Overview
If worry and fright obstruct the proper functioning, it is an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder is characterized by depression, anxiety, panic and trauma. Anxiety is a standard human emotion that each one of us experiences at times. Generally people get anxious or nervous when they face a problem or prior to examination or taking a vital decision. Anxiety disorders are different from these as they create distress which interrupts one’s ability to lead a normal life.
Panic attacks are abrupt episodes of terror that come without any signal. A person getting a panic attack might think that he/she is having a heart attack or that death is just round the corner.
Symptoms
There are different types of anxiety disorders that are panic disorder, post traumatic stress syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, certain phobias, social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. The symptoms vary with the kind of disorder.
Panic Disorders: They are discrete and powerful periods of fear or feelings of disaster that develop over a brief time frame say 10-15 minutes. The symptoms are:
- Palpitations
- Sweating
- Shaky feeling
- Feeling of breathlessness
- Choking
- Pain in chest
- Nausea
- Giddiness
- Unrealistic feeling of being away from the world
- Fear of death
- Tingling feeling
- Chills
- Hot flushes
Generalized anxiety disorder: It is characterized by unnecessary and unrealistic anxiety over a period of minimum 6 months that is linked with:
- Irritation
- Early fatigue
- Trouble in concentrating
- Aggressiveness
- Muscle tension
- Problems in sleep patterns
- Less social interaction
Phobic disorders: This disorder is strong, continual, and repeated fear of some substances like snakes or spiders or situations like heights, social gatherings or public places. This contact can lead to a panic attack.
Post-traumatic stress disorder: These are caused by experience of near-death situations like fires, floods, accidents or earthquakes etc. The event comes back in thoughts and dreams, causing problematic behavior. The symptoms are:
- Keep away from activities, places, or people linked with the event
- Problem in concentrating
- Sleep related problems
- The person keeps a close observation on the surroundings
- Feeling of low emotions like decreased loving feelings
Causes of Panic Disorder
Though any specific reason behind panic disorder is not clear, research has shown that a group of biological and environmental factors are involved. They include.
- Heredity: Panic disorder run in families and it is passed from one or both parent(s) to their child.
- Traumatic events or main life changes like death of a loved one can cause a panic disorder.
- Deformity in the brain: Panic disorder can be attributed to problems in some regions of the brain.
- Certain drugs or alcohol abuse can also cause panic disorder.
Diagnosis
An anxiety disorder diagnosis begins with an assessment of symptoms by a doctor. The doctor will inquire about your symptoms, medical history and will do a physical examination. There are no laboratory tests that can diagnose anxiety disorder but they advise different tests to rule out any other problem causing ailment. If the test results are negative, you must see a psychologist. They’ll use specifically designed evaluation tools to check a person for a mental illness. The doctors base their diagnosis on the symptoms, any other related problem and person's behavior.
In case of panic disorder, the doctor base their on severity and duration of symptoms. They will check for frequency of panic attacks and extent of dysfunction caused by panic disorder.
Treatment - Medications
The doctor will check for the type of disorder and will prescribe the right combination of drugs. They might give a combination of an antidepressant with a mood stabilizer like lithium and some anti-anxiety drugs. The anti-anxiety medications include the benzodiazepines like Valium and Ativan. These drugs might cause addiction so they should not be used for long term.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is used by itself or in combination with medicines to treat anxiety disorder. It includes many treatment options. Here the person talks to a trained health care professional who aids the person to recognize the factors causing ailment.
Psychotherapy makes the person:
- Aware of the behaviors, emotions, and thoughts which triggers the problem.
- Identify the major events like an illness, a death or a divorce. They help them to cope with the results of the problem.
- Recover their lost interest in life.
- Gain knowledge of techniques to solve problems in life.
Types of Therapy
The different types of therapy include:
- An individual therapy that involves the patient and the therapist.
- More than one patient participates in therapy so that they can talk about their experiences and know about others.
- Couples: This therapy helps the partners of the patient to cope with their spouse’s mental condition and what they can do to improve the situation.
- Family: This therapy involves family members to improve the condition of their loved ones
The therapy has multiple approaches depending on the condition of the patient. The format of the therapy and the approach depends on the supposed basic factors causing the condition. Various approaches are:
Psychodynamic Therapy: Psychodynamic therapy assumes that a person has anxiety disorder due to uncertain, insensible disagreements with origin from childhood. The aim of this therapy is to make the patient know and adjust better with these thoughts by speaking them out. The therapy is given for a period of 4-6 months.
Interpersonal Therapy: Interpersonal therapy concentrates on the communication of a patient has with family and friends. The main aim of this therapy is to boost up the confidence and interest in a short period of time. It should be done for three to four months. It is best for depression cases caused by relationship conflicts, some life events, and social separation.
Meditation
It is established that meditation can be compared to other techniques in alleviating the anxiety and panic disorders. The transcendental meditation engages concentrating mind on an object till the mind becomes still. Another kind is mindfulness meditation which promotes alertness of thoughts while preserving aloofness. Kundalini yoga is a meditative form of breathing referred to as pranayama. It helps in decreasing stress and helps to regain interest in life. These techniques help in improving work quality, social functioning, and relationship.