What is Anxiety – Causes and Treatment
All humans have experience with feeling anxiety. This feeling can be triggered by big events such as job interviews or a wedding to small events such as an exam or blind date. No matter the cause, everyone at some point has experienced nervousness or anxiety.
Normal anxiety is actually beneficial. It motivates a person to take action (as in studying for that upcoming exam to calm worries of failure) and makes a person cautious and less reckless. However, normal anxiety comes and goes without affecting a persons life significantly. For about 19 million Americans with an anxiety disorder, it is quite a different story.
When Does Anxiety Become a Problem?
In someone with abnormally high levels of anxiety, feelings of dread, worry and fear become part of their everyday lives. These feelings can become more intense and irrational triggered for no reason at all or by some small insignificant event. For these people, anxiety negatively impacts their work or school life, family life as well as their personal habits.
To better discern between normal and chronic anxiety, consider a situation in which two different people are waiting upon a friend to arrive at a restaurant. The friend is half an hour late. A person without an anxiety disorder may assume that his or her friend became stuck in traffic and will arrive as soon as they can. However, for a person with chronic anxiety, simple worry about a friend quickly becomes serious and irrational:
Oh, no. Something happened to my friend. Has she been in a car accident? Should I call the police? Oh, how will her family react to her being in a car accident? Will the injuries be serious?
These are just a few examples f the thoughts that may run through an anxiety suffers mind. These thoughts will be continuous and become more intense even after the friend has arrived.
What Causes Anxiety?
Anxiety is a serious disorder that can cripple someone with constant worrisome thoughts. While there are several different types of anxiety, a person is generally diagnosed with an anxiety disorder after having intense feelings of fear, panic or uneasiness for six months or longer.
The cause of anxiety disorder is part of a great debate; however researchers do agree that a genetic predisposition to the disorder is a common link. Symptoms of anxiety usually begin to manifest in childhood and adolescence although adult onset is not uncommon. Furthermore, women are twice as likely to experience anxiety disorders than men and all ethnic groups are affected equally.
Many mental disorders are believed to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. The same is true for anxiety. Serotonin and GABA are chemicals of great interest to researchers trying to better understand anxiety. However, researchers also believe that outside influences play a major role as well. Factors such as job loss, death in the family or living in a stressful environment can all bring on different levels of anxiety.
Treatment
Due to the physiological nature of anxiety, it can not yet be cured.
Anxiety can be managed however with medications and behavioral therapy. Additional methods for managing this disorder also include lifestyle changes including diet and exercise. The first and most important step in managing anxiety is to recognize that a problem exists.
A person who seeks treatment for anxiety has a great chance of living a life that is more normal and fulfilling.
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Written by Funmi Salami on February 6th, 2010 with
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