Anxiety Disorder

 What is Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety disorder is a disorder that many people face on a daily basis. Many individuals with anxiety disorder there might be a worry or concern over things that are out of their control. According to National Institute of Mental Health, “For a person with anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse overtime” (NIH, Pg. 1, 2020). People with an anxiety disorder have to go through daily struggles of not getting their fear and concern affect them and their daily activities. 

However, Individuals can have anxiety with small projects, or fear of a test. According to to National Institute of Mental Health, “ You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision” (NIH, Pg.1, 2020). Anxiety can play in many forms of an individuals life, they can be anxious during a test, or doing something big for themselves and are worried about the outcome. There are also several different stages of anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic border, and various phobia-related disorders.

Signs and Symptoms:

The signs and symptoms are broken down into the following anxiety described disorders described below:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD):

Individuals with this disorder excessive anxiety or way that may prolong for 6 months about anything and everything going on with their personal life. This disorder can interfere with daily functions such as work, school, and many other things. The signs and symptoms of the following disorder are listed below; the individual may experience:

- Feeling restless, wound-up and on edge

-Being easily fatigued

Having difficulty concentrating or having your mind go blank

-Being irritable

Panic Disorder:

Panic disorders can happened through recurrent episodes that individuals may experience throughout their life. Intense situations or fear can trigger a panic disorder and cause the individual to go into a panic attack. The following signs and symptoms for panic disorders are listed below; the individual may experience:

- Heart palpitations

- Sweating

- Trembling or shaking

- Feeling shortness of breath or a smothering sensation

Phobia-Related Disorders

Phobia-Related disorders are related to a intense fear of a certain object or thing. For example an individual with an intense fear of spiders may have a phobia related disorder called a Arachnophobia which is fear of spiders or anything related to the organism. However, there are other phobia-related disorders based off average objects or things such as flying, social gatherings, heights, etc. The signs and symptoms of Phobia-related disorders could be similar to the signs and symptoms of the other disorders that were listed above. 

Treatment:

Depending on the anxiety disorder would depend on the two treatments. The two treatments that are recommended for treating anxiety disorders are psychological therapy and pharmacotherapy or both can used if necessary. According to "Treatment of anxiety disorders" article, "Anxiety disorders should be treated with psychological therapy, pharmacotherapy, or a combination of both... Cognitive behavioral therapy can be regarded with the highest level of evidence" (Bandelow et al., Pg.1, 2017). Using therapy options can help individuals with their anxiety levels and help them maintain and manage their anxiety.

Population: 

Anxiety disorders nearly affects everyone and among every age group. According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America, "GAD affects 6.8 million adults or 3.1% of the U.S. population, yet only 43.2% are receiving treatment" (Anxiety and Depression, Pg. 1, 2020). The article also points out, "Women are twice as likely to be affected as men" (Anxiety and Depression, Pg.1, 2020). This was interesting to learn because with generalized anxiety disorder, I always thought that men and women were on the equal field as far as the disorders went. The article also mentions, "PD affects 6 million adults, or 2.7% of the U.S. population... When are twice as likely to be affected as men" (Anxiety and Depression, Pg.1, 2020). 

I learned a lot about anxiety disorders especially since I have anxiety as well as panic disorder and have had it for years, it was really informal to me to learn about the different forms of anxiety and how it affect individuals as well.

References:

Anxiety Disorders. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml. 

Bandelow, B., Michaelis, S., & Wedekind, D. (2017, June). Treatment of anxiety disorders. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5573566/. 

Facts & Statistics. Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics. 

Picture: https://food.ndtv.com/health/anxiety-related-spectrum-disorder-identified-780142