Definition of Anxiety Disorders Essay Example

preparing to perfect an action but also dangerous if it impairs an individual’s ability to exploit their potential at given situations. Unfortunately, extreme anxiety can result to panic and other mental discomforts which becomes a disorder at the long-run. It is important to note that the anxiety disorder can be diagnosed in its diversity as there are several types of anxiety disorders with unique symptom profile. They include the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) which makes victims excessively worried and tense even when there is little reason to provoke their anxiety. The panic disorder makes people have sudden feelings of terror that strike them repeated without warning, the obsessive compulsive disorder also known as anxiety attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia is also known as the social anxiety disorder which demands different treatment and self-help skills to resume normalcy, (Nevid, 494).

Symptoms of the Disorder

The symptoms of the disorder vary from one person to the other. Some become intensively anxious which stimulates uneasiness, fear and panic. People with any anxiety disorder are also prone to exhibit problems in sleeping, their hand and feel often become sweaty or cold. It is also possible for them to experience shortness in breath, heart palpitations; they are always unable to be still and calm. It is common for people with anxiety disorders to have their mouth dry, nausea; their muscles experience rapid tension and also dizziness that makes them feel faint, woozy and weak. Other victims of the disease are prone to cases of fatigue, exaggerated startle responses, motor restlessness and numbness in the feet and arms. Ideally, the symptoms revolve around cognitive, emotional, behavioral and physical features which can be

analyzed to affirm where one is suffering from anxiety disease, (Hyman, 32)

Anxiety Disorders Epidemiology and Prevalence

Epidemiological research record that anxiety disorders are highly prevalent hence constituting the most frequent mental disorders in affected communities. Phobias hold the highest rates and agoraphobia followed by generalized anxiety disorders. Panic disorders are less likely to affect people as compared to phobias. The research encourages the need to be accurate in evaluating a given anxiety disorders in order for applying the most appropriate treatment procedures. It is important to note that the disorder is more likely to affect divorced, separated and widowed people, especially between their 25th-44th years. The lowest subject for anxiety disorders is aged 65 years and above.
Anxiety disorders are among the most commonly known psychologically related disorders in America affecting one person in every five adults victimizing approximately forty million people, (Nevid, 494). Certainly, empirical research has affirmed that the anxiety disorders can affect all people irrespective of their age. That is, young children, adolescents and adults are potential victims of anxiety disorders, (Ollendick, 193)

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

The main causes of the anxiety disorder have been associated with environmental stress and changes in the brain. To be specific, sleep deprivation and chronic stress can increase the chances of developing anxiety disorders, (Daitch, 29). Illnesses and activities that can affect the functionality of brain circuits responsible for fear regulation and emotional control can be mammoth causative factors to anxiety disorders. Some of the prerequisite causes are long lasting stress which can affect how nerve cells transmit information one region to another at the face of stimulation.

The effects of anxiety disorders can worsen if not treated hence affect

brain structures responsible for memory control due to extreme tension. Children born of parents with this condition have higher chances of being victims of the same. This clearly illustrates that genetic factors increase one’s chances of having anxiety disorders. Moreover, environmental factors like traumatic events have been accused of triggering anxiety disorders especially within people who have an inherited susceptibility to being victims of the disorder.

Psychological and Medical Treatments

Psychological treatment is the genesis of the most ultimate solutions to people with anxiety disorders. It involves a professional interaction between a trained mental practitioner and a victim where the professional interrogates the person about their experience and thereafter advise them on the best measure to adopt towards reducing the symptoms and the impacts of the condition. Among the procedures involved by the professionals include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) during which they help victims learn to recognize their situation and change their thinking patterns which eventually changes their behaviors with regard to troublesome feelings resulting from anxiety disorders, (Petersen et al, 5).

Other treatments are focused on changing the dietary and lifestyles of clients with anxiety disorders. To control and lessen the symptoms, victims are advised to reduce their consumption of caffeinated products such as coffee, tea, energy drinks, cola and chocolate. Victims should consult their doctors and pharmacist about the medicines and herbal remedies they take as most of them have chemicals that escalate anxiety symptoms. It’s also advisable for people who start experiencing the symptoms as early detection of the disorder can reduce the impacts which may be experienced in the wrong run.

Medical Treatment

Antidepressants are among the drugs used by doctors to reduce the impact and

symptoms of anxiety disorders. Others drugs include particular anticonvulsant medicines, low dose antipsychotics and anxiety reducing drugs. Antipsychotics drugs are applied to victims who are highly agitated as a result of anxiety. Other drugs used to combat anxiety disorders are beta blockers which are often used in high blood pressure treatment, antihistamines used to treat allergies are competent in lessening anxiety, (Nydegger, 109). Benzodiazepines like lorazepam are helpful in the treatment of anxiety disorders, (Aschenbrenner et al, 278). A proper integration of medical and psychological treatments has been credited as the most ultimate measures used to reduce disability resulting from anxiety disorders.

Long-term Prognoses of Anxiety Disorders

The conditions affect people differently, no doubt about that. Some may require long-term pharmacological concern in terms of treatment. Early diagnosis and treatment reduce odds of relapse which could be generated by the disorder at later stages. It is undeniable that anxiety disorders can have long-term effects on the economic condition of people with the disease. It is also factual that anxiety disorders can affect the adrenal system in the long-run which will eventually mediate other physiological effects of stress on the victims. The consequences of the effects have been associated with pain especially at the back and other joints. Anxiety disorders can thus be the genesis of other conditions like ulcers, gastrointestinal illnesses; cardiovascular conditions like coronary heart diseases and arthritis should it persist without any treatment.

Conclusion

Anxiety disorders make people exhibit irrational and excessive fear related to given situations and objects. People who are victims of social anxiety disorders usually have an intense fear of social interactions. For instance, it is hard for them to give a speech or

presentations in class despite having made preparations to do so as the audience intrudes their normal functioning. Some people anxiety may be related to heights which are known as acrophobia, enclosed places like lifts referred to as claustrophobia and agoraphobia for open places. People with anxiety are constantly alert to stimuli that can be threatening. Finally, genetic makeup is among the factors that have greater chances of affecting underlying brain circuitry with regard to the body’s response to threatening stimuli that escalate once chances to be the anxious hence development of anxious related diseases.

Works Cited

1. Aschenbrenner, Diane S, and Samantha J. Venable. Drug Therapy in Nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. Print.
2. Daitch, Carolyn. Anxiety Disorders: The Go-to Guide for Clients and Therapists. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
3. Hyman, Bruce M, and Cherry Pedrick. Anxiety Disorders. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2012. Internet resource.
4. Nevid, Jeffrey S. Essentials of Psychology: Concepts and Applications. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2006. Print.
5. Nydegger, Rudy V. Dealing with Anxiety and Related Disorders: Understanding, Coping, and Prevention. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2012. Print.
6. Ollendick, Thomas H, Neville J. King, and William Yule. International Handbook of Phobic and Anxiety Disorders in Children and
7. Adolescents. New York: Plenum Press, 2013. Internet resource.
8. Petersen, Timothy J, Susan E. Sprich, and Sabine Wilhelm. The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. , 2016. Internet resource.