Don’t mistake anxiety with mere fear, dread, or apprehension against possible difficulties or threats. It is not the usual nervousness that one feels while being stuck in traffic or awaiting a promotion. Anxiety is prolonged nervousness that may last for a long period like six months to a year or more. It is a debilitating feeling that can interfere with your life. It is a mental disorder that begets medical intervention also called anxiety treatment.

Anxiety is real

In some cases, the feeling of anxiousness can be crippling, leading to shortness of breath and unwarranted panic attacks. Besides, extreme anxiety can trigger a fight-or-flight response to sudden stress, which can ultimately result in a sense of doom, depression, intense fatigue, or a sudden rise in blood pressure.

The common symptoms of anxiety include:

• Increased heart palpitations 
• Intense breathing
• Continued restlessness
• Difficulty in focusing
• Having trouble falling asleep

 Understanding Anxiety Disorders

Continued build-up of stress can trigger intense anxiety episodes in many people. Moreover, some people are more prone to panic than others. The resulting feelings of restlessness and trepidation can continue for weeks, thus, causing emotional health problems synonymous with anxiety disorders. Considering that anxiety may be due to several reasons, experts classify anxiety disorders into the following categories:

• Illness anxiety disorder: This unusual disorder is also called hypochondria, In this disorder, patients are under the misapprehension of being ill or suffering from life-threatening diseases. Ironically, these patients continue to feel extremely nervous despite showing mild or no symptoms of any disorder.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Many people misconstrue this as a trait of ‘perfection’. However, this is a mental illness in which the affected feel obsessed and show a compulsive tendency to perform certain routines repeatedly.
• Panic disorder: This is a disorder that causes people to feel terrified even if there is no real danger. One of the most common symptoms of this disorder is a rapid heartbeat.
• Phobia: This is synonymous with an unwarranted or irrational fear of a particular activity, object, or situation.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): This is an anxiety disorder most common among rape/abuse victims or war veterans as they continue to feel stressed and terrified, owing to their experiences in the past. This disease is marked by symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety pangs.
• Separation anxiety disorder: Not anyone is happy about the idea of being away from home or their loved ones. However, some people panic at the thought of separation from their family members, so much that the symptoms interfere with their daily functioning.
• Social anxiety disorder: To be judged or neglected does not seem fair. However, some people are too afraid of being judged in social situations. Such people have trouble talking to people, attending social gatherings, and adjusting to new surroundings. 

What causes anxiety?

There is no particular reason attributed to anxiety. However, researchers claim that a string of genetic and environmental factors may be responsible for such a disorder that affects more than 200 million people worldwide. This pervasive disorder is more common among women than men with less than 40 percent of them receiving the necessary anxiety treatment.  

Anxiety attacks do not last more than half an hour, though some of them reach their peak within 10 minutes during which they feel that they are either going to die out of nervousness or lose control over themselves.

Seeking Anxiety Treatment

If you have been diagnosed with anxiety problems, chances are that you will seek anxiety therapy from a renowned mental health practitioner. However, you can also try out some natural remedies, but if the anxiety episode persists or gets worse then it’s best to seek professional anxiety treatment from a therapist.

Not all anxiety problems are chronic, which means that making subtle lifestyle changes can help you cope with the problem. These include:

• Getting adequate sleep
• Regular exercise and an active life
• Eating a healthy diet
• Avoiding the use of alcohol or drugs
• Drinking less coffee
• Quit smoking
• Meditation
• Executing a consistent routine, that will help you feel in control of your situation

While these ways help to reduce anxiety problems to some extent, you must help yourself learn and recognize symptoms of your anxiety problems, deal with self-defeating behaviors and thoughts, and develop strategies to cope with anxiety issues. However, you may seek the guidance of a trusted mental health professional to deal with critical anxiety disorders.

 You can opt for the following kinds of anxiety treatment as discussed below- 

• Medication: Medication is available to treat anxiety disorders, including benzodiazepine tablets. Yet, these should be admitted with caution and for the more critical cases as they generally have side effects that are not pleasant or good either.

Many of the antidepressant medications are recommended during anxiety therapy sessions. Medication, when combined with cognitive/behavioral or psychotherapy, is deemed best practice today.

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: This procedure helps deal with worrying thoughts and feelings that result from distressing thoughts. It also explains techniques to reduce or overcome maladaptive habits. The aim of CBT in treating anxiety is to train the individual to uncover patterns of behavior of thinking and then to confront them.

In doing so, the person is required to identify the source of their anxiety, master to adjust their thinking and behavior patterns through anxiety treatment/ anxiety management therapy, and follow them regularly.

• Psychotherapy: It works to solve conflicts and stress, which are produced during anxiety disorders, with the help of talk therapy.  

There is great therapeutic value in communicating through your losses, injuries, and medical complications. With the best counseling for anxiety, with medication and relevant anxiety therapy sessions, you can defeat your anxiety and live a happy life.

If you would like to consult the best doctor or psychiatrist for anxiety, please do contact us @+91 97414 76476.