Anxiety Disorders - Symptoms and Causes

Anxiety is a prevalent emotional response when faced with any stress. It is typical to be anxious when something is bothering you; it is your brain’s way of reacting to stressful stimuli. Normal anxiety is good, and everybody feels it in some way or the other, but when this normal anxiety turns into crippling and overwhelming fear, you need to ask for help. This group of mental illnesses can sometimes hinder your normal everyday life and prevent you from completing simple tasks like going out with friends or answering phone calls. There is a lot of stigma around anxiety disorders, and the prejudices about them make it very difficult for people suffering from anxiety disorders to get the help they need. Anxiety disorders are not limited to any specific gender or age group. They can happen to anybody, and when these people do not feel comfortable or supported enough to ask for the professional help they need, the consequences are extremely dire.

What are Anxiety Disorders?

According to a study, it is recorded that 74% and 88% of Indians reported stress and anxiety, respectively. Since the pandemic hit our world, these cases of reported anxiety have increased exponentially. People like us need to be educated on what these anxiety disorders are, what symptoms to look for, what are the causes, and what treatment can we seek to treat it and have the best life possible. 

Your life does not have to stop if you have anxiety; if you get the help you need at the right moment, you learn to live better with it or even cure it in some cases. When you've equipped yourself with anxiety management techniques, the menial things that look so difficult now won't scare you so much. It’s vital to educate yourself on what anxiety is and how to live with it. Having an anxiety disorder does not mean that something is wrong with you; it's an illness just like any other and you need to treat it with drugs and therapy just like you would treat the common cold with cough medicine. 

That feeling you get before you go on stage or have to speak publicly, the increased heart rate and heavy breathing, that’s anxiety. This feeling of anxiousness can be helpful for you; it might push you to perform better, but there’s a vast difference between normal anxiety and anxiety disorders. People suffering from anxiety disorders face sudden and extreme anxiety attacks with overwhelming fear and crippling anxiety. They face difficulty in breathing and in some cases; they might even need emergency medical help. People suffering from anxiety disorders must learn to avoid anything that might trigger their anxiety.

Types of Anxiety Disorders 

• Social Anxiety Disorder

As the name suggests, people are scared of social situations. They have this constant fear of judgment from other people.

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

There are feelings of extreme fear, nervousness, and overwhelming anxiety without any specific reason or trigger. 

• Agoraphobia 

This is a disorder where the person experiences extreme fear of being stuck in a place where they cannot escape.

• Specific Phobias 

In this disorder, the person chooses to fixate on a specific object or person and has feelings of extreme fear regarding that particular object or person. 

• Selective Mutism 

In this disorder, young children who find it challenging to speak in public don't have any difficulty talking with their family at home. 

• Medication-induced Anxiety Disorder 

When certain illegal drugs or medicines are used, their withdrawal can cause specific anxiety symptoms in a person.

• Panic Disorder 

In this disorder, the person suffering can have panic attacks due to extreme fear or nervousness. The panic attack might cause breathlessness or heart palpitations. 

• Separation Anxiety 

As the name suggests, it is a disorder in which a person worries or feels scared when somebody they are close to leaves them even for a short period. It can happen to anybody. 

Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

The most common symptom of anxiety has to overwhelming fear and nervousness. In some people, it has been noted that it is tough for them to breathe, move or stay still. Symptoms can vary according to the specific anxiety disorders you suffer from but let's look at the more common symptoms of anxiety disorders. 

• Sleeping too much or too little
• Dry mouth
• Heart palpitations
• Difficulty in breathing
• Numbness in hands and legs
• Hard to stay still
• Overthinking
• Dizziness
• Fear, panic, and overwhelming nervousness
• Hyperventilation
• Inability to concentrate
• Nausea

Causes of Anxiety Disorder

Even after years of research scientists do not have a definite reason as to why anxiety disorders happen. There is no specific proof of their reasoning, but they have narrowed down a few of the causes which might contribute to anxiety disorders. Let's discuss these in detail. 

• Inherited Genetics 

A history of mental health disorders in your family can increase your chances of developing an anxiety disorder too.

• Brain Chemistry

Sometimes faulty neurotransmitter circuits in your brain can cause anxiety disorders. The areas in the brain responsible for fear and emotions are responsible for causing anxiety disorders. 

• Drug Abuse 

Substance use and withdrawal can be responsible for various anxiety disorders. It would be correct to say that anxiety disorders and alcohol abuse goes hand in hand simultaneously. 

• Environmental Stress 

There are a lot of stress stimuli in our surroundings that can sometimes trigger or cause certain anxiety disorders. 

Risk Factors

Apart from these causes, there are a lot of risk factors that can trigger anxiety in a lot of people. These factors play a massive role in the increasing rate of people developing various anxiety disorders. Certain risk factors are not n your control and you can not change them but the ones that you can prevent are what you need to look out. 

• Trauma
• Childhood sexual abuse
• Substance abuse
• Low self-esteem
• Chronic health conditions
• History of mental health disorders

How is an Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed? 

If you know what the diagnosis process looks like, it might be a little help for you to prepare yourself if you feel like you have symptoms that look a lot like anxiety. At first, the doctor will ask you questions about your family history and run various tests to rule out any other medical condition that might be causing your symptoms. There are no specific medical tests that can detect anxiety disorders. 

If no physical ailments are causing you anxiety, then your doctor will refer you to a psychiatrist for further treatment. The psychiatrist will test further to determine the treatment plan that works best for you. They would start your treatment with psychotherapy and anxiety medication. In some cases of mild anxiety, they do not even prescribe you anxiety meds if you respond to psychotherapy well. 

Anxiety Disorder Treatment

Treatment for anxiety disorders includes some form of therapy and medication, depending on the patient and their needs. They might not even need medication if they are responding well to psychotherapy. Managing anxiety symptoms can be very easy with the right treatment plan. 

•  Psychotherapy 

Psychotherapy is a form of counseling that helps you deal with how your emotions affect your behavior. It involves talking about how you are feeling, and then your psychiatrist determines what is the root cause of your disorder and helps treat it in the best way possible. Therapy enables you to find specific stress management techniques that help manage your symptoms. 

• Anxiety Medication

Anti-anxiety medication like SSRIs and SNRIs can treat various anxiety disorders. In some instances, you might not even need the medication but if you do, ask your psychiatrist what works best for you.  

How to Manage Anxiety Disorder Symptoms? 

Once you get diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, that does not mean your life has to stop, or there’s something wrong with you. It would help if you learned to live with their anxiety disorders and live strong, healthy, and fulfilling lives. You need to learn how to manage the symptoms of your anxiety, and you could live a normal life too. There are many ways to manage your anxiety disorder symptoms; let us discuss some of them in detail. 

• Follow your treatment plan
• Avoid caffeine
• Educate yourself
• Good sleep
• Exercise
• Avoid alcohol or drug abuse
• Journal your feelings
• Think positive
• Learn to relax
• Hang out more with your friends

It is not an easy task to live with an anxiety disorder. You need to make a lot of changes and adapt to a lot of new things in your life, and the constant worry and feelings of nervousness don't help at all. It can get tiresome when your anxiety keeps you in a continuous state of alert and fear, even when there's nothing to worry about. All of this fear can lead you to self-isolate to avoid anything that might trigger your anxiety. But that’s no way to live with the right help and treatment plan, you can learn to manage your symptoms and live a healthy life. There are going to be some bad days that it is not easy to handle, but you can power through them with the support of your loved ones. Help from your family and loved ones is vital in your healing journey. 

Now that you know all about what anxiety disorders are, what causes them, what are the symptoms you need to look out for, and how to manage these symptoms, you can get help if you feel like you have any of them. Our main goal is to create a supportive environment that allows people to step forward and ask for help before it's too late. Nobody should be made feel embarrassed about a condition they are suffering from. There needs to be a lot more dialogue about mental health in general, so we can take that first step in removing the stigma around mental health disorders and make it a little easier for other people to get the help they need. Online Docs can help you overcome any kind of Anxiety Stress. Our expert team of Psychiatrists from the US and India are there to help you round the clock.