Disorders: How To Cope
Depression can, and sometimes does, go hand in hand with anxiety disorders. There are a few different kinds general and soc...

Diagnosing Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety disorders are more common than you may think. Millions of individuals suffer silently every year, when help is avail...

Natural Anxiety Cures - Is It The Answer?
Before going into detail let me explain how I describe these natural anxiety cures. There are two ways of dealing with anxiet...

Anxiety Self-help
Anxiety disorders can be controlled using self-help tools. Self-help is the first remedial step you should try when dealing w...

An Explanation of Anxiety Disorders and Their Treatments
Anxiety is a common feeling for most people at some point or another. When fear, nervousness or worry become a chronic proble...

Anxiety Remedies - What Are Your Best Choices To Cure Anxiety Attacks
Today, there is much talk about all natural and alternative anxiety remedies, which are all very well and good, but sometimes...

How To Spot Anxiety Problems
At one point or another, nearly 1 out of every 60 people suffer from anxiety. Although it is not always properly identified,...

Anxiety Attacks
When one suffers an anxiety attack, physical symptoms manifest in the form of rapid or irregular heartbeat, stomach problems,...

Medications for Anxiety
It is widely known that anxiety disorders are one of the most treatable disorders since they respond well to all forms of the...