Panic Disorder
At least 1.6 percent of adult Americans, or 3 million people, will have panic disorder at some time in their lives. Panic disorder is a serious health problem and is very different from other types of anxiety. Panic attacks are sudden, appear to be unprovoked, and are often disabling. If you have panic disorder, you may feel suddenly terrified for no reason. During a panic attack, you also have scary physical feelings like a fast heartbeat, trouble breathing, or dizziness.
Panic attacks can happen at any time and any place without warning. Many people with panic disorder develop intense anxiety between episodes. It is not unusual for a person with panic disorder to develop phobias about places or situations where panic attacks have occurred, such as in supermarkets or other everyday situations.
It usually starts when people are young adults, around 18 to 24 years old. Sometimes it starts when a person is under a lot of stress, for example after the death of a loved one or after having a baby. Anyone can have panic disorder, but more women than men have the illness. It sometimes runs in families.
Speaking to a specially trained doctor or counselor who can teach you ways to cope with your panic attacks helps many people with panic disorder. Therapy will help you feel less afraid and anxious. Thanks to research, there are a variety of treatments available, including several effective medications, and also specific forms of psychotherapy. Often, a combination of psychotherapy and medications produces good results.
It is extremely important for a person suffering from panic disorder to understand that help is available. Tragically, many people with panic disorder do not seek or receive treatment.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the agency of the U.S. government responsible for improving the mental health of the American people by supporting research on the brain and mental disorders and by increasing public understanding of these conditions and their treatment. NIMH is sponsoring a major information campaign to acquaint the public and health care professionals with this disorder.
Tommy Thompson
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/panic-disorder-96780.html
General Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
General Anxiety Disorder or GAD as it is known is another type of anxiety disorder. It affects roughly 4 to 5 million people of the American population alone. If you suffer from this Disorder symptoms can include but are not limited to those also suffered by panic disorder victims. It has also been found that it affects women proportionally more that it does men.
The symptoms are many and vary from person to person. There are however a few symptoms that are the same across the board for most people and which generally characterize their lives and lifestyles. The sufferer will live in a chronic and exaggerated state of worry and tension most of the time. Extreme emotions may arise even if there is nothing happening to provoke these feelings. Symptoms can also induce the sufferer to be always anticipating disaster.
One such is chronic and incessant worrying. Although worry is a natural emotion and most of us experience it from time to time in our daily lives, for the sufferer their worry is chronic and most times pathological. Most times the chronic worrier will let their worries overtake their world and will sometimes let it go so far as to incapacitate them in their daily lives.
By this, I do not mean that there is no choice over whether or not they worry ceaselessly, on the contrary the person might be aware that they are worrying needlessly but be unable to stop it or help themselves.
By the same token it can bring on insomnia, panic attacks and depression. Intense anxiety and fear are also quite common to these symptoms.
Other more physical, symptoms include headaches, diarrhea and nausea, lightheadedness, trembling or twitching. A palpitating or pounding heart, shortness of breath and trouble concentrating are also effects that can occur.
Irritability and mood swings, constant tension coupled with the inability to relax are all General Anxiety Disorder symptoms, and are all contributing features to other symptoms as well.
This vicious cycle can sometimes take its toll not only on the Disorder sufferer but also on the family of the sufferer. The pressures of living with a person who suffers from GAD, the inability to cope with the persistent and sometimes inconsequential worrying, the constant depression and mood swings can all take their toll. Most families do not survive too well if someone within the family suffers from this disorder.
That is why medical attention should be sought as soon as possible to alleviate your symptoms. General Anxiety Disorder can be cured and you should know this. Treatment methods are readily available to you and it is merely a matter of finding the courage to go out and find it. Rest assured that your doctor or therapist can help you in alleviating your symptoms properly and it will only take a little time and patience and will power on your part to cure yourself.
Dtm
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/general-anxiety-disorder-symptoms-66564.html
Anxiety Attacks & Symptoms
Do you suffer from anxiety disorder? Are you constantly tensed, easily overwhelmed by your work and other responsibilities?
We bring you the most effective treatments available on the net or anywhere else.
ANXIETY is NOT an ILLNESS…. it’s a behavioral condition.
Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger, or an automatic alarm that goes off when we feel threatened or scared. A person who does not suffer from anxiety disorder would normally react to threats that are here, now and real. On the other hand a person who suffers from anxiety disorder would react to what he or she perceives to be real. They key here is perception. A faulty perception often becomes the reality of such a person and thus he or she would react to the perception as if it were real. In either case, real or perceived, the body’s natural response of fight or flight is engaged just the same.
If you identify with any of the following symptoms, then there is a good chance that you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
- Difficult to breathe normally
- Chest Pain
- Difficulty in swallowing food
- Skin losing color
- Sweating and shaking or shivering
- Neck & shoulder pain
- Indigestion
- Weakness in arms
- Electric shock feeling in any part of the body
- Dryness in mouth
- Fear of losing control
In addition to the above symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, there are many other emotional and physical symptoms of anxiety, which often vary from person to person. We worry and fret excessively over family matters, office work and a zillion other things. An individual may suffer from intense anxiety attacks that strike without apparent reason and/or warning, while another may struggle with a disabling fear of driving, yet another would be overwhelmed by uncontrollable thoughts of doom and gloom. If worries and fears are preventing you from living your life the way you want then you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
There are many anxiety and panic disorder treatments available that can help you reduce your anxiety symptoms, but only a few that are designed to cure this condition without the need of undergoing a long-term therapy. In some severe cases anti anxiety medications can be prescribed, but one must remember that these medications can only provide temporary relief, but not a cure. Anxiety symptoms can be controlled completely, efficiently and in a relatively short period of time. An effective treatment, when applied properly, deals with the condition in the present without trying to dig down for the causes. Facing the actual fear head on is one of the shortest and most effective methods used to cure this condition. In fact just mastering not to fear having another attack is already a huge step on the road to recovery. It is not important to try and understand the psychology or physiology of the person. Desiring and having the will to get cured coupled with the right treatment is all that one needs to achieve his or her objective.
If you are interested to know more about anxiety attack symptoms, please search our site for more in-depth information and resources.
D.More
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/anxiety-attacks-symptoms-750745.html
Living With Anxiety
erybody feels anxious and nervous right before doing something really important, be it a thesis paper presentation, a job interview, or a midterm exam we did not get to review for. It is the body’s normal reaction to tense and stressful situations. Anxiety is simply the body’s natural “fight-or-flight” response to warn us of possible dangers ahead.
But what happens when anxiety becomes too overwhelming? What if you start fearing and worrying over the littlest of things that it prevents you from functioning normally? You may already be developing an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders
An anxiety disorder refers to many different kinds of abnormal and irrational anxieties or fears. People with anxiety disorders may experience having intense panic attacks that appear from out of nowhere, some in the form of eccentric obsessions and compulsions. Some people develop extreme fear over things that generally don’t bother other people.
Anxiety disorder comes in many forms, the most common being:
Generalized anxiety disorder.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Panic disorder.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Phobias.
Separation anxiety.
Social anxiety disorder.
But despite having many different kinds, all of the above mentioned forms of anxiety have one thing in common – a persistent and intensely overwhelming fear or worry.
Anxiety or panic attacks
Anxiety attacks, also called panic attacks, are sudden, acute episodes of intense anxiety and feelings of panic. Like what was mentioned earlier, these attacks happen without warning. And even if the fear is irrational, the sufferer perceives the threat as real. Here are some of the physical symptoms felt during an anxiety attack:
shortness of breath
dizziness
palpitations or pounding heart
nausea or stomach distress
chest pain or discomfort
hot or cold flashes.
Here are some of the emotional and psychological symptoms of having an anxiety or panic attack:
apprehension, uneasiness, and dread
confusion, impaired concentration or selective attention
restlessness and irritability
avoidance and a strong desire to escape
hypervigilance
nervousness and jumpiness
self-consciousness and insecurity
Treatment
Anxiety disorders is not a simple matter, it takes a serious toll on the sufferer’s life as well as those around him. Having an anxiety disorder can lead to having low self-esteem, depression, and/or substance abuse. But the good news is, anxiety disorders are highly manageable and treatable.
Here are some of the most commonly suggested treatment for anxiety disorders:
Medications
Thanks to modern science, scientists are coming up with more and more medications to help mental health professionals in managing and treating anxiety attacks. Anti-anxiety medications are often prescribed by psychologists to help sufferers to function normally in society.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
This treatment is also known as psychotherapy or talk therapy. With this therapy, deep-rooted reasons for the anxieties are expressed and dealt with. Resolving underlying issues have been proven helpful in gradually relieving sufferers from their anxieties and eventually fully get rid of their irrational fears. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps sufferers create a different response to certain situations where anxiety and panic attacks are triggered.
Coping with anxiety maybe difficult but it definitely possible. With determination and strong will from the sufferer’s part, and professional help from psychologists and anti-anxiety medications, people with anxiety disorders will soon be able to lead normal lives again.By: Abbey Grace Yap (Free Treatment for Anxiety eBook)
About the Author:
The writer, Abbey Grace Yap, is an active advocate for health consciousness and disease awareness. Visit DrugstoreTM.com for more details. And also you can visit Drugstoretm- Articles for more health related articles.












