Anxiety is a common phenomenon and a part of human nature. Still, when this condition remains persistent and does not go away, and gets worse with time, then such a situation indicates anxiety disorder.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
Generalised Anxiety Disorder: In this type of anxiety, the person worries about almost everything. This includes concerns about work, health, relationships, social interactions, study, and more. They also struggle to manage their fears and nervousness, which affects the quality of their life.
Symptoms or features of Generalised Anxiety Disorder
- Constant worry and nervousness about everything
- Trouble in controlling worries
- Restlessness and difficulty in relaxing
- Loss of concentration
- Twisting of body muscles
- Difficulty in breathing, excessive sweating
- Difficult swallowing
- A person makes frequent trips to the bathroom
- Fatigue
The DCM-5 Criteria to Diagnose Generalised Anxiety Disorder
DCM-5 Criteria for Generalised Anxiety Disorder are as follows:
The anxiety and worry are associated with any of the three or more of the six symptoms mentioned below, present for more than 6 months.
- Restlessness or feeling on edge
- Bening easily fatigued
- Difficult in concentrating or mind going blank
- Irritability
- Muscle tension
- Sleep disturbances.
If any person faces anxiety-like symptoms and is not resolving over a period, then the individual must consider professional help from a Doctor.
Social Anxiety Disorder: A Person fears appearing in public, social events, and performing in front of people. The fear is linked to negative judgments from others, a fear of public appearances, and a fear of showing signs of embarrassment in front of others.
Panic Disorder: This disorder involves unexpected panic attacks where a person feels suddenly nervous, restless and develops symptoms like a fast heart rate, sweating, etc.
Phobia Disorders: It is characterised by a phobia of certain things or situations, like animals, darkness, etc
Separation Anxiety Disorder: It is characterised by fear or anxiety of getting separated from parents or loved ones. Anyone can develop separation anxiety normally, but gradually it may manifest as an anxiety disorder with increased intensity of attacks.
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: When a person has OCD, he does repetitive actions, the person gets uncontrollable thoughts and uncontrolled behaviour is also observed or the presence of both. It is associated with great fear and anxiety. For example, Fear of contamination – a person worries about harm to themselves, anxiety about diseases, contamination, germs, or dirt, resulting in excessive hand-washing.
PTSD: This condition occurs when a person faces a sad or tragic event. It presents with symptoms such as fear, mood change, and suicidal thoughts.
Causes of Anxiety Disorders
Genetic and family history: Anxiety disorder can run in families.
Traumatic life experiences: If a person has faced any traumatic experiences, it can become a reason behind the anxiety.
Personality traits: Certain personality traits, like social withdrawal and shyness, can be a cause of the anxiety disorder.
Environmental factors: Social and environmental factors, like financial stress and relationships, can lead to anxiety disorders.s
Physical health condition: Chronic illness, such as thyroid disorders, can trigger anxiety disorder.
Diagnosis of anxiety disorders
Anxiety disorder is diagnosed by a doctor as per the DSM-5 criteria explained above, with a proper history of the person’s physical and mental symptoms.
Treatment for Anxiety disorder
- Oral Medications
- Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is also called counselling, where the counsellor counsels the patient and heals them by using various psychotherapy techniques like CBT- Cognitive behavioural therapy.
- Lifestyle management
- Family counselling
Tips that help to recover from anxiety disorder.
- Essential oils can help alleviate anxiety and are often used in aromatherapy. It is not used for ingestion or oral medication.
- Relaxing breathing techniques. Follow the 1:2 Ratio for your breathing. To understand it better, if a person takes a breath in for four counts, then they must breathe out for up to eight counts. This technique relaxes a person quickly.
- Use weighted blankets, as they provide a sense of relaxation and help you fall asleep easily.
- Understand the anxiety triggers, get educated about them, and avoid the triggers.
- Read self-help books. Recommendation: The Tools and Coming Alive, written by Dr Stutz, is a book that contains psychotherapy tools a person can use independently.
- Develop a hobby like painting, singing, dancing, Etc.
- Exercise, such as walking in nature or cycling.
- Play sports
- Get yourself tested through the self-test available on trusted platforms.
Anxiety disorder requires proper guidance from healthcare professionals, psychotherapy, lifestyle management, and counselling of family members. Consult a doctor immediately if you experience these symptoms. Additionally, platforms like Medivc offer a digital space for self-testing to detect symptoms early. Such a test can be helpful for early detection and prevention.