Understanding Anxiety Disorders
Pre-game jitters? Nervous about giving a speech tomorrow?
Worried about the diagnosis the doctor just gave you?
Occasional bouts of anxiety are completely normal. However, when our anxiety begins to interfere with our daily lives, it may be indicative of a disorder. Read on to learn more about common types of anxiety disorders.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) usually involves a persistent feeling of anxiety or dread
Common symptoms include:
• Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge
• Being easily fatigued
• Having difficulty concentrating
• Being irritable
• Having headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches, or unexplained pains
• Difficulty controlling feelings of worry
• Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep
Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear, discomfort, or sense of losing control even when there is no clear danger or trigger.
During a panic attack, a person may experience:
• Pounding or racing heart
• Sweating
• Trembling or tingling
• Chest pain
• Feelings of impending doom
• Feelings of being out of control
People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will happen and try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors they associate with panic attacks. Panic attacks can occur as frequently as several times a day or as rarely as a few times a year.
Social anxiety disorder is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others.
With social anxiety disorder, the fear of social situations may feel so intense that it seems beyond their control. For some people, this fear may get in the way of going to work, attending school, or doing everyday activities.
People with social anxiety disorder may experience:
• Blushing, sweating, or trembling
• Pounding or racing heart
• Stomachaches
• Rigid body posture or speaking with an overly soft voice
• Difficulty making eye contact or being around people they don’t know
• Feelings of self-consciousness or fear that people will judge them negatively
Phobias are intense fears of-or aversions to—specific places, objects or situations.
Although it’s normal to be anxious in some circumstances, phobias can cause people to experience a level of fear that is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by a situation or object.
People with a phobia:
• May have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared place, object or situation
• Take active steps to avoid the feared place, object or situation
• Experience immediate intense anxiety upon encountering the feared place, object or situation
• Endure unavoidable objects and situations with intense anxiety.
• May have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared place, object or situation
A person with agoraphobia has an intense fear of two or more of the following situations:
• Using public transportation
• Being in open spaces
• Being in enclosed spaces
• Standing in line or being in a crowd
• Being outside of their house alone
A person with agoraphobia often avoids many public places (especially ones that are new & unfamiliar) because they feel unsafe in these situations and are afraid they’ll be unable to leave if they start feeling panicky, anxious or embarrassed. Untreated agoraphobia can cause a person to become completely housebound.
✧ THE GOOD NEWS ✧
You don’t have to live with crippling anxiety or suffer in silence. There are a variety of treatment options that can help you cope & manage your symptoms, including:
Psychotherapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Nutritional Approaches
Meditation & Mindfulness
If you think you may be experiencing an anxiety disorder, Dr. Georgia would be happy to email you a free anxiety test and go over the results with you.
Call: (480) 459-1050
Email: drgeorgia1@gmail.com