Its well understood that a million or more people across the globe are victims to Anxiety Disorders, this disorder causes fear, distress and, at worst depression, despite being relatively treatable. Among the many probable ways that people find useful in managing and treating this condition is by the use of Anxiety medications.

These Anxiety medications are very vital and useful in treating the trite and most distressing of symptoms of anxiety disorders. One of their plus factor is in reducing the effects of panic attacks and assisting people to achieve a greater degree of control over the illiness. This in turn makes handling of issues that crop up during bouts of anxiety disorder quite easy to deal with. Anxiety medication for treatment of anxiety related disorders are therefore only available under physicians prescription and non the less.

Two Category of Anxiety Medication Widely used

Physicians who prescribe anxiety medications usually have a list of generic and brand names of these drugs, to facilitate quick dispensing. The purpose of using this drugs is chiefly to contain the symptoms of anxiety disorder while other therapy forms help the patient cope with the symptoms. An example is Psychotherapy, which is more often advised for anxiety disorders, other types of therapy include relaxation techniques and many more other forms. The general idea behind this, is to provide a patient of anxiety disorder with some level of relief and calm momentarily, while offering remedies that ensure long-termed ability to cope.

Two Major class of anxiety medications include:

Anxiolytics or anti-anxiety drugs. These ones work by reducing the pressures caused by anxiety itself. They are quite effective and fast acting, popular among these are brand names like Xanax and Valium, their biggest setback though, is that they are habit forming especially when used over long periods of time. They may also have negative impact on a persons ability to stay awake over extended periods, hence result to inability to carry out necessary functions. They are therefore prescribed only for short-term use.

Another one is Antidepressants, popular among these class of anxiety medication are brand names like Paxil, Lexapro and Prozac which are widely used in the treatment of the symptoms of anxiety disorders. They are often-times prescribed together with anti-anxiety medications. These anti-depressants are commonly used for extended periods of time and are not as fast acting as anxiolytics in releasing their effect. Additional to combating anxiety related symptoms, similar medications can also help with depression. Though, this is unfortunately, a common known negative effect of anxiety disorder.

Its never easy nor comfortable to leave a life laden with anxiety disorders. Where panic attack induced fears looms large and symptoms ride high in full gear. Due to the high habit-forming potential and other long-term side effects of these drugs, they may not be the only recommended form of treatment. Their use in conjunction with other coping mechanism can greatly help people have control of their lives once more.

A lot of researches and analysis have concluded that there is a good connection between anxiety and panic attacks. The anxiety disorders can be divided into several categories. These categories are as mentioned below:

a) Generalized anxiety disorder

b) Obsessive compulsive disorder

c) Panic disorder

d) Post traumatic stress disorder

e) Social phobia

f) Specific phobia

A panic attack can be referred to as a sudden outburst of fear that can be related to one or many varied symptoms.

When it comes to causes, there are many of them that actually work towards triggering the disorder in an individual. The panic or anxiety can be associated to anything. These attacks are not just restricted to major stressful events or concerns. One can experience anxiety over a loved one, the kind of clothes to wear, a party or speaking to someone.

Panic attacks can be really terrifying. These attacks can occur anywhere, anytime without giving out a warning sign. However, these attacks are more common when you are outside home.

You can experience these attacks inside a shop, while driving a car or even when casually walking down the street. The worst part about this disease is that it can occur even while you are sleeping. This results in you waking up and that too in a state of fear that’s overwhelming.

Different people experience these panic attacks in a different way and each attack varies with the situation a person is facing at the time of attack.

When a person faces period of extreme stress, there is a possibility that the stress lead to panic as a result of natural reaction of the body to higher levels of stress. This condition is widely known as the fight or flight reaction.

Experts in the field of medical science have widely accepted this reaction as the main reason behind any panic attack that occurs in a person’s lifetime.

It is said that when a person experiences a situation that’s extremely stressful or traumatic, the body will definitely react. The situation actually triggers a chemical release into the system of the individual that eventually results into an extreme reaction to the situation.

A panic attack can also occur when the chemicals are sent into the body via reactive stressor. The body does not require these chemicals but the body comes to know that certain type of danger exists around and to which it must react to. This situation is known as panic attack.

This type of attack is usually characterized by different factors as mentioned below:

a) Overwhelming feelings of fear

b) Hopelessness

c) Increased heart rate

d) Tingling in the extremities

e) Headaches

f) Nausea

g) Extreme emotional fluctuations

h) Tightness in the chest

i) Weakness

j) Pain in the abdomen

The panic attack can start abruptly and then reach its’ peak within a period of about 10 minutes and lasts for about half an hour.

However, panic attacks can exhibit several variations. These may actually last for many hours on even up to a full day under rare circumstances. You may also feel tired and completely worn out after the attack subsides.

People vulnerable to panic attacks usually get affected by several other mental health conditions such as depression, social phobia or fear of public places most commonly referred to as agoraphobia.

Anxiety is simply excessive worry or exaggerated reaction to a triggering event. Although most people do not realize, there are various types of anxiety. If you feel that you are suffering from anxiety, you may like to have a brief learning about the different types of anxiety, including the lesser known ones. That will help you with symptom description, which in turn will help your doctor in diagnosing.

The most common forms of anxiety are generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, social phobia and other phobias, panic disorder and separation anxiety disorder. These disorders are attributed to past traumatic events or genetics, and it is rare that anxiety is brought about by no reason at all although cases like this have been reported.

Now, let’s focus on the less common forms of anxiety, and I have listed some of them below. These are all common worries that one may go through at one time or another, and often they are not perceived as disorders. However, it never means that disorders haven’t been developed from such anxieties.

1. Existential Anxiety

This type of anxiety is related to spirituality and mortality. Sigmund Freud called this type of anxiety as the “trauma of non-being”. When a person realizes that he is not immortal and will die someday, this can load him with enormous worry.

Freud believed that religion then becomes the coping mechanism so that the sufferer’s unwholesome fear of death will be minimized. This form of anxiety can be somewhat harmless and may even motivate ingenuity; but it can also be hazardous if a person starts to have strong suicidal urges because of feelings of hopelessness.

2. Boredom Anxiety

This type is fairly obvious and is brought on by extreme boredom and idleness. The person becomes totally bored of his/her present living status, and develops into anxiety for no apparent reason at all. The solution to this type of anxiety is to help the suffer find out the meaning and happiness in life, be it a hobby or love.

3. Test and Math Anxiety

There have been cases reported that tests and math are sources of anxiety. This is so because all students are expected and supposed to be able to succeed in academic study. They are trained, at a very early age, to think that academic achievement go hand in hand with self worth and that low grades are an embarrassment. This type of anxiety is usually accompanied by physical symptoms like nausea, headaches and dizziness, and can actually hinder the performance of a student. So it is important to make the students today realize that having a low grade is not an equation to the end of social importance and peer acceptance.

All forms of anxiety can possibly lead to serious anxiety disorders with severe emotional and physical symptoms. So, ignoring the initial signs of anxiety never helps in treatment. The correct way is to pinpoint the root cause of your

anxiety and seek professional help.

(c) 2008 Hailey Harris

Various Symptoms/Signs Of Anxiety Disorder

In a medical terminology, anxiety disorder usually refers to a state of nervousness or uneasiness. Anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders. It is basically defined as a critical disturbance in the mental state that can ultimately lead to chronic anxiety. It usually arises due to work pressure, highly constrained work schedules which tend to disturb the mood or behavior of a person. However, if proper anxiety treatments are not followed well in time, it can even harm the mental state of a person.

A person suffering from anxiety disorder often experiences a long-drawn-out feeling of distress or fright and discomfortness. This disorder can further create a bad impact on relationships with friends, family and the colleagues.

Various Symptoms / Signs of Anxiety disorder:

So far researchers have conducted an in-depth study to determine the precise reason for anxiety disorders. Finally, they have concluded that this trouble mainly arises due to the biological factors along with various personal situations faced by an individual. This disorder not only affects the individual’s behavior, thoughts, action, emotions but also the physical health. It is so common that individual anxiety disorder can be seen. Moreover, an individual can suffer even more than one anxiety disorder at a time. Anxiety disorder is accompanied by a series of other troubles as well including depression, substance abuse or eating disorders.

Various symptoms/signs of anxiety disorder include:

Panic Disorder: Panic disorder is basically a type of anxiety disorder. Such a type of disorder is usually experienced in the unexpected panic attacks that come along with the feeling of fear. This attack can also affect the physical health of a person, thus resulting in breathing problems, severe pain in chest, heart strokes, and fear of death as well as acute pain in the abdomen.

Agoraphobia , with or without panic disorder: This is basically a condition in which a person fails to avoid or escape from a panic attack. OCD or Obsessive ‘Compulsive Disorder: This is an uncontrollable condition in which an individual suffers from constant unnecessary thoughts, commonly termed as obsessions and compulsions (or rituals). A typical instance of obsessions includes doubtful temperament, serious concerns regarding contamination and much more. The various instances of compulsions include counting, checking and the systematic organization of things.

PTSD or Post-Traumatic stress disorder: Post-traumatic disorder is usually the consequence of a horrible or a terrific experience that might have took place in one’s life. Most often the victims of war, natural disaster or child abduction may experience this stress disorder. The general symptoms of PTSD include nightmares, rudeness in temperament, feelings of fear as well as frustrations.

Phobias:

Such an anxiety disorder is usually categorized into two groups:

Social Phobia: It is also sometimes termed as social anxiety disorder, in which a person fears to deal with social situations. Not only this, but he may also feel conscious & embarrassed to deal with gatherings and also fails to lead a normal life.

Specific Phobia: In this type of anxiety disorder, a person is often beset with unreasonable fears that are quite impossible to control. The extreme stage of specific phobia is one when a person designates his fear as illogical one. The typical instances include terror of heights, open spaces as well as the fear of flying.

GAD: An acronym GAD stands for Generalized Anxiety disorder. The general symptoms include headache, loss of fatigue & nausea. The exaggerated worries related to daily routine activities & events disorder are the main reason behind this type of anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders seem to be very prevalent in our country. Approximately 40 million Americans are reeling under the impact of anxiety ailments and the importance of right treatment cannot be overstressed. It is extremely difficult for the affected people to get through everyday life in the wake of the symptoms created by these mental disorders. To help them cope up, there are many anxiety medicines that could be used together with other treatment forms.

Anxiety and stress related disorders are usually treated with anxiety medication together with self-help techniques, therapy and support. With the combined treatment, various types of anxiety are controlled and even cured. Serious conditions like post-traumatic stress ailments can also be curtailed with following the proper regimen of anxiety medication.

Anxiety medications can be broadly classified into two types – Antidepressants and Anti-anxiety medications. Both these can strongly curtail and lessen the anxiety symptoms in people.

Antidepressants such as Paxil and Zoloft are prescribed for the long-term management of anxiety related disorders. These drugs are a little slow to work and patients must use them strictly as directed by their doctor and should follow his instructions very carefully. These are extremely beneficial with collateral cognitive and behavioral therapy.

Anti-anxiety medications exhibit a rapid effect on acute symptoms. But they are usually addictive and possess depressant effects on patients. Only short term treatments are recommended with this type of medications where urgent relief from symptoms is necessary for the patients. For lasting and overall treatment, other options are usually followed to relieve symptoms of anxiety over a long period.

Whereas anxiety medications are generally not designed to affect a cure or to put a stop to symptoms of anxiety, they control the symptoms to such an extent that the patients can take the benefit of other therapy forms as well. These other therapy forms for the anxiety disorder patients are Psychological therapy and Self-help.

Psychological therapy as the name suggests, consists of giving the patients cognitive and behavioral therapy tools to overcome their anxiety disorders. With the symptoms controlled with the help of medications, patients can concentrate on working on other long lasting techniques for keeping their anxiety symptoms at bay. More often than not, desensitization, positive thinking and many other techniques assist the patients survive the anxiety-triggering experiences.

Self-help consists of self-hypnosis, meditative therapy and relaxation techniques which assist the patients further to overcome their mental disturbances. It cannot be said that all disorders of anxiety can be cured, but most of them can be controlled with the right therapy.

Anxiety medicines do not offer a cure but they constitute a very important factor of the overall plan of treatment. When it is absolutely necessary to control the symptoms to bring a patient back on track, these medications are indispensable.

Whenever we speak about anxiety and panic attacks diets play an important role whether our condition gets better or worse, researchers say. Most patients aren’t aware that certain foods will only increase their tension, irritability and nervousness. Therefore anxiety disorders can even be prevented by choosing to eat healthy foods.

Stay away from coffee. Even if it sounds tough to give up, you should know that caffeine is the most dangerous stimulant for the nervous system that triggers anxiety and panic attacks. Therefore, you should avoid coffee, tea, pop, energy drinks and chocolate, they all contain caffeine.

Eat less sugar. Try to avoid white refined sugar as much as possible, instead consume brown sugar. When eating sugars our blood circulation speed increases and you become more nervous. By avoiding sugar you will decrease your overall levels of anxiety and prevent future panic attacks.

White flour. Generally speaking foods containing white flour also increase your blood sugar levels and again your chance to have a panic attack is tremendously increased.

Avoid processed foods. Processed foods include canned, frozen, refrigerated, dehydrated and aseptic processed products, so they aren’t just what you pick up at the drive thru. The only reason processed foods should be avoided is mainly because producers use a variety of unhealthy chemicals while they process such foods. (There are more than 6000 actually).

Stay away from alcohol. Most patients suffering from anxiety and panic attacks might be tempted to start consuming alcohol drinks. This is very common, but alcohol should only be consumed in light moderation and only on very rare occasions or not at all.

These are only a few of the many things you can do to avoid when dealing with anxiety and panic. If you really want to cure anxiety and panic attacks then you need to arm yourself with all the knowledge you can to fight them. It will cost you a small amount of money, but your health is well worth it.

pression and anxiety disorder head on with anxiety therapy.

People who may be suffering from depression, anxiety disorder or manic disorders actually exhibit or show every kind of symptom of depression that doctors will tell you that depressed people have.

We\’ve heard about anxiety disorder often enough, yet are we really sure that we know enough about it for us to actually understand this illness in order for us to help ourselves as well as others? 5 percent of the American population actually suffer from this illness, however, not all of them get to be treated, thus, anxiety and its ill-effects continue to be a burden to some individuals.

Anxiety depression shouldn\’t be something that people fear, instead, people should just start taking charge of their lives and actually face Anxiety depression and fight it. Life is too beautiful a gift to waste and if one will spend the majority of his or her life just moping around about every single little thing then what kind of life would that be?

Anxiety can often change an individual\’s sunny disposition into a person who hates his or herself, have no self-confidence, trying to isolate one\’s self from the world and basically just not caring about life any more. More so, a person suffering from anxiety isn\’t the only one who\’s going to suffer from this destructive illness, his or her loved ones are sure to follow suit.

Anxiety shouldn\’t really pose a problem in the long run as people who suffer from depression these days are actually fortunate that there are lots anxiety therapy treatments that can be used to aid and help an individual to get well again Prolonged period of sadness or not feeling “up to it,” people who are always feeling not in the mood, who\’d rather mope around the house and feel sorry for them selves is the best example of symptoms of Anxiety depression.

Take for example generalized anxiety disorder or GAD, this kind of anxiety disorder is a lot more complicated than the average depression, in spite of possibly being a day-to-day habit for those who suffer this kind of Depression and anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder actually makes the individual quite more paranoid than usual, anxiety attacks are more frequent, even absurd at times. Some people do not mind the side effects from Depression and anxiety therapy medication, however it can become to much of a problem and can end up ruining one\’s ability to function properly, it\’s best to go to your doctor and report the side-effects as soon as possible.

You should always consult a professional therapist who\’ll help give you the anxiety therapy that is needed to help with Depression and anxiety disorder. Sometime prescribed medicines may be needed to help with the grapple with against Anxiety depression attacks.

Some people don’t know that they are actually suffering from social anxiety disorder. Here is a quick self-test to help you understand your symptoms.

Anxiety disorder is described as excessive anxiety and worry about several events or activities. Unlike the rather mild and brief anxiety caused by a stressful event, anxiety disorders last at least six months and may worsen if they are not getting immediate treatment.

Anxiety disorders usually occur along with other mental or physical illnesses, such as drug abuse and alcohol abuse, which may perhaps mask the anxiety symptoms or make them worse. There are several types of anxiety disorders and one of them is social anxiety disorder or social phobia.

Social anxiety disorder is diagnosed if you become tremendously anxious and extremely uncomfortable in everyday social situations. It is understood as extreme fear in the aspect of social interaction. They can worry for days or weeks even before the dreaded situation.

This anxiety may become so severe that it may affect daily activities. Social anxiety is a medically recognized disorder that harshly hinders the value of life. People with social phobia have an intense, persistent, and constant fear of being watched and judged by others.

Various causes are suspected, especially in the combination of genetic composition, early growth and development, and later life experience. These causes are categorized into the following:

Genetic disposition: it is possible that child of one or both shy parents may inherit genetic code that amplifies shyness into social anxiety disorder.

Ethology: averting the gaze is very usual with social anxiety disorder.

Development: social anxiety emerges at different developmental stages. Solitude becomes more important as anxiety about physical looks and performance in school increases. We also know that traumatic stressful events in life occurring at an early developmental stage may increase the risk of social anxiety disorder.

Chemical disorder in the brain: people with anxiety disorder may have abnormalities in the functioning of some parts of their anxiety response system. The anxiety system is influenced by four areas of the human brain namely; the brain system (cardiovascular and respiratory functions), limbic system (mood and anxiety), prefrontal cortex (appraisals of risk and danger), and motor cortex (control of muscles).

There are people with social phobia who realize that their fears about being with people are overwhelming and irrational, but they find it difficult to overcome them. If they are able to confront their fears and be around with others, they are usually very worried ahead of time, and extremely uncomfortable throughout the whole encounter, and worry about how they were judged the whole time afterwards. But, this illness is curable with certain kinds of psychotherapy or medications.

The physical symptoms that usually accompany social anxiety disorder include, blushing, too much sweating, trembling, nausea, and difficulty talking. When these symptoms occur, people with social anxiety disorder usually fell as though all eyes are focused only to them.

The next time we see someone from a party or any social functions and we someone looking uncomfortable, we should not pay more attention to them like we usually do. For all we know, that person might be struggling deep inside trying to overcome his or her fear.

Because people are different anxiety disorder symptoms may vary from person to person. Worry, fear, and anxiety are a normal part of our life. Have you experienced feeling anxious before taking an exam and later find out that you got a higher result more than what you’ve expected?

Or, feeling anxious for a job interview and ended up getting hired, or feeling frightened walking down an alley where bad things often happened? Normal anxiety helps us cope in any stressful situation, it also keeps us watchful.

Mental health professional are not concerned with normal anxiety. But, if your anxiety suddenly occur without apparent reason and lasts for weeks to months and happens in most days than not, that is another issue. If anxiety persists in most days than not, and takes longer than six months, it has become an immobilizing disorder.

An anxiety disorder is a recurring and excessive anxiety and worry about events or activities without logical reasons at all lasting for more than six moths and it is interfering with everyday activities, such as going to work, and socializing. A person experiencing anxiety condition finds it difficult to control the feelings of worry and fear. The thing about people with anxiety disorder is that they actually know that what they think of feel is not real and that they are just made-up.

The common anxiety disorders are Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, Agoraphobia, Specific Phobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and Selective Mutism.

A person with anxiety condition may suffer different anxiety disorder symptoms. And because no two individuals are the same, the anxiety disorder symptoms may vary from one person to the other.

The physical symptoms of anxiety disorder are cause by brain sending messages to parts of the body to prepare for the flight to fight response. The lungs, heart, and other parts of the body work faster and the brain releases stress hormones, including adrenaline, and that explains that physical symptoms.

Anxiety disorder symptoms may experience physically can include but not limited to:

Abdominal discomfort

Diarrhea

Dry mouth

Rapid heartbeat or palpitations

Tightness or pain in chest

Shortness of breath

Dizziness

Frequent urination

Difficulty swallowing

Anxiety disorder symptoms may experience psychologically can include:

Insomnia

Irritability

Inability to concentrate

Fear of going crazy or dying

Feeling unreal and not in control of your behavior

There are several types of anxiety disorders and sometimes they are associated with physical problem such alcohol and drug abuse. Anxiety is the main symptoms of other mental illness called anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorder symptoms may differ from the symptoms of other anxiety disorders, but all the symptoms cluster around excessive, irrational fear and dread.

For people with anxiety condition, cheer up! Your world does not stop there because there is cure for anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are curable and there are two types of treatments available for anxiety disorder- medication and psychotherapy. But, it is said that the proven most effective way to treat anxiety sufferers is psychotherapy.

Generalized anxiety disorder is diagnosed if symptoms are present in most days than not for more than six moths.

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the common anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are the term covering several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fear, phobia and nervous condition, which may come on all of a sudden or gradually, over a period of several years and may impair or prevent the pursuing of normal daily routines.

The essential characteristic of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is excessive uncontrollable worry about everyday things. This constant worry affects daily functioning and can cause physical symptoms. GAD is usually difficult to diagnose for it lacks some of the dramatic symptoms, like unprovoked panic attacks, that are seen with other anxiety disorders. To be able to diagnose Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms must be present more days than not for at least 6 months.

The diagnostic criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms are:

- Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehension), occurring more days than not for a period of at least 6 months, about numerous events or activities.

-The person with GAD finds it hard to control the worry.

-The anxiety and worry are associated with three or more of the following six symptoms, with at least some symptoms are present for more than 6 months in most days than not (at least one is required for children):

-restlessness or feeling tense or on the edge

-easily fatigued

-difficulty concentrating or mind going blank

-irritability

-muscle tension and muscle aches

-difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep

-difficulty swallowing -trembling, sweating

-nausea, light-headedness

-feeling out of breath

The focus of anxiety and worry is not limited to, or the anxiety or worry is not about having a panic attack, being embarrassed in the public, being contaminated, gaining weight, having multiple physical complaints, or having a serious illness, and the anxiety, and worry do not occur exclusively during post traumatic disorder.

The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of everyday activities.

The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effect of substance, such as alcohol and drug abuse, or medical condition, and does not occur exclusively during a mood disorder, a psychotic disorder, or a pervasive developmental disorder.

When the anxiety level of people with GAD is mild, they can still function socially and keep a job. Even if they don’t avoid certain situations as a result of their disorder, they may have difficulty doing the simplest daily activities if there anxiety is severe. The disorder comes on gradually and can begin at any age, but the risk is highest between childhood and middle age.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is commonly treated with medication or cognitive-behavioral therapy. Several drugs are used to treat anxiety disorders and these include: benzodiazepines and antidepressants, and Quetiapine.