Anxieties
Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often, anxiety disorders involve repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks).
Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), specific phobias and separation anxiety disorder. You can have more than one anxiety disorder. Sometimes anxiety results from a medical condition that needs treatment.
Symptoms
Risk Factors
Developing an anxiety disorder is normally an unconscious process. Having flashbacks of past traumatic events can trigger high levels of anxiety and contribute to mental illness. These thoughts can trigger our Fight or Flight system and result in the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the body’s natural way to defend ourselves and prepare for a fight. It causes our capillaries to constrict, our digestion to slow down, our heart rate to increase and our breathing to quicken.
Treatment
Behavioral therapy helps people suffering from anxiety disorders to identify the object or situation that is triggering symptoms of anxiety. This behavior based therapy introduces stress management techniques that help mitigate the physical symptoms of anxiety. Behavioral therapy sessions can be conducted as individual or group sessions. You should try to find support group sessions with others who have an anxiety disorder to learn real-life coping strategies.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the treatment of mental health disorders including substance abuse and anxiety disorders. Behavioral therapy provides behavior modification treatments for anxiety disorders by reframing thoughts and behaviors.
Stress management is one of the most important treatments for anxiety and is a component of cognitive-behavioral therapy. People with anxiety disorders can discuss important health topics and learn how to manage the symptoms of anxiety by joining a support group where they can discuss stress management techniques for specific phobias. For example, support groups can act as a forum for members who share a common phobia to learn new ways to interact with their environment. Since there are other people who share this common trait, you can learn from each other and share a wealth of knowledge.
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