Facts About Anxiety Disorders

Posted on October 18, 2009 @ 12:01 am

Everybody in the world knows what it’s like to feel anxious every once in awhile. You get butterflies in your stomach before a first date. You start sweating before a big job interview. Your heart pounds when you almost get into a car accident. Those are all perfectly normal anxieties – but what if you experienced anxiety chronically? What if you felt tense and anxious all the time, usually with no real reason? That’s what someone with an anxiety disorder experiences every day.

Symptoms Of anxiety disorder

Someone with an anxiety disorder will usually exhibit the same symptoms, no matter what specific type they have. They’ll get a headache, start sweating, and experience muscle spasms. They’ll also experience heart palpitations which make them dizzy, light-headed or out of breath. They also suffer from hypertension, or chronically elevated blood pressure. People suffering from hypertension are in danger of suffering from strokes, heart attacks, heart failure or even arterial aneurysms, so you can imagine just how dangerous it is for someone to experience those symptoms all the time without treatment.

Anxiety disorders are considered chronic conditions. A person can begin experiencing symptoms suddenly after an event triggers them, or it can be present from an early age. The disorders flare up in times of high stress. Almost all patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are also diagnosed with clinical depression, and vice versa. The two always seem to go hand in hand.

Causes Of Anxiety Disorders

Numerous clinical studies have suggested that there is a correlation between anxiety disorders and difficulty in maintaining balance due to malfunctions in the region of the brain known as the parabrachial nucleus. The parabrachial nucleus coordinates signals from the amygdala, the part of the brain involved in regulating emotional reactions – such as fear. There is a well-known connection between unusually high levels of SK2 potassium and anxiety as well.

There are a lot of biochemical factors that come into play as well. Low levels of a neurotransmitter called GABA – which is responsible for reducing over activity in your central nervous system – causes anxiety. Even chronic exposure to things like paint or varnish can cause the disorders.

Types Of Anxiety Disorders

There are many types of anxiety disorders. General anxiety disorder occurs when a person suffers from long-term anxiety that is not focused on anything in particular. Brief attacks of intense terror and dread are experienced by people who are suffering from panic disorder. Agoraphobia is the fear of being in a place or situation where getting away is difficult or embarrassing~Agoraphobia is the fear of being in a place or situation where person thinks that getting away is difficult or embarrassing}. Most other phobias are taken as anxiety disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and separation anxiety are all anxiety disorders.

It’s Not Easy To Deal With Anxiety Disorders

People with anxiety disorders suffer symptoms nearly every day. However, with treatment, it is possible for them to live more normal lives and start overcoming the fears that are holding them back.







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