Anxiety Disorder

 
Want to know about Anxiety Disorder?

It is the most common of neurotic pattern. Anxiety is usually defined as unpleasant feelings of fear and apprehension. The anxious person worries a lot particularly about unknown dangers that may lie ahead e.g. mothers who worries constantly about her child’s safety is afraid of number of accidents. Anxiety neuroses includes inability to concentrate, difficult in making decisions, extreme sensitivity, discouragement, sleep disturbances and excessive sweating.

Types of anxiety disorders include:

1. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

2. Panic disorder

3. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) or social phobia

4. Obsessive compulsive disorder

5. Post-traumatic stress disorder

6. Specific phobias, like arachnophobia

Clinical Picture of Anxiety:

The anxious people lies in a constant worry and uneasiness. He is over sensitive in interpersonal relationships and depressed. Complains and muscular pain in neck and upper shoulder region, sleep disturbances, nightmare and heart palpation. Fears and fantasies combined with general sensitivity which keeps them upset, uneasy and discouraged anxiety involves 3 basic components.

1.       Subjective reports of tension, apprehension, sense of impending danger and expectation of inability cope.

2.       Behavioral responses such as avoidance of situation at hand impaired speech and motor functioning and impaired performance on complex cognitive tasks.

3.       Physiological responses including muscle tension, increased heart rate, and blood pressure, rapid breathing, dry mouth, nausea, diarrhea and frequent urination.

Common anxiety symptoms:    

                    

1.      Dizziness

2.      Sweating

3.      Trembling

4.      Nervousness

5.      Tension

6.      Feeling tired

7.      Frequency of urination

8.       Heart palpitation

9.       Feeling faint

10.  Breathlessness

11.   Worry and apprehension

12.  Sleeplessness

13.   Difficulties in concentration

              

 Often someone with Anxiety disorder meets the diagnostic criteria for another disorder as well, this situation is known as comorbidity .

What are the Causal factors of Anxiety?

1. Anxiety defense:

It is the fundamental concept of psycho-dynamic theory that anxiety is at the roof of neurosis. Psycho-dynamic theorist believe that anxiety is experienced by the ego when there are excessive environment demands or when there is tension within id-ego superego system. They base this interpretation on clinical observation and inferences. Threat stemming from internal or external sources elicit intense anxiety this anxiety in terns leads to exaggerated use of various ego-defense mechanism and to mal-adaptive behavior.

2. Faulty learning:

According to learning theorist anxiety is a learned or acquired response, a symptom created by environmental condition, often within none. Learning theorist believe that the symptoms of anxiety disorders are learned in the same way that all other behaviors are learned. Faulty learning is seen in the typical failure of neurotic individuals to learn the competencies and attitude needed for dealing with normal life problems.

3. Block personal growth:

If individual main efforts are devoted be simply trying to meet basic need, rather than to personal growth and development. According to humanistic perspective such as life style can ultimately bring feeling of anxiety, lack of meaning and block personal growth brings feeling of anxiety.

4. Pathogenic interpersonal relationships:

Certain interactions within families and other relationships can set stage for children to develop neurotic life style in later life e.g. parents who over protect and indulge their children may prevent them from developing them independent, effective coping techniques required in their  adult years.

5. Biological perspective:

People whose nervous system are particularly sensitive to stimulation seen more likely to experience severe anxiety. Evidence also shows that anxiety disorder tends to run in a families. About 15% of parents and siblings of people with anxiety disorders are similarly affected.

How are the anxiety disorders diagnosed?

If symptoms are present, the doctor will begin with an evaluation of a complete medical history and physical examination specially the onset of the symptoms.

Although there are no laboratory tests to specifically diagnose anxiety disorders, although the doctor might use various diagnostic tests to rule out physical illness as the cause of the symptoms.

If there is no prominent physical illness appears, then person might be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist, mental health professionals who are specially trained to diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Psychiatrists and psychologists use specifically well-designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a person for an anxiety disorder. The doctor bases his or her diagnosis on the patient's report of the intensity and duration of symptoms — including any problems with daily functioning caused by the symptoms — and the doctor's observation of the patient's behavior and attitude. The doctor then determines if the patient's symptoms and degree of dysfunction indicate a specific anxiety disorder. The standard reference manual used for the diagnosis of recognized mental illnesses in the United States is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association.

What are the Treatments of Anxiety Disorder?

Drug therapy and psychotherapy used for treatment of anxiety disorder.

1.      Drug therapy:

Tranquilizing drugs are the most common somatic therapy used to relieve anxiety. The group of drugs called Benzodiazepines marketed under the trade mane of Librium and Valium are used for treatment of anxiety and tension.

2.      Psychotherapy:

Psychoanalytic uses two basic techniques for the treatment of anxiety neurosis:

 Free association

Dream interpretation

Behaviorist use systematic desensitization and implosive therapy. Implosive therapy based on the belief that many conditions including anxiety disorders are out growth of painful prior experiences and that to unlearn them, the original situation must be recreated so that it can be experienced without pain and thus lead to anxiety reduction.

3.      Gestalt therapy:

Empty chair techniques (empty chair and a personal). Behind the screen therapist is present. Patient addresses the empty chair.

Humanistic use client centered therapy (re-building the damaged).

Natural remedies are used for the treatment of anxiety:

To change Lifestyle can be an effective way to relive some of the stress and anxiety that you may cope with every day. Most of the natural “remedies” consist of caring for your body, to participate in healthy activities, and to eliminate unhealthy ones.

These include:

1. Eating healthy and nutritious food

2. Do exercise daily and be active

3. Getting enough sleep

4. Avoiding alcohol and consuming products containing caffeine

5. Quitting smoking cigarettes

6.  Meditation

The outlook for people with anxiety disorders:

Early diagnosis and treatment can limit the problems caused by an anxiety disorder and help to improve the outlook. Unfortunately, many anxiety disorders are not recognized and, as a result, remain untreated.