What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety encompasses feelings of worry, nervousness, or dread. Although unpleasant, occasional bouts of anxiety are natural and sometimes even productive: By signaling that something isn’t quite right, anxiety can help people both avoid danger and make important and meaningful changes.
But persistent, pervasive anxiety that disrupts one’s daily life, whether at school, work, or with friends, can be the mark of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders manifest in different ways and are often diagnostically distinct. Generalized anxiety disorder is a chronic state of severe worry and tension, often without provocation. Panic disorder refers to sudden and repeated panic attacks—episodes of intense fear and discomfort that peak within a few minutes. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is marked by intrusive thoughts or compulsions to carry out specific behaviors, such as handwashing. Post-traumatic stress disorder may develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.
Anxiety is often accompanied by depression, and the two share an underlying genetic architecture
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Beyond genetics, childhood experiences such as early trauma or parental overprotection can play a role in forming an anxious disposition. In people with anxiety disorders, the brain circuitry that controls the threat response seems to go awry: The amygdala, a structure that detects danger, can become overactive, triggering a threat where none really exists.
Anxiety is often treated successfully using therapy, medication or both. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most effective options, in which patients learn to identify problematic thought patterns and change how they respond. Mindfulness meditation is another effective technique for some.
Individuals suffering from anxiety may feel restless, on edge, and irritable. They may have difficulty concentrating or controlling their emotions. Physical symptoms can also include fatigue, trembling, trouble sleeping, stomachaches, headaches, and muscle tension.
Anxiety often involves worrying to an intense, excessive degree. Those worries can apply to any aspect of life, from social situations and family dynamics to physical health and professional concerns.
A person’s angst or dread can be drastically out of proportion to the actual challenges he or she is facing. People may also irrationally believe that the worst-case scenario is inevitable.
Anxiety disorders can often be addressed successfully with psychotherapy and/or medication.
People may engage in talk therapy tailored to their specific anxieties. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most effective options for anxiety disorders. The practice teaches patients to challenge distorted thought patterns to change how they respond. Social anxiety can be mitigated by exposure therapy, in which patients are safely and gradually exposed to their fears so they no longer avoid them.
Medication can help patients control their anxiety, but they cannot cure the underlying condition. Clinicians may prescribe fast-acting benzodiazepines for limited periods of time. Beta-blockers offer another short-term solution, as they can curb troubling symptoms such as racing heartbeat or trembling hands for a specific event. Antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)or less frequently tricyclics, are used as a longer-term treatment and can take a few weeks or months to work.
As with all medications, patients should consult a doctor to understand the side effects of a particular drug and to safely transition on and off of the medication.
Lifestyle changes can help people who experience feelings of anxiety but who don’t meet the clinical threshold for a diagnosis. Habits such as exercising, sleeping well, and limiting the amount of caffeine and alcohol consumed are all be helpful.
Increasingly, researchers argue that mindfulness meditation is a successful technique as well. Taking deep breaths, observing one’s thoughts without judgment, and acknowledging the limits of one’s control can reduce feelings of tension.
Identifying the circumstances that trigger one’s anxiety, and then pushing back against anxious or irrational thoughts, can help to feel better prepared for the future
(Content Courtesy: Psychologytoday)
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Am I Depressed? 6 Signs You Should Know About
- You’ve been feeling low or irritable for most of the day, every day for two weeks or more. You might have found yourself worrying about past or future events for long periods of time, or simply feeling sad, cross or tearful. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize a gradual change – have others noticed that you don’t seem your usual self?
- You’ve lost interest in activities that you used to enjoy. Perhaps you have been seeing less of your friends or family recently, have stopped going to the gym, or cooking balanced meals. This is really about recognizing changes in what’s normal for you – no one is saying you have to exercise five times a week or eat your greens, but changes in your routine can offer concrete indications that your mood is changing.
- You are struggling to concentrate. You might notice that you struggle to focus when reading or watching television, for example, or to follow the thread of a spoken conversation. This could be affecting your performance at work, or limiting your ability to perform routine tasks such as food shopping. Again, we are looking for a change in what’s normal for you, so if concentration has always been something you find tricky there is little cause for concern.
- Your energy levels are depleted. Feeling exhausted is one of the most debilitating effects of depression. Summoning the energy to do anything – even getting out of bed – can be a huge effort, and you might find yourself feeling frustrated at not being able to do things that used to be seemingly effortless.
- Your sleeping and/or eating patterns have changed. Often, it is said that a reduced appetite is a sign of depression. In fact, eating more than usual can be just as indicative of low mood as eating less. The same goes for sleeping: both sleeping more and sleeping less are warning signs that you might have depression. Early morning waking – that is, waking several hours before you would normally expect to, and struggling to get back to sleep – is another common sign
- You’ve been preoccupied with feelings of guilt or worthlessness. This might be a case of feeling like you’re in the wrong or that you’ve let people down, or that you are a burden on those who are close to you. Often, these ideas are disproportionate to the event that has triggered them. A good way to test whether these ideas might be out of proportion is to ask a trusted friend or family member whether they would feel the same way in your shoes.
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.
– Robert Frost
Chronic Pain
When someone touches a hot stove and burns their fingers, a little pain is normal. In fact, it’s a healthy reaction to a threat in the environment, warning that person to change their behavior immediately. But sometimes the pain lingers long after the danger has passed, becoming chronic.
Chronic pain in the form of headaches, joint problems, or full-blown fibromyalgia can radically impact one’s life. For many people, there is no end in sight to the pain; it may even derail employment and relationships. Some 100 million Americans suffer from some form of chronic pain. It can be influenced by many factors, including emotion and memory.
When an injury occurs, pain sensors light up, sending messages via an electrical signal to the brain. Normal pain—as in a minor headache—can be relieved by a few aspirins or the passage of time. But chronic pain is something different; the brain continues to receive pain signals long after the original injury or onset of pain.
What are the symptoms of chronic pain?
How long does chronic pain last?
Who is most at risk for developing chronic pain?
The pain was traditionally treated primarily as a physical problem. Patients were given medication, physical therapy, or, in extreme cases, surgery. While these methods helped some people, others experienced moderate to severe negative consequences, including surgical complications and addiction to pain medication and opioids.
Today, experts understand that pain can be addressed on the psychological and social levels as well. Though every individual’s pain is different and may respond to different interventions, there are certain strategies that can help manage the symptoms of chronic pain.
Is pain all in a person’s head?
What are the major treatments for chronic pain?
How does chronic pain affect mental health?
(Content Courtesy: Psychologytoday)
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