Anxiety and Anxiety Attacks
Anxiety disorders are the most common of emotional disorders, annually affecting more than 20 million Americans. Anxiety which interferes with normal activities like going outside or interacting with other people. Anxiety attacks are the most extreme example of an anxiety reaction. Anxiety disorders fill people’s lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear. When anxiety reaches a level at which the symptoms cause the sufferer to experience symptoms which exceed those normally experienced during an appropriate anxiety reaction, an anxiety attack is formed. Anxiety reactions are formed in the subconscious mind by a small organ called the Amygdala. Anxiety attacks can be eliminated very simply. Because anxiety attacks and high anxiety are the result of a learning process in the subconscious mind which causes the amygdala to react inappropriately, it can be ‘un-learned’ in the same way. Anxiety attacks are strong sensations that for many people creates the feeling of dying or going crazy. Anxiety attacks, also called panic attacks, are unexpected episodes of intense terror or fear. Anxiety disorders tend to run in families. People with anxiety disorders often have a family history of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, or substance abuse.
Anxiety attacks usually come without warning, and although the fear is generally irrational, the perceived danger is very real. Symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks / anxiety attacks include racing heart, hyperventilation or breathing difficulties, as well as chest pain, nausea or dizziness, headaches, shaking and trembling, and many more. Anxiety can also exacerbate many pre-existing medical conditions, such as ulcers, hypertension, and respiratory conditions including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Furthermore, anxiety is associated with mitral valve prolapse, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep apnea, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic tension headaches. Behavioural therapy - performed with a mental health professional to help gain control over unwanted behaviour. Cognitive therapy - similar to behavioural therapy but dealing with unhelpful and unproductive thoughts patterns.Anxiety medications can be habit forming and may have unwanted side effects, so be sure to research your options.
Medication - A short prescription of benzodiazepine tablets, such as diazepam, may be helpful in relieving short-term stress-related anxieties. Beta blockers are the best drug class to control physical symptoms of anxiety & panic attack and are normaly prescribed to prevent rapid heartbeat, shaking and trembling related symptoms. Buspirone is another medicine that is prescribed in the short-term to relieve anxiety. Antidepressants such as paroxetine may be prescribed for certain anxiety disorders such as generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia and OCD, and when anxiety is associated with depression. Group therapy - with one or two specialised therapists, particularly helpfully for certain conditions such as difficultly relating to others or being scrutinised by others. Psychoeducation - recognition by the patient that they have a treatable medical condition, and self-education through books and websites, and mental health professionals.
Anxiety and Anxiety Attacks Treatment Tips
1. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is very effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders.
2. Medication is sometimes used in the short-term to alleviate severe symptoms so that other forms of therapy can be pursued.
3. Relaxation techniques – Relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, controlled breathing, and guided imagery may reduce anxiety.
4. Biofeedback – Using sensors that measure physiological arousal brought on by anxiety.
5. Hypnotherapy – Hypnosis for anxiety is conducted by a clinical hypnotherapist.
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Have You Discovered The Cause Of Your Anxiety
Many people have funny notions about what causes anxiety attacks. There are all kinds of myths and misinformation. Anxiety attacks are hard to deal with as it is without having people look at you strangely, like you are afflicted with some sort of communicable disease. Worse yet some people banter around the word crazy when referring to people with anxiety attacks.
If you are a person that is dealing with anxiety attacks, finding information about what the cause of anxiety attack is can be frustrating. There are many different ideas about the causes of anxiety attacks and some of them are wrong. When a person is having regular anxiety attacks they can feel depressed and bad about themselves because they feel it is their fault. Many people feel they are the cause of the anxiety attack and that if they just had greater control over themselves that they would not have them.
Suffererss who have knowledge about the cause of anxiety attacks are the individuals who are most likely to succeed and breakthrough and having this is one of the greatest tools to use to stop them. It is knowledge, not control that is the key to overcoming anxiety attacks.
One of the more common myths about the cause of anxiety attacks is that a person is going crazy, more specifically, that they have some form of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a genetic disorder that is not caused by anxiety. It may contain anxiety components, but is much different than anxiety attacks. People with schizophrenia usually have disjointed thoughts, speech babbling and are plagued with delusions and hallucinations. People with anxiety attacks usually do not suffer from these symptoms.
Schizophrenia usually begins in a persons teen age years and is diagnosable by age 25. Schizophrenia is not a disorder than suddenly appears; it is a gradual debilitating disease that a person is born with. So unless you have a strong family history of schizophrenia it is not something you should worry about nor should you think that it is a cause of your anxiety attack.
Another belief about the cause of anxiety attacks is that it is about losing control. People believe that they will die, lose organ function or lose their grip on reality. People believe that you might go on killing spree or pass out in a car and run into a shopping mall.
These are all fallacies of the mind. You are not going to do any of those things. Anxiety is the bodies natural response to feeling that it is in danger. Anxiety is not dangerous and neither are you.
A lot of people with panic attacks believe they are going to lose total control of themselves. The fact is that most of the anxiety attack occurs in the mind. People around the person having the attack rarely notice they are having a problem. The fear of embarrassing yourself can actually make the anxiety worse. It is the feeling of losing control in front of others that can trigger the anxiety attack. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy except that people usually never lose control of themselves during an anxiety attack.
Some people feel that when an anxiety attack occurs that they will pass out in a public place. They imagine that they will be in the middle of a grocery store lying prone and unconscious in the floor. Worse than that some people believe that they will have an attack and no one will be around. They worry that they will be strewn in some ditch somewhere.
The fact is the fainting is not common with people having a panic attack. Fainting is usually the result of not enough oxygen going to the brain. When a person is having an anxiety attack their heart is usually pumping hard to circulate oxygen rich blood through out the body. A person may feel light headed because they may be hyperventilating but this usually does not lead to a fainting spell.
Another myth about anxiety attacks is that they are somehow caused by the heart. People believe they are having a heart attack. They feel tightness or pain in their chest, their heart is beating fast, they may be sweating and their respirations have increased. It is easy to see where the myth came from but the heart is not the cause of an anxiety attack not does an anxiety attack result in a heart attack.
Heart attacks usually occur when the heart is under stress that is during physical exertion. Panic attacks occur at anytime. Heart attacks are usually abated by resting and reducing the stress on the heart. A panic attack usually goes on and a person must calm themselves mentally before it really begins to subside. It is not a matter of control; it is more a matter of relinquishing control.
If you were to hook a person up to an EKG that is having a heart attack you would see unusual heart beats. A person having an anxiety attack usually only has an elevated heart rate.
The best way to reduce your anxiety of your heart is to see your doctor and have an EKG. Once you realize there is nothing to worry about it should reduce your anxiety over having a heart attack.
As you can see people worry about symptoms of anxiety attacks and misdiagnose themselves. They believe that the cause of an anxiety attack is mental or physical disease. Once they realize that it is not they can learn to overcome anxiety attacks for good.
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Finding The Effective Treatment For Your Anxiety Disorder
Although anxiety is accepted as being a normal and healthy emotion, some people suffer from intense anxiety, which ends up affecting their lives and causing them to keep away from certain situations that they used to be able to deal without difficulty. If you are suffering from anxiety then you should begin on finding an appropriate and effective method of treatment.
The first thing you need to do is determining the type of anxiety disorder you suffer from. There are five main types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Effective treatments for each anxiety disorder are accessible, and new and enhanced treatments are always becoming available.
Once you have found out the type of anxiety that you are suffering from you will be able to find the suitable anxiety disorder treatment. Mild anxiety disorders can often be treated relatively simple with relaxation and breathing techniques. Yoga, for instance, is a great type of exercise that can really help with anxiety and related health conditions. This is definitely something that should be tried prior to more serious forms of anxiety disorder treatment.
If your anxiety is more severe or constant, then therapy or counseling may become the best option. Cognitive behavioral therapy for one has been confirmed to be very effective in the treatment of all types of anxiety disorder. In this therapy you work one on one with an experienced and qualified mental health professional, who will assist you to deal with your fears in a safe and controlled environment. Over time you will be able to find out the root of your anxiety and from there work towards developing a treatment plan that will lead you to your normal life.
You can also select an anxiety disorder treatment plan that involves natural and herbal treatments. Herbal remedies such as valerian root and kava kava have over and over again proven to be effective at treating anxiety disorders and depression. You do need to keep in mind that just because these herbal remedies are natural it does not indicate that you do not still have to be careful. If taken inappropriately, these remedies can actually worsen your anxiety.
Hypnotherapy, biofeedback, and acupuncture are other options for anxiety disorder treatment. In order to determine which one is going to work best for you, you need to talk to your doctor. You may need to try a few different methods before you find the one that works best for you and your particular anxiety condition.
Medications for anxiety disorder
Generally, most treatments for anxiety disorders include at least one prescription medication. If you start taking medication as a treatment for anxiety disorder, it is important to understand that this should not be a long-term solution and you should keep working with a certified mental health professional in order to determine the root cause of your anxiety.
There are several common medications for anxiety disorder and one of them is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Serotonin is known as the brain’s all-natural happy drug. Scientists believe that a lack of serotonin is the source of depression, anxiety, and panic attacks and therefore the purpose of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain. Some familiar brands that use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are Prozac and Zoloft.
Benzodiazepines are another choice of medication, which act like minor tranquilizers. They decelerate the body’s nervous system, giving it an all-over calm. These types of medications can be addictive, so they should only be taken as prescribed. Some well-known brand names are Xanax and Valium.
Another medication that is used to treat anxiety disorder is antidepressants, which affect the neurotransmitters in the brain. Effexor is a good example of this type of anxiety disorder medication. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are very strong antidepressant drugs that should only be taken as a last resort after all other treatments have been tried. These drugs can be lethal when combined with certain other drugs and foods. One thing that need to be noted, anyone who takes antidepressants may become more susceptible to suicide, especially when they first begin to take them or when the dosage is changed.
Last important remark
Taking time to find the right treatment for your anxiety disorder is going to be vital to your success and you are going to want to work with a professional, especially if you have little knowledge on anxiety disorders in general. Remember that treatment for anxiety disorder is as different as the individuals who use them, and what works well for one person may not be effective for you. You may find relief from various sources of treatment including medication, therapy, self-help, alternative medicine or another form of treatment, and it may take some time and some trial and error in order to discover what works best for you.
One thing to remember is that support from family and friends are also very important. Many communities have organized support groups for people with different difficulties and you should be able to find a support group dedicated to anxiety disorder. These groups are typically made up of people with similar problems. Most patients find it reassuring to realize that they are not alone. Others in the group will be able to share advices, failures, and successes.