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Anxiety & Panic Disorders
There are five major types of anxiety disorder; you may experience one, two or more of these conditions at any one time. The five types of anxiety disorder are:
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Anxiety disorder relating to Panic disorder or panic attacks
- Anxiety disorder relating to Social anxiety & phobias
- Anxiety disorder relating to Post traumatic stress disorder
- Anxiety disorder relating to Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Generalised anxiety disorder
Because adrenaline levels are artificially raised through these constant stressors, we can experience what is called generalized anxiety disorder or high anxiety.
This means that the body is functioning at a much higher level of anxiety causing a whole list of anxious feelings, emotions and sensations.
The sort of symptoms you can experience in generalised anxiety disorder are generally not the same as those experienced during a panic attack, although distressing, they are much less extreme
- Stomach may churn
- Heart races or beats slower, or you may even get palpitations
- You may also feel sweaty and clammy
- If fact you might even think you have flu with weak legs
- You may even experience dizziness or your body shaking
- Get disturbing thoughts
- Feel depressed
This is perfectly normal and will pass, it is a purely chemical response to anxiety and must not be mistaken for depression, remember these thoughts and feelings are harmless and they are just unpleasant..
You may feel that you are depressed but anxiety can be very disturbing and constant, unpleasant symptoms can make you feel sad and alone.
Anxiety attack symptoms include:
- Rapid heartbeat, racing heartbeat, chest pain, or heart palpitations
- Feeling suffocated, smothered, or choking sensations
- Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, shallow breathing, or hyperventilation
- Feeling like you're disconnected or disoriented, feelings of unreality Feeling faint, dizzy, lightheaded, blurred vision, or spinning sensations
- Numbness, feeling like you can't move, have "jelly legs," or are paralyzed
- Tingling sensations
- Sweating
- Stomach-related problems, such as nausea, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), constipation, heartburn, indigestion, "butterflies," or other abdominal discomfort
- Feeling trapped, an intense desire to escape, or out of control
- Headaches or pressure around the head or eyes
- Trembling, spasms, cramps, muscle tension, stiffness, pain, or aches (such as in the hands, chest, throat, jaw, or other areas)
- Dry throat, thirstiness, or difficulty swallowing
- Difficulty concentrating or confusion
- Fatigue or weakness
- Feeling like you're dying or going crazy
- Narrowed mental focus
- Sensitivity to light or noise
- Feeling like others are looking at you, judging you, criticizing you, or feeling embarrassed
- Hot flashes or chills
- Anxious thoughts such as racing thoughts; obsessive thoughts; racing thoughts; "what-if" thoughts; negative thoughts; assuming the worst; and other persistent, disturbing, irrational, or fearful thoughts
Anxiety Disorder relating to panic disorder or panic attacks
Panic attack - a sudden or intense fear, anxiety or sense of impending doom, which reaches a peak very quickly.
There are known to be three types of panic attack, these are;
Spontaneous panic - Associated to panic disorder this anxiety disorder can come without warning at any time regardless of location or situation.
Spontaneous panic often happens during sleep, waking the sufferer in its throws causing the person to think they are having a heart attack or something similar.
Panic attacks happen consciously as a response to an unusual sensation.
In other words, when unusual sensations, which are common in anxiety disorders, suddenly rear their heads, the sufferer's immediate reaction is to panic.
The brain has been programmed to respond like this through repeated experience.
This reaction starts a downward spiral of anxiety symptoms, the more symptoms there are, the more the person panics and the more they panic the more the symptoms occur.
Fear breeds fear and the cycle starts.
Specific panic attacks - these attacks happen in relation to a specific situation or place that causes fear.
These attacks are usually the response to agoraphobia or post traumatic stress disorder where revisiting the site of a car crash for example, could cause an attack.
Situational panic - although these attacks, like specific panic attacks, usually happen in certain situations, they are not caused by that situation.
For example a woman who has a panic attack on a bus, may only suffer them in that situation occasionally.
She is predisposed to having attacks on the bus but it is not a response to fear of the bus.
Anxiety Disorder relating to Social Anxiety and Phobias
Social anxiety and phobias are types of anxiety disorder. Two major types of phobias are social phobia and specific phobia.
People with social phobia have an overwhelming and disabling fear of scrutiny, embarrassment, or humiliation in social situations, which leads to avoidance of many potentially pleasurable and meaningful activities.
People with specific phobia experience extreme, disabling, and irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger; the fear leads to avoidance of objects or situations and can cause people to limit their lives unnecessarily.
Agoraphobia is a natural response to anxiety disorder and self-preservation.
If we feel threatened we tend to retreat to somewhere safe, as a crab into its shell. With anxiety disorder it is important to gain control of this response as soon as you feel it developing.
Avoidance of situations is not an effective tool in the fight against agoraphobia. Agoraphobia can become very debilitating and one of the most difficult symptoms to overcome.
Do not stop going to places; if you start to do this you will find that eventually you will feel panicky every time you are faced with going out into the outside world.
You could even find yourself panicking at home just by thinking about going out, so what is the point of starting this kind of behaviour?
Anxiety Disorder relating to Post Traumatic Stress Diosorder or PTSD
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops as a result of being confronted with the threat of, or actual death of, themselves or others, for example witnessing or being involved in a car crash or a war.
The main symptoms of PTSD are panic disorders and recurrent flash backs or nightmares.
PTSD does not play a relevant role in most anxiety disorder cases but if you feel that PTSD may form a part of your own illness it is advisable to consult your psychologist.
Anxiety Disorder relating to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD
OCD is the name given to the disorder that causes conscious or sub-conscious thought processes to control your actions compulsively.
These actions are said to be obsessive because they usually involve a normal action that is repeated over and over again forming what is described as a ritual.
These compulsions commonly include rituals such as compulsive hand washing, counting, checking, (that you have not left the gas on, for example), cleaning and other exaggerations of normal activities.
These compulsive rituals can seriously and quite destructively interfere with normal life and can sometimes be accompanied with any other anxiety disorder such as agoraphobia and panic disorder.
The usual treatment for this condition is therapy based. When the patient understands that their actions are irrational, they can use the therapy exercises to retrain themselves to react more appropriately and eventually to re-learn normal behaviour.
By using diversion tactics , it is possible to eliminate these compulsions from your life.
People can suffer panic with any of the five major anxiety disorders, there are no strict rules for the pattern of linked conditions or symptoms in panic disorder, not everyone is the same
Many sufferers spend a lot of time worrying about having another panic attack.
They avoid situations that might trigger the anxiety attacks or refuse to go places where they feel out of control.
For this reason, anxiety attacks often coincide with agoraphobia .
Experts believe that several things can contribute to an anxiety disorder. Several of the contributing factors are:
Overactive "fight or flight" response - When the body mistakenly interprets stimuli as a danger and activates its self-protective response, it creates symptoms. As a result of the frequent activation of the fight or flight response, the "warning" alarm becomes reset at a higher level over time.
Stress Overload/Lifestyle Factors - Some examples are intense or prolonged stress, lack of sleep, overwork, poor diet, poor breathing patterns, grief or trauma.
Childhood Environment - Growing up in a family where others are fearful or anxious can "teach" a child to view the world as a scary place and learn to expect the worst. Likewise, growing up in an environment that negates feelings, contains violence, or does not teach healthy coping strategies can set the stage for anxiety.
Thought Patterns - The impact of thought patterns on creating and perpetuating an anxiety disorder is enormous. Negative, unrealistic, or self-defeating thought patterns promote obsessive thinking, what-if thinking, racing thoughts, and other anxious thoughts.
Genetic Factors - Anxiety disorders tend to run in families. There is debate as to how much of this predisposition is learned from our childhood environment and how much is genetic.
An anxiety disorder is caused by a combination of several of these factors working together over a period of time.
Usually one factor alone (for example, a genetic factor) does not result in an anxiety disorder.
It takes several of the other factors too. You have control over all of these factors except for genetics.
Effective treatment options help anxiety attack sufferers address their physical symptoms, anxious or fearful thought patterns, and anxious behaviors (such as avoidance behaviors).
Prescription Medications
Medication can be a helpful short-term tool in reducing anxiety attacks for some people.
It can help reduce physical symptoms and get the body on a more even keel, particularly at the beginning of your recovery when symptoms are so debilitating that it is difficult to function.
However, medication is not a cure-all or a lasting solution.
It does not address several root causes of anxiety attacks, such as an anxiety-promoting lifestyle, anxious thought patterns, and anxious behaviors.
Medications are often used in combination with other treatment options, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, which teaches you skills to reduce anxiety on your own.
An eclectic approach enables lasting freedom from anxiety attacks by offering you a comprehensive set of tools to address and conquer anxiety's root causes.
Symptoms of a panic attack
The symptoms of a panic attack appear suddenly, without any apparent cause. They may include:
- Racing or pounding heartbeat
- Chest pains
- Dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea
- Difficulty breathing
- Tingling or numbness in the hands
- Flushes or chills
- Dreamlike sensations or perceptual distortions
- Terror, a sense that something unimaginably horrible is about to occur and one is powerless to prevent it
- Fear of losing control and doing something embarrassing
- Fear of dying
A panic attack typically lasts for several minutes and is one of the most distressing conditions that a person can experience.
Most who have one attack will have others.
When someone has repeated attacks, or feels severe anxiety about having another attack, he or she is said to have panic disorder.
Panic disorder
Panic disorder is a serious health problem. The disorder is strikingly different from other types of anxiety in that panic attacks are so sudden, appear to be unprovoked, and are often disabling.
Once someone has had a panic attack--for example, while driving, shopping in a crowded store, or riding in an elevator-- he or she may develop irrational fears, called phobias, about these situations and begin to avoid them.
Eventually, the pattern of avoidance and level of anxiety about another attack may reach the point where the individual with panic disorder may be unable to drive or even step out of the house.
At this stage, the person is said to have panic disorder with agoraphobia.
Thus panic disorder can have as serious an impact on a person's daily life as other major illnesses--unless the individual receives effective treatment.
Thanks to research, there are a variety of treatments available, including several effective medications, and also specific forms of psychotherapy.
Often, a combination of psychotherapy and medications produces good results.
Improvement is usually noticed in a fairly short period of time--about 6 to 8 weeks. Thus appropriate treatment for panic disorder can prevent panic attacks or at least substantially reduce their severity and frequency-bringing significant relief to 70 to 90 percent of people with panic disorder.
In addition, people with panic disorder may need treatment for other emotional problems.
Depression has often been associated with panic disorder, as have alcohol and drug abuse.
Recent research also suggests that suicide attempts are more frequent in people with panic disorder. Fortunately, these problems associated with panic disorder can be overcome effectively, just like panic disorder itself. Tragically, many people with panic disorder do not seek or receive treatment.
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