Our psychological, emotional, and social well-being all are included in your mental health. So, it influences how you think, feel, and act. But when you experience mental health disorders, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Among the most common mental health disorders, anxiety is considered to be most dominant one among the general people.
Anxiety Is One Of The Most Common Mental Disorders
You feel anxious facing with a serious problem at your work or while making an important decision or before taking a test. These are usual parts of occasional anxiety. But anxiety turns into one of the mental health disorders when it is more than transitory worry or fear. Suppose, you fear something always and it does not go away and may get worse over time. Then your feelings may interfere with daily activities, such as working performance, school work, and even relationships.
Content Source – National Institute of Mental Health
So, anxiety, worry, and stress all are a part of most people’s everyday life. But only experiencing anxiety, worry or stress generally does not mean you should take professional help or you have an anxiety disorder. Actually, it is a necessary warning signal of a hazardous or hard situation. Because, without anxiety, we have no other way to predict difficulties ahead and prepare for them.
In fact, anxiety seems to be a disorder when the symptoms become constant and they hinder your daily lives and your ability to function properly. People, who are suffering from constant disorders, often report the symptoms as follows:
- Fatigue
- Muscle tension
- Palpitations
- Sweaty hands
- Fear or confusion
- unsteadiness
- Constant worry
- Shortness of breath
- Poor memory
- Stomach upset
- Poor concentration
- Sleep problem
When the above symptoms are seen to be severe and upsetting enough, they make you feel extremely uncomfortable, out of control and helplessness.
Content Source – psychcentral.com
Jim Folk, President of anxietycentre.com, says:
Anxiety ISN’T something we genetically inherit or an illness or disease we contract.
Treatment for anxiety
No need to be anxious about anxiety disorder because help is available. You will learn how to control your anxiety through effective help.
The usual treatments for anxiety disorders are psychotherapy, medication, or both. There may be different types of effective psychological treatments for anxiety, but the most commonly suggested talking treatment for anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
CBT can help people with anxiety disorders. People learn different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to anxiety-producing and fearful situations. CBT may also assist individuals to learn and practice social skills. CBT is very important for treating social anxiety disorder.
There are two components of CBT used to treat social anxiety disorder – cognitive therapy and exposure therapy. Cognitive therapy emphasizes identifying, challenging, and then neutralizing non-cooperative thoughts underlying anxiety disorders.
Exposure therapy emphasizes facing the fears underlying an anxiety disorder to help you engage in activities that you may have been avoiding.
Medication can relieve symptoms rapidly but does not cure anxiety disorders. Only a medical doctor, such as a psychiatrist or a primary care provider can prescribe medications. Medications may sometimes be used as the primary treatment of an anxiety disorder or may be used only if there is an inadequate response to a course of psychotherapy. In research studies, it is found that there is a combination of psychotherapy and medication treatment to have better results than those treated with only one or the other.
Content Source – National Institute of Mental Health
