Do you experience anxiety? Here are some tips for identifying the many forms of anxiety, their causes, symptoms, and indicators so you can get the help you need.
What exactly is anxiety?
Anxiety is the body’s natural fight-or-flight response to danger, which is elicited when you feel threatened, under pressure, or in a difficult situation—like a job interview, exam, or first date. When experienced in moderation, anxiety isn’t always a terrible thing. It can encourage you to take initiative, keep you focused and awake, and inspire you to find solutions to issues. However, you’ve probably passed the border from normal anxiety into the realm of an anxiety disorder if your anxiety is persistent or overwhelming—that is, if your worries and fears interfere with your relationships and day-to-day activities.
The symptoms of anxiety disorders might differ from person to person since they are a collection of linked illnesses rather than a single disorder. While some people experience sudden, severe anxiety attacks, others get panic attacks just thinking about interacting with others at a party. Someone else might experience uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts or a crippling fear of driving. Someone else might have continual stress and worry about everything and anything. All anxiety disorders, however diverse in their manifestations, cause extreme fear or worry that is out of proportion to the actual circumstances.
Even while having an anxiety illness can make it difficult for you to live the life you desire, it’s crucial to understand that you’re not the only one who experiences this. One of the most prevalent mental health conditions is anxiety disorders, which can be effectively treated. There are measures you can do to lessen the symptoms of your anxiety illness and reclaim control of your life once you understand it.
What is high-functioning anxiety?
You may have seen the term “high-functioning anxiety” online. Although it’s not a formal diagnosis, it’s occasionally used to characterize an anxious individual who yet manages to meet the demands of daily living. They may appear unflappable on the outside. Beneath their composed exterior, they are tormented by uneasy and pessimistic thoughts.
If your anxiety is high functioning, you may come across as proactive, gregarious, well-organized, and goal-oriented. You might even project the image of a model worker or student, or even a perfectionist. Still, there may be negative health effects from your underlying anxiety, such as tenseness in your muscles, insomnia, and irritability.
Anxiety symptoms manifest differently in various persons. It’s critical to keep in mind that some persons have challenges that aren’t always obvious.
Do I have an anxiety disorder?
If you have any of the following seven signs and symptoms and they just won’t go away, you may have an anxiety disorder:
Do you constantly feel tense, nervous, or irritable?
Do your responsibilities to your family, job, or education suffer as a result of your anxiety?
Are there irrational fears that you struggle to get over?
Do you believe that there would be unfavorable effects if something is not done a certain way?
Do you avoid everyday tasks or events because they make you nervous?
Have you ever experienced sudden, startling bursts of acute panic?
Do you always feel as though something bad is going to happen to you?
Signs and symptoms of anxiety disorders
Feelings of apprehension or dread are prevalent emotional symptoms, in addition to the main symptom of excessive and unreasonable anxiety and worry.
looking for any signs of impending danger.
Getting ready for the worst case scenario.
inability to concentrate.
feeling anxious and restless.
intolerance.
feeling as though my mind is blank.
However, anxiousness is more than a sentiment. The fight-or-flight reaction in the body causes a variety of physical symptoms, such as pounding in the heart.
sweating.
headaches.
upset abdomen.
dizziness.
diarrhea or frequent urination.
panting for air.
stiff or spastic muscles.
quivering or unsteady.
insomnia.
Many times, those who suffer from anxiety mistake their ailment for a medical condition due to these physical symptoms. It can take them multiple visits to the hospital and multiple doctor visits before their anxiety problem is ultimately diagnosed.
The connection between sadness and symptoms of anxiety
Depression strikes many persons with anxiety disorders at some point. It is thought that anxiety and depression share a biological vulnerability, which could account for why they frequently coexist. Treatment for both sadness and anxiety is crucial since they exacerbate one another.
What are anxiety attacks?
Long-term accumulation of stressors or concerns might lead to an anxiety attack. For example, a relationship problem or a busy work schedule may progressively make you feel more worried until you are overwhelmed for a while. You may suffer from symptoms like tension, impatience, and lack of attention during an anxiety episode. You can also experience agitation and rapid exhaustion.
Nonetheless, panic attacks are frequently meant when someone discusses anxiety episodes. These are fits of extreme terror or panic. They typically happen quickly and without notice. In many situations, there’s a clear trigger (such as getting stuck in an elevator or worrying about the important speech you have to give), but in other situations, the attacks just happen.
The average duration of a panic episode is ten minutes, and they never continue more than thirty. However, during that little period, you could feel so terrified that you think you’re about to die or lose all sense of reality. Many people mistakenly believe they are suffering a heart attack due to the alarming nature of the physical symptoms. When a panic episode passes, you can fear that it will happen again, especially if it’s in a public setting and you can’t readily flee.
Symptoms of a panic attack include:
tremendous panicked outburst.
sensation of going insane or losing control.
chest pain or palpitations in the heart.
having the impression that you might faint.
Breathing difficulties or a feeling of choking.
exaggerated breathing.
cold chills or hot flushes.
trembling or swaying.
pains in the stomach or nausea.
feeling fictitious or distant.
If you’re beginning to avoid specific circumstances out of fear of experiencing a panic attack, it’s critical that you get help. Panic attacks can, in fact, be effectively treated. In fact, after just five to eight treatment sessions, a lot of patients experience no terror.
symptoms and types of anxiety disorders
The following conditions are closely connected to anxiety disorders:
Anxiety disorders in general (GAD)
You might have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) if your daily activities are disrupted by ongoing worries and fears or if you live with a persistent sense that something dreadful is going to happen. GAD sufferers are chronic worriers who experience anxiety almost constantly, sometimes for unknown reasons. Physical signs of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) include sleeplessness, unsettled stomach, restlessness, and exhaustion.
Attacks of panic and panic disorder
Recurrent, unexpected panic episodes and the anxiety of having another episode are the hallmarks of panic disorder. Panic disorder may also be accompanied with agoraphobia, which is the dread of being in an area where getting aid or an escape would be difficult in the event of a panic attack. If you suffer from agoraphobia, you probably stay away from enclosed settings like airplanes and public areas like malls.
OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder
The hallmarks of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) include undesirable thoughts or actions that are hard to ignore or manage. Obsessions, such as a persistent fear that you could damage someone or that you forgot to turn off the oven, can cause anxiety if you suffer from OCD. Additionally, you can have compulsive behaviors like repeatedly washing your hands.
Disorder of hoarding
The chronic inability to part with belongings combined with an unhealthy connection to even useless objects is known as hoarding disorder. It may result in an overabundance of belongings (or pets) and a disorganized home. You might see the use in any object, have a deep emotional affinity to certain goods, or give inanimate objects emotions. These ideas may cause you to have overwhelming emotions of guilt, sadness, or anxiety when you discard objects.
Anxiety and illogical fears
A phobia is an excessive or irrational fear of a certain thing, activity, or circumstance that, in actuality, poses little to no risk. Common phobias include needle phobia, flying phobia, and animal phobia (including a fear of snakes and spiders). When you have a severe phobia, you may take extraordinary measures to stay away from the source of your anxiety. Regretfully, avoiding situations just makes the phobia worse.
Social situation-related anxiety disorders
You may have social anxiety disorder, sometimes referred to as social phobia, if you suffer from a crippling dread of being judged unfavorably by others and embarrassed in public. Severe forms of it involve complete avoidance of social interactions and can be characterized as excessive shyness. Social anxiety that is most commonly experienced as stage fright or performance anxiety.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD
An intense anxiety disorder known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may develop in the wake of a severe or potentially fatal event. Imagine PTSD as an ongoing panic attack that never really goes away. PTSD symptoms include having dreams or flashbacks to the occurrence, being extremely alert, being startled easily, withdrawing from people, and avoiding circumstances that bring up the trauma.
