Anxiety Disorders Essays Example

Introduction

Anxiety disorder (generalized anxiety disorder) is a mental disorder characterized by sustained overall anxiety, not related to a particular object or situation. Often it is accompanied by complaints of constant nervousness, trembling, muscle tension, sweating, palpitations, dizziness and discomfort in the solar plexus. It can often present a fear of illness or accident, which applies to themselves and / or loved ones, as well as a variety of other excitement and apprehension. It is more common for women and in many cases associated with chronic environmental stress (Craske, M., 1999).

In obsolete classifier ICD-9 anxiety disorder corresponds to a common diagnosis - Anxiety disorder.

Body
Normal anxiety is when a person experiences anxiety in various situations that can occur in any person's life are important to him and he makes an effort to achieve the desired result for him. Examples: interviews, exams, marriage, participation in negotiations or speeches, pregnancy and childbirth, creating their own business, a great buy (apartment, car), lack of knowledge of how to solve an important question, other.
Inflated anxiety or anxiety disorder is anxiety about the outcome of events in the future, fear of an uncertain future, the expectation of adverse events. Examples will be different everyday situations, as well as all the same situation as described above, but the alarm will appear for some time before the event, from several hours to days and weeks.
There are different approaches to determine the concept of “anxiety disorder”. Psychoanalytic theory views anxiety as a signal the emergence of unacceptable taboo needs, or pulse (violent or sexual) that encourage individual unconsciously prevent their expression. Symptoms of anxiety are treated as incomplete containment ('repression') unacceptable needs. From the standpoint of behaviorism, anxiety and, in particular phobia initially appear as a conditioned reflex reaction to painful or frightening stimuli. Later alarming reaction can occur without the stimulus. Later appeared cognitive psychology focuses on erroneous and distorted mental images, preceding the appearance of symptoms of anxiety. For example, patients with panic disorder may be an exaggerated response to normal bodily sensations (such as slight dizziness or palpitations), which leads to increased fear and anxiety of growing up to a panic attack. Biological theories treat anxiety disorders as a consequence of biological abnormalities linking them, in particular, with an appreciable increase in the production of neurotransmitters (Baldwin, M., 1994).
Modern psychologists figure out six major types of anxiety disorders, each characterized by its own different from other symptoms: Generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder (panic attacks), phobia (phobic disorders), post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder (social phobia).
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a constant anxiety, restlessness, fear that prevent you live a normal life, constantly present to distract from daily responsibilities, work, study and personal relationships, or do you ever present sense of what can happen something bad. People who have seen generalized anxiety disorder, almost all the time feel anxious; in some cases they do not even know the reasons for this alarm. Very often the anxiety associated with GAD, manifested in physical symptoms, such as insomnia, indigestion, fatigue and others. Generalized anxiety disorder usually begins in childhood or adolescence, but can also occur at a young age. GAD occurs in 3-5% of the population. Women are 2 times more susceptible than men. In most cases the severity of the disorder varies periodically, occasionally compounded, particularly if there is a stressful situation. Often manifestations of the disorder persist for many years. Alarm condition (treatment) is so strong that it is difficult to control. In addition, experts note a few symptoms: fatigue, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, muscle tension, irritability.
Panic disorder is recurrent, unexpected panic attacks (PA), fear of another panic attack. Also, people who are diagnosed with Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia may be present. Agoraphobia - fear of man be in places or situations where it is impossible to quickly leave this place immediately or get emergency care, such as big supermarkets (malls), subways, concerts, airplanes, taxis, subways and many others (Dagliesh, T., 2004).
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is undesirable, bringing discomfort, anxiety, intrusive thoughts (ideas) and / or compulsions (enforcement actions) that cannot be stopped or controlled. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by intrusive thoughts that you do not turn off the iron, forgot to close the door, can cause harm to someone or yourself, obsessive thoughts about molesting a child and so on. A person can check whether he closed the door, hiding sharp objects out of reach, many times to wash your hands, wash clothes or wash the dishes and much more.
A phobia is a surreal exaggerated fear of certain objects, places, situations that in reality, almost do not bear danger, or the danger is negligible. Examples of phobias are: fear / phobia of spiders (arachnophobia), fear / fear of heights (acrophobia), fear / fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), fear / phobia of blood (Blood phobia / Gematophobia) and many others. If the phobia is a very strong person can take all possible measures to avoid a collision with an object or a phobia avoid falling into place or situation that causes a phobia. Attempts to avoid phobias only reinforces the fear that a person experiences.
Social anxiety disorder is irrational exaggerated fear that other people can evaluate you negatively, or you can disgraced in public, also known as social phobia. Social anxiety disorder may manifest as extreme shyness, timidity. In severe cases, a person tries to completely avoid social places and situations, to the point that it ceases to go out. The most common type of social phobia is the fear of a live audience (Hoffman S.G., 2003).
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that occurs as a result of trauma or life-threatening events. PTSD can be represented as panic attacks, which are rarely or even never weaken. It appears as memories and / or nightmares about the event that occurred, reinforced vigilance, distance from others and avoiding situations that remind about the event.
Anxiety disorder is very widespread frustration with more complex symptoms. Fortunately, over the past twenty years the treatment of anxiety disorders has been greatly improved. Advances in cognitive-behavioral therapy led to the development of a new approach in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy allows detecting and eradicating human disturbing thoughts, irrational beliefs, thought patterns that fuel anxiety. Treatment of people diagnosed with anxiety disorder, usually takes 5 to 20 weekly sessions, with homework between sessions, it helps streamline and consolidate the process of treatment (Alden, L., 1998).
Treatment of anxiety disorders also carried out using the method hypnosuggestive therapy (hypnosis and suggestion). Hypnosis allows you to assign a person new behavior, thinking and beliefs are not only at the level of consciousness, but also at the level of the unconscious. This is significantly reduces the duration of treatment.
The exact causes of GAD are not defined. But, as shown by numerous studies, GAD and constant anxiety, which treatment should be done only under medical supervision, due to a combination of environmental, genetic and psychological factors.

There are some factors that increase the risk of anxiety disorders:

Female gender.
Family members with an anxiety disorder.
Low self-esteem.
Exposure to stress.
Smoking or abuse of other substances harmful to the body.
Used in the treatment of therapy, which teaches how to get rid of and forget the constant feeling of anxiety. Treatment includes several types of therapy, including learning relaxation techniques, changes in the patient's way of thinking, learning ways to relax, control anxiety. Science is not yet known how to prevent GTS, neurosis, anxiety. Treatment of these diseases at an early stage helps to reduce the risk of severe psychological complications. Some studies suggest that the systematic exercise helps to reduce the symptoms of GAD.

Conclusion

There are some tips that can help people feel more relaxed:
Balance the food - try to eat the right foods, do not make long breaks between meals, it's better to be smaller portions. Long break in making food lead to a lowering of blood sugar levels, which can amplify the alarm.

Reduce the use of alcohol and nicotine - these substances lead to increased anxiety.

Get regular exercise - exercise is a natural way to reduce anxiety. To obtain good results, do aerobic exercise for 30 minutes at least 4 days a week.
Enough sleep - lack of sleep can worsen the thoughts and feelings that cause anxiety. Try to sleep 7-9 hours a day

References

Alden, L. E., & Bieling, P. J. (1998). Interpersonal consequences of the pursuit of safety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 53 – 65.
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders (3rd edition). Washington DC: Author.
Baldwin, M. W. (1994). Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 461 – 484.
Craske, M. G. (1999). Anxiety disorders: Psychological approaches to theory and treatment. Boulder, CO7 Westview Press.
Duggan, D. G., & Brennan, K. A. (1994). Social avoidance and its relation to Bartholomew’s adult attachment typology. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11, 147 – 153.
Dagliesh, T. (2004). Cognitive Approaches to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Evolution of Multirepresentational Theorizing. Psychological Bulleting, Vol. 130, No. 2, 228-260.
Hoffman S.G. (2003). The nature and expression of social phobia: Toward a new classification. Clinical Psychology Review 24, p. 769-797.