Symptoms of Anxiety

Well, aren't we all getting anxious sometimes? Life hardly ever follows a smooth direction, and what we experience along the way can quite often cause anxiety. The main question is, where does ordinary and healthy apprehension stop, and where does an anxiety disorder requiring anxiety therapy start?

Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety

Anxiety responses are a hangover from our caveman days, the fight or flight reaction that helped to keep our ancestors safe from saber-toothed tigers and rival tribes. The heartbeat increases, the muscles tense and we start to sweat. Of course, in our modern, post-industrial society, the threat is more likely to come from our supervisor asking us to explain the drop in last month's sales figures, so the response is inappropriate, since we are unable to either run away or to pick up a big rock and brain our supervisor with it, much as we might like to. Therefore, our heart continues to beat, our palms continue to sweat and our blood pressure continues to rise, leading not to the elimination of the threat, but to the destruction of our kidneys.

Emotional Symptoms Of Anxiety

The symptoms of anxiety can be mental as well as physical. They can include obsessively dwelling on the cause of the anxiety, emotional numbness and withdrawal from the world, and sometimes dependence on alcohol, drugs or other addictions. These addictions need not be chemical in nature; they can be anything from video games to loveless sexual encounters. Some people develop rituals and superstitions as a coping strategy.

When Does Anxiety Become A Problem

As a general rule, you should seek treatment when anxiety becomes so severe and persistent that it starts to interfere with daily living on an ongoing basis. Being unable to sleep soundly because you are nervous about a job interview the following day is not an anxiety disorder. Being unable to get out of bed for days on end for reasons that you can't quite identify is.

Several personality tests exist to help doctors identify the nature 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 antidepressants. Types of therapy used include relaxation therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and psychotherapy.

Finding the right combination and balance of medications and therapy should not be too difficult for your doctor. A solution  might not always be found overnight, and it is very likely that different options need to be tested before the right one is found. This is a perfectly standard situation, so it's nothing to be anxious about.