anxiety
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure.
Anxiety is not the same as fear, but they are often used interchangeably. Anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat, whereas fear is an appropriate, present-oriented, and short-lived response to a clearly identifiable and specific threat.
-Adapted from the Encyclopedia of Psychology and the APA Dictionary of Psychology
Anxiety is a normal part of life when it occurs on occasion. Anxiety disorders are more serious and occur more frequently. For people with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. The symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, schoolwork, and relationships.
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and various phobia-related disorders.
Criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder
When assessing for GAD, clinical professionals are looking for the following:
The presence of excessive anxiety and worry about a variety of topics, events, or activities. Worry occurs more often than not for at least six months and is clearly excessive.
The worry is experienced as very challenging to control. The worry in both adults and children may easily shift from one topic to another.
The anxiety and worry are accompanied by at least three of the following physical or cognitive symptoms (In children, only one of these symptoms is necessary for a diagnosis of GAD):
Edginess or restlessness
Tiring easily; more fatigued than usual
Impaired concentration or feeling as though the mind goes blank
Irritability (which may or may not be observable to others)
Increased muscle aches or soreness
Difficulty sleeping (due to trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, restlessness at night, or unsatisfying sleep)
source: https://www.verywellmind.com/dsm-5-criteria-for-generalized-anxiety-disorder-1393147
Panic disorders
People with panic disorder have frequent and unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear, discomfort, or sense of losing control even when there is no clear danger or trigger. Not everyone who experiences a panic attack will develop panic disorder.
During a panic attack, a person may experience:
Pounding or racing heart
Sweating
Trembling or tingling
Chest pain
Feelings of impending doom
Feelings of being out of control
People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will happen and actively try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors they associate with panic attacks. Panic attacks can occur as frequently as several times a day or as rarely as a few times a year.
source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
Social Anxiety Disorder
More than shyness, this disorder causes intense fear about social interaction, often driven by irrational worries about humiliation (e.g. saying something stupid or not knowing what to say). Someone with social anxiety disorder may not take part in conversations, contribute to class discussions or offer their ideas, and may become isolated. Panic attacks are a common reaction to anticipated or forced social interaction.
- source: https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Anxiety-Disorders
Phobia-related disorders
A phobia is an intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious in some circumstances, the fear people with phobias feel is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.
People with a phobia:
May have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared object or situation
Take active steps to avoid the feared object or situation
Experience immediate intense anxiety upon encountering the feared object or situation
Endure unavoidable objects and situations with intense anxiety
There are several types of phobias and phobia-related disorders:
Specific Phobias (sometimes called simple phobias): As the name suggests, people who have a specific phobia have an intense fear of, or feel intense anxiety about, specific types of objects or situations. Some examples of specific phobias include the fear of:
Flying
Heights
Specific animals, such as spiders, dogs, or snakes
Receiving injections
Blood
-source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
what now?
If you are concerned that you have anxiety that is impacting your normal daily functioning, consider these next steps:
Professional Counseling. seeing a professional counselor (Licensed Professional Counselor or Licensed Clinical Social Worker) can help you find the root of your anxiety which can help you better address and relieve it. Counselors can also give you coping skills to help give you immediate help while you are working through the underlying causes of your anxiety. All of our counselors at Here Comes the Sun Counseling are trained to help you with anxiety relief. Read about them here.
Holistic Nutrition. In addition to counseling, meeting with a holistic nutritionist may help. A nutritionist can help you make healthy food choices and mineral and vitamin supplements that could have a strong, positive impact on your anxiety symptoms. You can find the services our holistic nutritionist offers here.
Psychiatrist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor for mental health. A psychiatrist can prescribe medication to help ease anxiety symptoms. Typically medication works best when paired with counseling.
Resources
Take a free anxiety quiz here.
website. this anxiety website has lots of information and free quizzes.