Anxiety Disorders

You Don't Have to Live in Fear

Everyone feels some degree of anxiety or uneasiness from time to time.

Having to stand up and speak in public is first on many peoples list of anxious moments. So is taking a test or the first day on the job.

You know the symptoms: you feel shaky, your heart pounds, your hands feel flushed and clammy and your stomach quakes and your mouth feels dry.

Feeling anxious temporarily is one thing; but when your anxiety is so serious that it interferes with your life and work, leads you to avoid certain situations or keeps you from enjoying life, you may have a medical condition know as an anxiety disorder.

Dont let the words scare you. The good news is that effective treatments for anxiety disorders are available. Knowing about the disorders is important because to solve a problem of any kind, you must first be able to recognize and identify it!

This is designed to acquaint you with anxiety disorders so that if you--or a loved one--suffers from one, you will recognize the symptoms and seek appropriate medical care. Please keep in mind, however, that this information is not a substitute for an informed discussion between you and your provider about the illnesses or treatments covered here.

The telltale signs include the following:

• You feel very anxious and tense even when there is no real danger
• The symptoms cause significant distress and interfere with your daily activities
• You take extreme steps to avoid situations that make you feel anxious

In addition, anxiety causes other symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, disturbed sleep, muscle aches, headaches, gastrointestinal distress and difficulty concentrating.

This kind of anxiety can severely hamper your ability to live a full and enjoyable life. It can lead to chronic (long-term) anxiety and other illnesses.

Trying to ignore or wish anxiety away rarely works. More than likely, the anxiety will control your life--instead of you controlling the anxiety. For all these reasons, be confident that you are acting wisely by talking with your health care provider.

People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder are constantly worrying about all sorts of things and expect the worst. They suffer distress about any number of things--their job performance, relationships, school grades, and possible misfortune--even though there may be no real threat of any one of them.

Its normal to worry about such things when a difficulty arises. But people with generalized anxiety disorder are in a state of constant worry.

People suffering from panic disorder experience repeated feelings of intense, sudden terror or impending doom. These panic attacks can happen several times a week or even within the same day. The attacks reach their peak in about 10 minutes, but leave the individual emotionally drained and frightened.

Panic disorder sufferers often live in fear of having another attack because the attacks can occur without any warning.

• Shortness of breath; smothering sensations
• Heart palpitations and chest pain (feelings similar to a heart attack)
• Choking sensations
• Fear of "going crazy"
• Sweating, trembling, shaking, feeling dizzy

Since there is no way to predict when the next panic attack might occur, the individual may avoid the place or situation where the first attack occurred--or become afraid to go out in public at all. Its not surprising that many of these people also suffer from depression.

People with this disorder suffer from anxiety about being in places or situations from which it might be difficult or embarrassing to escape--such as being in a room full of people or in an elevator.

Its pretty common for people with panic disorder to develop agoraphobia because they fear help might not be available if an attack occurs. In extreme cases, persons with agoraphobia may even be afraid to leave their house.

Persons with PTSD re-experience an extremely traumatic event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury to themselves or another person. Typically, the traumatic event left the person with PTSD feeling intense fear and helplessness. Examples of such events are military combat, sexual assault, natural disaster and severe auto accidents.

Symptoms of PTSD include continued flashbacks and reliving the event, nightmares and intense distress when exposed to an object or situation that was related to the event. This leads PTSD sufferers to avoid those thoughts, conversations or activities that may remind them of the trauma.

Specific phobia -- a persistent fear of specific things (like spiders) or situations (flying)

Social phobia -- persistent anxiety about social performance situations (public speaking, taking a test) due to fear of embarrassment

People with a problem a phobia suffer such intense anxiety that they take extreme measures to avoid the situations or objects that make them so afraid. The closer the person is to the feared object or situation and the less chance of escape, the more intense is the anxiety--even to the point of panic.

• Dogs, insects, snakes
• Driving a car
• Heights
• Tunnels, bridges
• Thunderstorms
• Flying in a plane

• Public speaking
• Meeting new people
• Attending parties
• Going to school
• Starting a new job

Remember that everyone has some anxiety about such social situations. With social phobia, however, the fears become severe and limit the activity of the phobic person.

Social phobia can drive a person to drop out of school, avoid making friends or become, and remain, unemployed.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (abbreviated OCD) is as common an illness as asthma or diabetes. It affects as many as 6 million people a year.

(1) Distressing thoughts or impulses (called obsessions) that they feel they have no control over; and

(2) Repetitive actions (called compulsions) that they feel driven to perform.

If severe and not treated, OCD can destroy your work, social life and even family relationships. The obsessions are unwanted ideas or impulses that repeatedly surface in the OCD sufferers mind. They are typically not related to a real-life problem but nevertheless cause a significant level of anxiety.

• Repeated thoughts about being contaminated with germs (e.g., from shaking hands or touching a doorknob)
• Repeated doubts (e.g., about having left the door unlocked or the stove on)
• Feeling that items--such as your dishes or books or shirts--must be arranged in a particular order
• Aggressive impulses (hurting your child for instance)
• Sexual images (repeatedly picturing a pornographic image)

Many people with OCD engage in rituals that they feel must be followed without exception to neutralize or ward off their obsessions. These rituals or compulsions often are repetitive behaviors. Performing these acts gives some relief from the anxiety, but only temporarily.

• Excessively washing ones hands or showering again and again
• Excessive and repetitive cleaning or dusting
• Constantly requesting or demanding assurances
• Repeatedly checking door locks, light switches, paperwork
• Precisely arranging items in a particular order for no useful reason

People with OCD realize their obsessions and compulsions are unreasonable, but cant stop them. Often they suffer needlessly with OCD because they are embarrassed to bring these symptoms to their doctors attention. Unfortunately, this delays their getting effective treatment. In many cases, OCD is made worse by coexisting symptoms of depression.

HOW ARE ANXIETY DISORDERS TREATED?

Medical researchers have found that both medication and psychotherapy (counseling) are effective for relieving symptoms of anxiety. Often the two treatment methods are combined.

Psychotherapy--also called "talk therapy" or "counseling"--involves working on the symptoms and causes of your anxiety disorder with a counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist or other trained mental health professional.

Many people--including celebrities and public leaders--have sought the help of mental health professionals to help them deal with crippling anxiety and have succeeded.

Treatment programs for anxiety disorders may combine psychological counseling and medication.

Take the steps that can help relieve your anxiety

(1) Contact your counseling center or student health center and ask about programs for anxiety. Youve no reason to feel embarrassed about asking for help. In fact, you may be surprised to find how much respect people have for those who do something about a medical problem rather than just giving up hope.

(2) Keep a positive attitude, with the knowledge that others have learned to deal with similar fears. (For example, watch how many movies, books and TV sitcoms and dramas are based on characters that get anxious--and note how they deal with it.)

(3) Seek the support of a trusted family member, friend, clergy or a local support group so that you dont feel youre struggling alone with anxiety.

(4) Learn as much as possible about anxiety disorders, their treatment and how other sufferers have resolved them.