Index
This disorder can cause you to experience various symptoms such as tremors, sweating, nausea, and a fast heartbeat.
It can also cause pain in the stomach and tension in the neck and shoulders.
It can cause problems sleeping and irritation. If the anxiety increases, the patient may have a genuine feeling that something terrible will happen to him.
You may even feel that you are losing control and experience physical symptoms similar to a heart attack.
Anxiety and fear can be very intense feelings, and you may want to avoid situations where crises are thought to occur, such as social gatherings or specific places.
This can lead the patient to limit interactions with the rest of the world and can have a significant impact on their way of life.
Types of anxiety crisis
Anxiety disorder includes different conditions such as:
Generalized anxiety disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder is excessive anxiety and concern for a series of events or activities.
The intensity, duration, or frequency of anxiety and worry are not proportional to the actual probability or impact of the anticipated event.
People with generalized anxiety disorder have difficulty controlling their concerns.
Preventing distressing thoughts from interfering with attention to the performed tasks is also a significant challenge.
Causes
Many people with generalized anxiety disorder report that they have felt anxious and nervous.
The data indicate that generalized anxiety disorder is caused by genetic, environmental, psychological, and developmental factors.
Signs and symptoms
Some symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder are excessive anxiety and worry.
People find it difficult to control their worry, which causes problems in their daily lives.
Anxiety and worry are associated with some of the following: restlessness or feeling of nervousness or irritability, fatigue, difficulty concentrating or blank mind, irritability, and sleep disturbances.
Risk factor’s
However, anyone is at risk; adult women are more at risk than men.
In addition, those of European descent tend to experience a generalized anxiety disorder.
Finally, those living in developed countries are more likely than individuals in non-developed countries to suffer from a generalized anxiety disorder.
Diagnosis
A cautious diagnostic evaluation should be performed to rule out whether the patient’s symptoms are caused by the anxiety disorder or are caused by a physical problem.
The disorder should be identified if there is a combination of diseases and coexisting conditions, such as depression, substance abuse, or alcoholism.
Treatment
Anxiety disorders are treated with medications, specific types of psychotherapy or both.
Treatment options depend on the problem and the patient’s preference.
Living with a generalized anxiety disorder
Living with a generalized anxiety disorder can be very difficult.
A person with generalized anxiety disorder can be affected in everything he does; concentrating on daily tasks can be challenging.
Your work and your relationships can be negatively influenced.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
A person suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder may have repetitive thoughts that he can not control and which cause him anguish and interfere with his life in various ways.
These thoughts are not only about real-life concerns; they can be thoughts of violence.
People who suffer from these gloomy thoughts often try to ignore or suppress them with little or no success. These thoughts are called obsessions.
Some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder perform repetitive behaviors called compulsions.
These behaviors can range from repetitive hand washing to counting.
Causes
It is not known with certainty what causes the obsessive-compulsive disorder.
A great deal of research is being done on brain function and brain formations, leading to a clearer understanding.
Some research suggests that tic disorders and Tourette syndrome are related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. All these disorders have some genetic link.
Signs and symptoms
It is characterized by repeated thoughts or images that cause anguish or repeated rituals such as compulsive hoarding, extreme cleaning, and door or stove revisions in a repetitive manner.
These repetitive acts are carried out to prevent something wrong from happening or to reduce anxiety or anguish, to wash one’s hands, to verify repetitively if the doors are closed, to count or to accumulate things that are believed to be necessary to avoid damage or alleviate the anguish (when the actions are not related to the damage to be prevented).
Thoughts and rituals take at least 1 hour per day and interfere with everyday life.
Most adults who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder realize that their repetitive actions are not reasonable, but they can not control them.
Risk factor’s
Obsessive-compulsive disorder can affect adults or children, women, and men.
For most people, ritual thoughts and behaviors begin in early adulthood.
It is essential to see a mental health professional as soon as possible, as the sooner the treatment starts, the more successful the treatment outcome will be.
Diagnosis
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is often found with other conditions.
This means that people who have suffered the anguish of obsessive-compulsive disorder also suffer from anxiety and depression.
Often, people who suffer from this disorder abuse drugs or alcohol in an attempt to relieve anxiety.
Before making a diagnosis, a psychologist should analyze the time spent with the disorder and the severity of the obsessions or compulsions.
To make a diagnosis, the psychologist must determine if all the symptoms of the disorder are present and make sure that all other conditions are also diagnosed so that they can be treated together.
Treatment
There are a variety of psychological treatments available depending on the nature of the obsessions or compulsions.
The treatment will focus on understanding and preventing disturbing thoughts.
The treatment will also reduce sensitivity to situations that produce anxiety through images and other modalities.
In addition, the psychologist will provide you with educational materials and coping strategies that you can use at home.
Research has shown that when obsessive-compulsive disorder first manifests in childhood, treatment may require medication and a longer course of psychotherapy.
Your psychologist will work with a psychiatrist to ensure the proper treatment plan.
Living with obsessive-compulsive disorder
A person living with an obsessive-compulsive disorder faces extreme anguish and anxiety, and various troubling thoughts and irrational rituals can often be embarrassing to them.
This can lead to social situations of avoidance and difficulties at work and at school.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is disturbing because rituals require time and require secrecy, and gloomy thoughts easily affect the ability to concentrate.
Panic disorder
People who have panic disorder have sudden and repeated fear attacks.
Unlike a specific fear, such as fear of spiders or heights, panic attacks seem to come “out of the blue.”
A rapid heart rate, nausea, sweating, and dizziness often accompany panic attacks.
When a panic attack arises, the person often feels that he is losing control or having a heart attack.
These attacks can last several minutes.
Causes
Unlike the fear of a specific trigger, panic disorder has been called “fear of fear.”
Because attacks come from nowhere, it’s hard to say that a particular incident is the cause of panic attacks.
However, some people are aware of minimal changes in their body; even a tiny change in body temperature or a slight change in heart rate can trigger a panic attack.
This superconsciousness can result from the stress of life, learning, or the particular ways in which their brains respond to bodily signals.
There is some research that suggests that panic disorder can be hereditary.
Signs and symptoms
The physical symptoms of panic disorder may include chest pain, nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness and lightheadedness, rapid heartbeat, sweating, tremors, difficulty breathing, or feeling of suffocation.
Often, patients fear losing control or going crazy and fear death.
Panic disorder also includes concern (lasting more than a month) about future attacks and behavior change due to concerns about future episodes.
Risk factor’s
Panic attacks can affect anyone, but most panic disorder people are women.
While the first panic attack can occur at any age, it often affects teenagers.
Diagnosis
Mental health professionals will ask a series of questions to determine if panic attacks affect normal daily functioning or if they cause concern and distress for more than a month.
It is also essential to perform a complete physical examination to make sure there are no underlying cardiac, thyroid, or other problems causing the symptoms.
Treatment
Panic disorder can be successfully treated with a variety of treatments.
In severe cases, medications are combined with psychotherapy to improve the long-term reduction of symptoms.
In less severe cases, psychotherapy alone is the ideal treatment.
Typically, psychologists link cognitive therapies with behavioral treatments, including breathing exercises, meditation, and mindfulness exercises.
In addition, the psychologist will help the patient make lifestyle changes that can help reduce the overall stress of life.
Living with panic disorder
Living with a panic disorder means living in fear of the next panic attack, the fear of feeling like you are drowning or having a heart attack.
A person with panic disorder can often fear losing his mind, which can keep him tied to the house.
Fearful of venturing, they can lose the enjoyment of everyday life and isolate themselves more and more.
Social anxiety disorder
Social anxiety is characterized by fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations.
It is associated with severe discomfort with situations and unknown persons.
Social anxiety is not the same as shyness; although they share specific characteristics, social phobia is more distressing.
It hurts social interaction, occupation, and other essential areas of daily functioning.
Causes
Personality traits, such as inhibiting behavior and fear of negative evaluation, make some people more vulnerable to social anxiety.
These traits are genetically influenced and run in families.
Additional risk factors are specific environmental concerns, such as child maltreatment and adversity.
Signs and symptoms
People with social anxiety often fear shame, which significantly interferes with or prevents social activities.
They commonly experience low self-esteem, lack of assertiveness, fear of criticism, and fear of speaking in public (for example, in group discussions or giving a presentation to a group).
Unreasonable fear of new places and unknown people (for example, fear of talking to a store employee) or severe self-consciousness that interferes with one’s functioning in these situations is also a significant difficulty.
Risk factor’s
Studies indicate that between 3% and 13% of people suffer from social anxiety.
In most cases, the onset of social phobia occurs between 8 and 15 years and affects adults.
Older adults also experience social anxiety, but it is usually less intense and related to various situations.
Diagnosis
Social phobia usually develops in adolescence and is preceded by a less severe form of shyness.
It can develop gradually or be provoked by an experience of public shame.
Social phobia also occurs along with other anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and substance abuse disorders.
Treatment
The cognitive-behavioral therapy is commonly used to treat social anxiety.
Although it is an effective mode of treatment for this condition, other forms of psychotherapy have also demonstrated effectiveness (for example, exposure therapy or social skills training).
Live with social anxiety.
Social anxiety can negatively influence a person’s work performance and social life.
For example, you may have difficulty taking a job promotion because it involves public speaking.
Engaging in romantic relationships can also be a significant challenge; Many people who struggle with social anxiety are often single.
People living with social anxiety may also find it very difficult to seek treatment; it has been discovered that people in Western societies seek treatment only after 15 to 20 years of experiencing the symptoms.
Medicines
The medications used for anxiety crises are anxiolytics and antidepressants. Anxiolytics such as Alprazolam, Lorazepam, Diazepam, and Chloracepam, among others, produce a tranquilizing effect.
The most commonly used antidepressants are Fluoxetine, Paroxetine, Fluvoxamine, Sertraline, Citalopram, and Escitalopram.
