HOW TO IDENTIFY AND MANAGE ANXIETY DISORDER

How to Identify and Manage Anxiety Disorder By J. Edwards Holt

ANXIETY IS A NORMAL PART OF LIFE. IF YOU HAVE A BIG EVENT OR TEST COMING UP, IT’S NATURAL TO FEEL A LITTLE WORRIED. BUT FOR SOME PEOPLE, FEAR AND WORRY START TO TAKE OVER THEIR LIVES. THIS FEAR CAN ELEVATE TO PANIC ATTACKS AND EVEN BE UNRELATED TO WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND THEM. IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANXIETY, READ ON TO LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY AND MANAGE A POTENTIAL ANXIETY DISORDER.

What is anxiety disorder?

Anxiety disorders are characterized by constant worry or fear. For those who suffer from anxiety, their fears are persistent, excessive, and difficult to manage. The fear often interferes with daily activities and can cause the inflicted to avoid places or situations that trigger anxiety. The intense worrying is out of proportion to the actual danger or threat. Anxiety disorders can involve sudden episodes of intense panic and terror that can last minutes.

How to identify the symptoms

The main symptom of anxiety disorder is persistent fear and worry. Some other common symptoms are:

• Excessive panic or worry • Trouble sleeping • Heart palpitations • Nausea • Gastrointestinal problems

Living with an anxiety disorder can be exhausting. Even if you know you don’t need to worry, you can’t seem to stop. Luckily, there are ways you can alleviate your symptoms.

• Sense of impending doom • Shallow, rapid breaths • Difficulty concentrating • Obsessively avoiding feared objects or places • Restlessness • Tense muscles

Types of anxiety disorders

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder—You feel constant excessive worry about routine events. You may even worry when there is no apparent cause for concern. The fear is disproportional to the circumstance. The worry is difficult to control and can affect your physical well-being. You know your worry is more intense than the situation warrants, but you don’t know how to stop.

• Panic Disorder—Panic disorder includes sudden, intense fear and terror that brings on a panic attack. This includes tightness in the chest, chest pain, trouble breathing, and heart palpitations. These panic attacks can last minutes.

Those who suffer may believe they are having a heart attack. These panic attacks can occur at any time, even in sleep. The panic people fear in panic attacks may be disproportionate to the situation or unrelated altogether.

Since they can occur at any time under any circumstance, it creates more anxiety because people don’t know when the next one will occur.

• Social Anxiety Disorder—Also called social phobia, this is the fear that being in normal social contact with others is too much to handle. You may avoid talking to people altogether, and eye contact and small talk make you extremely uncomfortable. You feel excessively worried about being judged and feel embarrassed and self-conscious. Research shows that social anxiety disorder affects seven percent of Americans.

• Agoraphobia—Agoraphobia is the fear of being stuck in a place where you can’t get out in case of an emergency. This usually occurs in places where it isn’t easy to leave, such as airplanes or public transportation. You could be afraid of open or closed spaces. Those who have agoraphobia may experience panic attacks and are trying to avoid places where they have happened.

• Separation Anxiety—When you feel excessively worried when someone close to you leaves your sight, you may have a separation anxiety disorder. In children, it’s often related to separation from parents. Some symptoms of separation anxiety include constant and persistent worry of losing your loved one, refusing to sleep without your loved one nearby, nightmares about separation, the constant worry that something bad will happen to them, and physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach aches when your loved one is away.

• Selective Mutism—When someone can talk but chooses not to in certain social situations is a sign of selective mutism. Those who suffer may not talk in school or work. They may also be very shy, afraid to embarrass themselves, and want to be alone.

• Phobias—Any intense fear of an object or situation is considered an anxiety disorder. Some specific examples include arachnophobia (fear of spiders), acrophobia (fear of heights), and claustrophobia (fear of confined or crowded spaces). These fears can bring on panic attacks and are disproportionate to the feared situation or object.

How to manage anxiety disorders

Most people who are diagnosed with anxiety disorders take medication and go to counseling. If you have symptoms, your doctor may prescribe medicine. Some common prescriptions are:

• Antidepressants • Beta-blockers • Benzodiazepines • Buspirone

Aside from taking medication, there are other ways you can manage your disorder. Here are some things you can try:

• Exercise—Exercise boosts your sense of well-being, relieves stress, and eases anxiety symptoms. People who exercise also tend to sleep better.

• Get enough sleep—If you aren’t getting enough sleep, try creating a bedtime routine to make it easier. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, and keep your room’s temperature cool.

• Consume less caffeine—Caffeine makes your heart rate faster, which can kick other anxiety symptoms into overdrive. Cut back on soda, coffee, and even diet pills, tea, and chocolate.

• Breathe deeply—Breathing slowly and deeply calms your nervous system. While it may not work all the time, it can help slow down racing thoughts when you’re getting closer to a panic attack.

• Get connected—A support system with good friends and family is emotionally fulfilling. Those who have close friends tend to have lower levels of anxiety.

• Manage your stress—Find an activity you enjoy to take your mind off your worries. Get into a habit of doing a sport or hobby you love. When you bring fun without the worry of performing well for something into your life, it’s easier to let go of stress.

Living with an anxiety disorder can be exhausting. Even if you know you don’t need to worry, you can’t seem to stop. Luckily, there are ways you can alleviate your symptoms. After you talk to your doctor, it may take some time to find the right treatment for you. But with the proper care, you can manage your symptoms and overcome your anxiety.

REFERENCES

“What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?” https://www.webmd.com/ anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-social-anxiety-disorder#1 “Anxiety Disorders.” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions /anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961 “Anxiety Disorders.” https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/ anxiety-disorders#1 “Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” https://adaa.org/understandinganxiety/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad#:~:text=Generalized%20 Anxiety%20Disorder%20(GAD)%20is,difficult%20to%20control%20 their%20worry. “Social Anxiety Disorder: More Than Just Shyness.” https://www. nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/social-anxiety-disorder-morethan-just-shyness/index.shtml “Panic Attack Symptoms.” https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/ guide/panic-attack-symptoms “Agoraphobia.” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/agoraphobia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355987 “Separation Anxiety Disorder.” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/separation-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc20377455

J. Edwards Holt is an American author who has spent a lifetime dealing with mental health problems. Diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, anxiety, and depression at 10 years old, and later OCD and ADHD at 13, success has never come easy for him. After spending most of elementary and middle school isolated, in and out of therapy, Holt managed to turn things around and graduate high school as Valedictorian, later on graduating college with a major in education. Even today as a successful author, Holt still copes with symptoms of his illnesses. Because of this, he is a continued advocate for those struggling with mental health, incorporating bits and pieces of his own experiences in his written works. Website: jedwardsholt.com