Symptoms of Anxiety

Anxiety is experienced by most people at some time, causing feelings of fear, apprehension and worry. All these feelings are as common as happiness and joy. Scientific studies are suggesting that anxiety is a protective mechanism. It could be our body's natural emotional way of warning us against participation in potentially harmful situations. What makes one person anxious may not create the exact same response in another person. However, once your anxiety starts to interfere with your typical daily activities, it will become a problem requiring, appropriate anxiety therapy.

Anxiety can affect both your physical and your mental health. These symptoms can last for a short time or may stay for a longer time period. Physical symptoms may include palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, sleeping difficulties or even experiencing nightmares, a dry mouth or extreme sweating.

Concerning the emotional or mental signs, the patient may feel a kind of premonition or panic and is actually afflicted with nausea and cold chills. Regarding behavioral anxiety, which may either be voluntary or involuntary, it could potentially cause the patient to try to flee or keep away from the source. These kinds of symptoms are frequent as well as maladaptive. These are essentially the most extreme types of anxiety disorders. Then again, this does not necessarily mean that anxiety is generally maladaptive or pathological. It is a typical feeling that coexists with anger, fear, misery and happiness and plays a vital role in the survival of the patient.

A person’s life may be seriously affected when he or she has regularly repeating instances of anxiety. All this is usually clinically diagnosed. The most common anxiety disorders are panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, phobias, social anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders and posttraumatic stress disorders. Being unable to sleep deeply because you are nervous about a job interview the following day is not an anxiety disorder. Struggling to get out of bed for days on end for reasons that you can't quite identify is.

There are tests available to assist doctors to identify the character and severity of the disorder. Once diagnosed, the disorder may be treated with medications, therapy, or a combination of the two. Common medications used are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), beta blockers and tricyclics. Most anxiety disorders can be treated successfully by using psychological techniques. These methods include relaxation therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), structured problem-solving and graded exposure.

These days, finding the right combination and balance of medications and therapy for you should not be too difficult for your doctor. The right answer might not always be found overnight, and it is very likely that different options have to be tested before finding the right one.

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