Anxiety Disorders - Types, Symptoms, Causes & Treatments

Experiencing occasional fear or anxiety is normal in life. However, when anxiety goes beyond the idea of being a temporary phenomenon, it leads to anxiety disorders. The causes of these disorders include genetic and external factors. An effective cure for the disorder is available, seeking the right treatment at the right time.

Keep reading to learn more about this disorder and other details.

What are Anxiety Disorders?

These disorders are characterised by repeated episodes of feelings of sudden anxiety, which is intense, and the fear peaks immediately. In addition, people with these disorders experience intense and persistent fear in everyday living.

These feelings of panic interfere with a person's daily functioning and can substantially threaten overall well-being. The initial symptoms are witnessed during childhood or teenage years and continue into adulthood.

What Are the Different Types of Anxiety Disorders?

There are various types of anxiety disorders. These are:

Agoraphobia: The anxiety disorder type is one in which you avoid going to places, fearing mishaps and causing panic. In this kind of anxiety disorder, you may feel helpless, embarrassed, and trapped.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder: The disorder includes excessive and persistent anxiety and worrying about activities and events which are ordinary and part of the routine. The worry is unbounded and affects you physically. It can coexist with other anxiety disorders or even depression.
Anxiety Disorder Due to a Medical Condition: This type of anxiety disorder includes symptoms of extreme panic or fear that are caused and related to physical health conditions. It causes intense anxiety in situations and escalates rapidly.
Panic Disorder: This disorder involves repeated episodes of sudden onset of extreme anxiety, which reaches a high within minutes. This condition is even referred to as panic attacks. You may experience chest pain, a rapid pounding heart, shortness of breath, and may feel very low.
Separation Anxiety Disorder: It is a childhood disorder that involves an excess of anxiety which affects the child's development. This anxiety occurs due to separation from parents or figures that play parental roles.
Selective Mutism: This disorder involves a constant failure of speech in children in situations such as school interactions or events. They, however, can generally speak at home, with close people around them.
Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia): The disorder includes anxiety arising in a social setup with the feeling of being judged negatively. In addition, it includes feelings of extreme embarrassment and self-consciousness, which lead to avoiding social situations.
Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder: This condition is caused by the misuse of drugs and even from its withdrawal. Moreover, taking medication and exposure to toxic substances leads to rising anxiety and panic symptoms that directly cater to the disorder.
Specific Phobias: The disorder is characterised by an onset of intense panic or anxiety when exposed to particular objects or situations and a rising desire to avoid such things and happenings. Such phobias even provoke panic attacks in some people.
Other Specified Anxiety Disorders and Unspecified Anxiety Disorders: These disorders do not fall into one specific anxiety disorder type. However, these disorders are substantially disruptive and disturbing. In addition, the disorders include phobias which do not fit into any of the criteria of any known anxiety disorder.

What Are the Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders?

This condition is difficult to control and is out of proportion compared to the actual threat or danger that may appear. The anxiety lasts for a long time with accompanying physical trouble. Here are some of the signs and symptoms of this condition:

A person suddenly senses impending danger, doom, and panic.
Facing trouble while thinking about anything else, preoccupied with the current worry.
Feeling extremely restless, tense, and nervous.
Breathing fast or hyperventilating.
A rapid increase in heart rate.
Sweating and trembling with accompanying tiredness.
Facing trouble while sleeping.
Having difficulty in controlling panic or worry.
Facing gastrointestinal problems.
Avoiding circumstances or things that act as triggers for anxiety.

What Are the Causes of Anxiety Disorders?

Researchers are of the view that no specific cause caters to the disorder. However, the following causes may lead to the disorders:

Genes are a significant cause of the disorder. It runs in the family.
Environmental stress and related events connected to your upbringing with experiences of neglect, abuse, or separation cater to the disorder.
Faulty circuits of the brain that control emotions and fear even cause these disorders

What Are the Risk Factors for Anxiety Disorders?

Several factors can increase the severity of the symptoms of anxiety. Here is a list of 5 risk factors that worsen the conditions:

A physical condition such as thyroid disorder is a major risk factor that results in drastic mood swings.
Negative and emotionally draining events in life increase the risk of anxiety.
Lack of self-esteem in a person may lead to heightened anxiety.
This may be genetic, and people having ancestors with anxiety disorders may suffer from the problem.
Drug abuse and/or alcohol abuse can lead to or worsen the case of anxiety disorder in people.

How to Diagnose Anxiety Disorders?

You can initiate treatment for the disorder by consulting a primary healthcare professional. First, a thorough examination of your physical conditions may help determine the underlying causes of anxiety. Next, the physician may refer you to a mental health care expert for further treatment. He/she will perform the following processes to diagnose anxiety disorders:

Psychological Analysis: Performing a psychological analysis where both discuss the patient's behavioural patterns. The condition is even prevalent, along with other mental health conditions such as depression. Hence, diagnosing the disorder is challenging to a certain extent and needs thorough analysis.
Comparison of Symptoms: Symptoms witnessed in the patient are compared to the existing records of symptoms witnessed in similar patients over the years. This comparative analysis helps with the appropriate diagnosis of the condition by providing the right treatment.

How to Treat Anxiety Disorders?

The disorder has effective cures available. The treatment of the condition includes the following ways:

Psychotherapy: The therapy includes speech therapy and working with a psychological counsellor to discuss your behavioural traits and symptoms relating to the disorder. This process helps find out a resolution to change the patterns of thought. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective forms of psychotherapy to treat disorders relating to anxiety.
Medications: Mental healthcare professionals may prescribe certain medications that may help relieve symptoms of the disorder to a noticeable extent. For example, anti-anxiety medications such as buspirone, sedatives such as benzodiazepines or beta-blockers, and anti-anxiety medications are prescribed depending on the severity of the condition with accompanying ailments.

When to See a Doctor?

Visit a doctor if the aforesaid symptoms appear in a person. However, early signs that you need to consider to refer to a doctor immediately include the following:

Worrying unnecessarily about things persistently results in a rapid increase in heartbeat, leading to sweating, weakness, and depression.
Nurturing suicidal thoughts and indulging in self-harm.

How to Manage and Prevent Anxiety Disorders?

It is necessary to consider the following four helpful factors to help manage and prevent the disorder with accompanying therapy and medications:

Have a healthy diet, exercise sufficiently, and sleep well.
Avoid indulgence in alcohol and substance abuse.
Take part in extracurricular activities.
Maintain a healthy relationship with family and friends.

The necessity to raise awareness for rapidly rising mental health conditions is the need of the day. Unfortunately, anxiety disorders being relatively common, often go unnoticed, which leads to a substantial increase in the severity of the symptoms. Hence, symptoms need to be addressed and treated at the earliest to receive effective results.

FAQs About Anxiety Disorders

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What happens in the brain during anxiety?

Anxiety occurs when the amygdala, a part of the brain, senses trouble. When it feels or senses a threat, imagined or real, it surges the body with stress hormones, including cortisol. Adrenaline is also produced to help fight presumed threats, providing might.

Does drinking water help with anxiety?

Water has natural calming properties and addresses the effects of dehydration on the body and the brain. Drinking enough water is one of the steps which help deal with anxiety substantially. It helps the body and mind to relax.

What is an anxiety attack?

Anxiety or panic attack is a person almost collapsing due to the severe onset of panic associated with hyperventilation. The symptoms of panic attacks, though not dangerous, can be frightening enough.

How long does an anxiety attack last?

Anxiety attacks mostly last between 5-20 minutes. However, there exist reports of such attacks that lasted an hour. The number of attacks depends on the severity of the condition. Some people experience these attacks once or twice a month, while the same for others may occur several times a week.

Can anxiety attacks be cured or permanently go away?

This is person-specific, and while for some, it may be a lifelong treatable condition, for others, the attacks may gradually reduce and go away. People experiencing anxiety disorders can be cured through therapy and medications, and the disorder can stay from months to years.