Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Anxiety, or extreme apprehension and worry, is a normal reaction to stressful situations. But in some cases, it becomes excessive and can cause sufferers to dread everyday situations. An axiety disorder is known as a mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one's daily activities.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is much more than the normal anxiety people experience day to day. It is chronic and sufferers experience severe worry and tension, often without provocation. This disorder involves anticipating disaster, often worrying excessively about health, money, family, or work. Sometimes, though, just the thought of getting through the day brings on anxiety. Generalized anxiety disorder can occuer at any age.

What causes anxiety?

Anxiety disorders maybe be caused by different factors such envoirmental, medical, brain chemistry, substance abuse, or a combination of these. It is most commonly triggered by the stress in our lives

Anxiety caused by enviormental and external factors

Trauma from evens such as abuse, victimization, or death of a loved one
Stress in a personal realtionship, marriage, friendship, and dicorce
Stress at work
Stress from school
Stress about finances and money
Lack of oxygen in high altitude areas

Anxiety caused by medical factors

Anxiety is associated with medical factors such as anemia, asthma, infections, and several heart conditions. Some medically-related causes of anxiety include:

Stress from a serious mdeical illnes

Side effects of medication

Symptoms of medical illnes

Anxiety caused by substance use and abuse

intoxication from an illicit drug, such as cocaine or amphetamines

Withdrawal from an illicit drug, such as heroin, or from prescription drugs like Vicodin, benzodiazepines, or barbituratesli

Anxiety caused by brain chemistry

Research has shown that people with abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain are more likely to suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. When neurotransmitters are not working properly, the brain's internal communication network breaks down, and the brain may react in an inappropriate way in some situations. This can lead to anxiety.

How is anxiety diagnosed?

A psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or other mental-health professional is usually enlisted to diagnose anxiety and identify the causes of it. The physician will take a careful medical and personal history, perform a physical examination, and order laboratory tests as needed. There is no one laboratory test that can be used to diagnose anxiety, but tests may provide useful information about a medical condition that may be causing physical illness or other anxiety symptoms.

To be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a person must:

Excessively worry and be anxious about several different events or activities on more days than not for at least six months

Find it difficult to control the worrying

Have at least three of the following six symptoms associated with the anxiety on more days than not in the last six months: restlessness, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating

Treatment of anxiety

The most effective treatments for anxiety are behavioral. Such treatments often involve gradually exposing patients to the situations they fear. Anxiety therapy might also focus on changing distorted thought patterns that underlie the condition. Drugs may help patients control their anxiety during treatment, but don't usually cure the condition. Increasingly, researchers are finding that mindfulness meditation is a successful technique that helps lessen anxiet