What Are The Treatments For Anxiety Disorders
The main treatments for anxiety disorders are psychotherapy , medicines, or both:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy that is often used to treat anxiety disorders. CBT teaches you different ways of thinking and behaving. It can help you change how you react to the things that cause you to feel fear and anxiety. It may include exposure therapy. This focuses on having you confront your fears so that you will be able to do the things that you had been avoiding.
- Medicines to treat anxiety disorders include anti-anxiety medicines and certain antidepressants. Some types of medicines may work better for specific types of anxiety disorders. You should work closely with your health care provider to identify which medicine is best for you. You may need to try more than one medicine before you can find the right one.
NIH: National Institute of Mental Health
How Much Money You Have
One reason why finances might trigger anxiety is because, in our minds, money is linked to survival. “Money is really a resource that can provide people with a sense of safety and security,” Chloe Carmichael, PhD, a psychologist in New York City previously told Health. “When we feel that resource is scarce, it can actually make people feel like their survival is in jeopardy on a very primal level.”
Some of the common financial stressors have to do with concerns about savings, job security, salary, lack of financial savvy, debt, identity theft, and wealth comparison.
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Psychological Symptoms Of Severe Anxiety
Intense fears of losing control, going crazy or dying are common psychological symptoms of severe anxiety. There are additional symptoms, though, depending on the type of anxiety disorder.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can produce symptoms of severe anxiety including:
- Psychologically reliving the traumatic event
- Overreacting with intense fear to anything reminiscent of the traumatic event
- Feelings of a shortened life
- Looking for and seeing danger everywhere
- Overreacting with fear when startled
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How Do Anxiety Disorders Affect Children
Its normal for children to feel some amount of anxiety, worry or fear at certain points. For example, a child may feel scared of a thunderstorm or barking dog. A teenager might get anxious about an upcoming test or school dance.
But sometimes, children approach these situations with overwhelming dread or they cant stop thinking about all the fears tied to one of these events. It may seem that none of your comforts help. These children often get stuck on their worries. They have a hard time doing their daily activities, like going to school, playing and falling asleep. Theyre extremely reluctant to try something new.
When thinking about your childs anxiety levels, getting stuck is key. It separates the regular worries of childhood from an anxiety disorder that needs professional help. If the anxiety or worry interferes with your childs ability to function, it may be time to seek help
Can Excessive Worry And Anxiety Cause A Stress Response
Stress comes from the demands and pressures we experience each day. Long lines at the grocery store, rush hour traffic, a phone ringing nonstop, or a chronic illness are all examples of things that can cause stress on a daily basis. When worries and anxiety become excessive, chances are youâll trigger the stress response.
There are two elements to the stress response. The first is the perception of the challenge. The second is an automatic physiological reaction called the fight or flight response that brings on a surge of adrenaline and sets your body on red alert. There was a time when the fight or flight response protected our ancestors from such dangers as wild animals that could easily make a meal out of them. Although today we dont ordinarily encounter wild animals, dangers still exist. Theyâre there in the form of a demanding coworker, a colicky baby, or a dispute with a loved one.
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You Constantly Feel Tired
Persistent feelings of fatigue and exhaustion are common signs of anxiety. The bodys fight-or-flight response can keep you on high alert, which can be mentally and physically draining.
People with anxiety might also find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep or experience unsatisfying sleep. Elevated stress hormone levels and racing thoughts can make it harder to fall asleep because your body might not relax enough to rest. Sleep issues such as insomnia can also exacerbate anxiety symptoms.
When Do Physical Symptoms Signal A Panic Attack
Panic attacks include physical anxiety symptoms, such as sweating, shaking, and a face heart rate. However, unlike anxiety, panic attacks cause an extreme sensation of fear and worry that arises out of nowhere. Under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , panic attacks include at least four of the following symptoms:
- Heart palpitations or an accelerated heart rate
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath or feelings of choking
- Chest pain
- Feelings of derealization or depersonalization
- Fear of losing control or going crazy
- Fear of dying
For people who suffer from severe panic attacks, the physical symptoms may resemble those of a heart attack. If youve never had a panic attack and youre experiencing chest pain and other physical anxiety symptoms, seek immediate help.
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Simple Strategies Can Reduce The Headaches Upset Stomach And Shortness Of Breath That May Be Triggered By Emotional Stress
You’ve had headaches on and off, or possibly nausea, or muscle pain. It could be emotions, rather than a physical illness, driving your symptoms.
Blame your autonomic nervous system. This is a system in your body that you don’t consciously control, but that regulates things like your heart rate, breathing, urination, and sexual function. It’s also the system that reacts when you are under a physical threat. The autonomic nervous system produces your fight-or-flight response, which is designed to help you defend yourself or run away from danger.
When you are under stress or anxious, this system kicks into action, and physical symptoms can appear headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, shakiness, or stomach pain. “Doctors see it all the time patients with real pain or other symptoms, but nothing is physically wrong with them,” says Dr. Arthur Barsky, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
In today’s world, with the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic toll, many people may be noticing new physical symptoms without realizing what’s causing them. “This is a terribly stressful time,” says Dr. Barsky. “There is stress about what our lives are like, the ominous threat of getting the virus and getting sick. It’s already clear that the pandemic is heightening anxiety and sense of stress.”
Can Anxiety Disorders Be Prevented
You cant prevent anxiety disorders. But you can take steps to control or reduce your symptoms:
- Check out medications: Talk to a healthcare provider or pharmacist before taking over-the-counter medications or herbal remedies. Some of these contain chemicals that may make anxiety symptoms worse.
- Limit caffeine: Stop or limit how much caffeine you consume, including coffee, tea, cola and chocolate.
- Live a healthy lifestyle: Exercise regularly and eat a healthy, balanced diet.
- Seek help: Get counseling and support if you experienced a traumatic or disturbing event. Doing so can help prevent anxiety and other unpleasant feelings from disrupting your life.
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You’re Suddenly Tired Before A Social Event
If youâve been fine all day but get a bout of sleepiness right before that big get-together, take note. “For those who experience social anxiety, being around a large group … will drained, sometimes both physically and mentally before, during, or after,” says Aimee Noel, L.C.S.W., the clinical director at Sober College. “Those without social anxiety could feel energized interacting with a lot of people. If your tiredness correlates with these events, it may be a sign of anxiety.”
Treating Anxiety And Dizziness
The good news is that anxiety and dizziness can often be treated together as connected issues. If you or a loved one have anxiety symptoms that are negatively impacting daily life taking a toll on school, work, or friendships, for example professional help is available. In additional to connecting with a mental health provider who specializes in anxiety, individuals struggling with dizziness and anxiety should prioritize vestibular care. By addressing underlying issues in the vestibular system, a dizziness and balance specialist will be able to reduce dizziness symptoms and, ideally, accompanying anxiety.
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So, can anxiety make you dizzy? The answer is yes. If youre experiencing both issues, a dizziness and balance expert is an excellent resource to help you start feeling better.
Are you or a loved one struggling with anxiety? Are you in need of medical advice and wondering where to turn? Reach out to the professionals at the National Dizzy & Balance Center. We specialize in diagnosing and treating vestibular disorders, including concussions and ongoing dizziness, which can often contribute to anxiety. Our talented team members can design a personalized plan to relieve your symptoms. To learn more about our approach, please contact us online or by phone. Or if youre ready to get started, schedule your free medical consultation today.
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Tip : Look At Your Worries In New Ways
The core symptom of GAD is chronic worrying. Its important to understand what worrying is, since the beliefs you hold about worrying play a huge role in triggering and maintaining GAD. You may feel like your worries come from the outsidefrom other people, events that stress you out, or difficult situations youre facing. But, in fact, worrying is self-generated. The trigger comes from the outside, but your internal running dialogue keeps it going.
When youre worrying, youre talking to yourself about things youre afraid of or negative events that might happen. You run over the feared situation in your mind and think about all the ways you might deal with it. In essence, youre trying to solve problems that havent happened yet, or worse, simply obsessing on worst-case scenarios.
All this worrying may give you the impression that youre protecting yourself by preparing for the worst or avoiding bad situations. But more often than not, worrying is unproductivesapping your mental and emotional energy without resulting in any concrete problem-solving strategies or actions.
A Heartbeat In Your Throat
Another unsettling feeling you can trace back to your ancestor’s danger response is that weird heartbeat in your throat you get sometimes. While you may feel like a character in a scary movie from this, it’s likely you’re just experiencing a symptom of anxiety.
“Another expression of the fight-or-flight response is heart palpitations,” licensed marriage and family therapist Lauren McCown, tells Bustle. “In fact, cardiologists are some of an anxiety therapist’s best referral sources. You can actually feel heart palpitations in your throat, your neck, or your chest. This is very unsettling for anxiety sufferers.” Any heart palpitations are important to check out with a doctor, but with attention, they can become a good way to understand what makes you anxious and when.
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Risk Factors For Anxiety Disorder
Some things also make you more likely to develop an anxiety disorder. These are called risk factors. Some risk factors you canât change, but others you can.
Risk factors for anxiety disorders include:
- History of mental health disorder. Having another mental health disorder, like depression, raises your risk for anxiety disorder.
- Childhood sexual abuse. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse or neglect during childhood is linked to anxiety disorders later in life.
- Trauma. Living through a traumatic event increases the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder , which can cause panic attacks.
- Negative life events. Stressful or negative life events, like losing a parent in early childhood, increase your risk for anxiety disorder.
- Severe illness or chronic health condition. Constant worry about your health or the health of a loved one, or caring for someone who is sick, can cause you to feel overwhelmed and anxious.
- Substance abuse. The use of alcohol and illegal drugs makes you more likely to get an anxiety disorder. Some people also use these substances to hide or ease anxiety symptoms.
- Being shy as a child. Shyness and withdrawal from unfamiliar people and places during childhood is linked to social anxiety in teens and adults.
- Low self-esteem. Negative perceptions about yourself may lead to social anxiety disorder.
Coffee Doesn’t Seem To Be Helping
If you were dealing with run-of-the-mill sleepiness, you would likely feel a jolt of wakefulness after drinking a cup of coffee or two. Butthis trick doesn’t always take the edge off for people with anxiety â and in some cases can even make it worse. “If your daily cup of coffee or some midday chocolate isn’t perking you up, you may be dealing with more than being tired,â says psychotherapist Kimberly Hershenson, L.C.S.W.
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Symptoms Of Severe Anxiety Feel Very Scary
While some people think of anxiety as an uneasy feeling in the pit of their stomach or the fear they feel when standing atop a high building, severe anxiety symptoms can be much worse and downright terrifying. Symptoms of severe anxiety can create the feeling of a heart attack or even make you feel like you’re dying.
Perhaps the anxiety disorder best known for severe effects is panic disorder. A panic attack can create severe anxiety symptoms in a matter of minutes and patients are often rushed to the Emergency Room because they feel they are dying. It’s important to remember though, panic attack symptoms typically peak within ten minutes and then begin to fade.
What Anxiety Feels Like & Why It Happens
Generally speaking, we all have a lot going on in our lives: School, work, family, finances, health, relationships, friendships. And while your specific priorities may differ from someone else’s as well as shift over time the one prevailing constant we all seem to be bound to is that there’s almost always something to stress about or worry over.
“The various situations and events happening in your life greatly affect your overall mood. So when something is causing you to feel stressed or worried, it can impact your entire life from personal to interpersonal to professional,” says Dr. Ali Sawal, primary care practitioner at Houston Methodist.
And while anxiety may seem like some amorphous state-of-mind that you’re either prone to experiencing or you’re not, you may be surprised to find that anxiety is much more common than you think.
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