If you're wondering what anxiety disorder is you've probably already had your first episode of it. It was pretty scary huh? Well not to worry. You've come to the right place.
Anxiety disorder-some times called panic attack disorder, is a psychological condition that usually manifests itself in the form of intense panic attacks. These attacks are so intense that the sufferer is likely to believe that they are having a heart attack.
What are the symptoms of anxiety disorder?
There are both physical and psychological symptoms. The physical symptoms are increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, trembling, hot and cold flashes, head ache and nausea. Often you will also feel intense chest pain/constriction. Many people when they first experience these conditions will believe that they are having a heart attack.
The physical symptoms often obscure the psychological ones. The main psychological feature-the essence of the panic attack-is intense fear. The sufferer typically feels they are about to die or that they are "going crazy". In some severe cases the sufferer may also have an intense sense of unreality.
Are there treatments for anxiety disorder?
Yes. It is typically treated by one of many forms of behavior therapy. The therapies help the sufferer to come to better terms with the underlying conditions of their anxiety disorder. Often, though not always, there is a precipitating event that caused the anxiety disorder in the first place. By reliving and talking through the event with a therapist, the sufferer can often defuse the panic attack's power.
Even in the cases where there is not an initial event that began the panic attacks, behavior therapy can still be very helpful. By coming to a better understanding of the triggers that cause your panic attacks, you can learn how to both avoid these triggers and to begin taking actions to lower your heart rate and regulate your breathing in the early stages of your panic attack so that the episodes are not so intense.
Can I take medications for anxiety disorder?
There are several types of medications that can be prescribed. If you go to a licensed medical professional they are likely to give you a drug (often an anti-depressant) during the initial stages of your therapy. These drugs are not recommended without therapy or for long periods of time however, since many are addictive and have severe side-effects.
What causes anxiety disorder?
Scientists believe that anxiety disorder is a sort of malfunction with our natural fight or flight response. If you have taken psychology, you may already know that the fight or flight response is our reaction to a mortal threat. When we are faced with a wild animal or some other form of extreme danger, our bodies jump into a heightened state of being in which we either turn to face the threat (e.g., attack the bear) or turn and make a run for it.
A panic attack is this natural state of being divorced from the actual external threat. In other words, your body acts as if you are about to be eaten by a bear even though there is no bear present.
Often, a life threatening event initiates this disorder. So a person might be in a car crash and afterwards finds that anything that reminds him of the car crash will bring on panic attacks.
But, it is also possible to suffer from anxiety disorder simply because of your genetic make up. Many people who suffer, do not report an initial life threatening event. Scientists believe that these people simply have a genetic predisposition to anxiety disorder that starts to bother them once the stresses of everyday life bring them beyond the threshold of the disease.
Now that you have some sense of what panic attacks are, you are ready to move on to more research. You will find that there are some very good books on the subject and the web is chock full of helpful information for determining exactly what type of anxiety disorder you are suffering from.
Tom Tait is focused on helping those with panic attacks. Here is more information on Panic Attacks Information.
There is even more information about Panic Attacks on the website Panic Attacks.
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