Anxiety Disorder: How it Develops and What is Its Treatment

Definition:

It is defined as nervousness, fear, and doubts related or not, with stressful elements of daily life. Every person has ever experienced a period of anxiety in their lives. Still, when fear and worry intensify by repeating continuously, without a stressful event, we speak of an anxiety disorder.

The same can leave a person with a severe disability, which severely interferes with their day today.

What are the symptoms and signs of Anxiety Disorder?

Symptoms of anxiety include obsessive annoyance, thoughts of worry, confusion, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, irritability, frustration, and despair. A person with this disorder may feel tense and uncomfortable sensations of tremor, sweating, rapid heartbeat, nausea, and shortness of breath.

The sudden and severe onset of these symptoms often indicates a panic attack. Similarly, anxiety can cause headaches, insomnia, digestive problems, and dizziness.

This disorder is the leading cause of numerous mental health problems, including panic attacks and phobias. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fifth edition (DSM-5), lists the following mental health problems like anxiety disorders:

  • Separation anxiety.
  • Selective mutism.
  • Panic.
  • The specific phobias.
  • Social anxiety
  • Agoraphobia.
  • Medication.
  • Generalized anxiety.

Development of anxiety

Anxiety is a defense mechanism that allows people to protect themselves to avoid suffering. Still, there are times when a person experiences extreme levels of fear and worry, feeling helpless to alleviate the symptom.

 

Anxious behavior can be inherited, learned, or both. Growing up in an environment of stress can also lead a person to anxiety because it becomes a way to predict the danger and ensure safety.

In the same way, anxiety can develop as a consequence of unresolved trauma, leaving a person in a high state of excitement; When this happens, specific experiences can reactivate that old trauma; usually, this type of anxiety is suffered by people with post-traumatic stress.

The treatment of Anxiety Disorder

Since anxiety can interfere with relationships, sleep patterns, eating habits, work, school, and routine activities, this has become one of the most common reasons people seek treatment and therapy that helps significantly reduce symptoms associated with anxiety as quickly as possible.

The most recommended type of therapy for the treatment of anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy; instead of treating the symptoms alone, as do the medications, psychotherapy aims to identify and address the source of stress, and the process of self-reflection helps people understand, unravel, and transform anxiety into something positive.

Medicines

Psychotropic medications for anxiety are designed to treat anxiety symptoms and allow a person to feel better. Common medications for pressure are antidepressants, such as Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft, and anti-anxiety medications such as Ativan, Xanax, and Klonopin.