subject: Anxiety Disorder – What You Need To Know To Deal With It [print this page] Anxiety Disorder What You Need To Know To Deal With It
Most people do not consider an anxiety attack anything to worry about. And in most cases, they are right in presuming so unless the attacks are frequent and increase in intensity over the years. For a fraction of people who experience anxiety, an anxiety disorder is a part of their lives as much as brushing their teeth and doing their laundry. Unfortunately, living with anxiety disorder is not as easy to cope with as either.
An anxiety disorder can be severely disrupting to normal life. While anxiety is a very normal occurrence, especially when you are in a highly demanding lifestyle, an anxiety disorder is a different thing altogether. An anxiety disorder can be typified by irrational and unexpected feelings of anxiety or panic that happen frequently or a desire to isolation. These emotions are often overwhelming to the person experiencing it and may induce such feelings of unprecedented fear that they may even be afraid to leave their homes or "safe" places.
Before deciding on any anxiety attack cures, you need to know the different manifestations of anxiety disorders. These include:
Panic disorder. This includes sudden feelings of fear that come without warning. People suffering from a panic disorder may show physical signs of distress like intense perspiration, quickened heartbeat or breathing difficulties. Often, the person will feel as if he or she is having a heart attack.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD. OCD patients have a consistent fear or obsession with doing routine tasks repeatedly. It could be the mundane job of switching off the lights over and over again or locking and unlocking the door several times. Their obsession with doing the task repeatedly is one way of getting rid of their fears (or so their minds tell them).
Post-traumatic stress disorder. This often comes after a severe traumatic event such as abuse or assault, or intense grief. Unlike patients suffering from panic disorder and OCD, people experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder are often emotionally numb. Like all the rest, however, their reactions to the disorder can have dangerous repercussions.
Social anxiety disorder. The least severe of all disorders, those suffering from a social anxiety disorder are constantly worried and self-conscious about being in their social situations. This is often connected to a low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence.
Having to live with an anxiety or panic disorder is no easy task. To cope with sudden emotions that become an obstacle to you doing your daily tasks is an interference that involves not just your life but your job and survival, and in more serious cases, the lives of those around you. Fortunately, there are prescribed medications for panic disorder that can help in alleviating these emotions to a much lower level that will be within your control.
Treatment for reducing a person's anxiety disorder can be done in two basic ways there is the purely medical method and then there is the more holistic approach.
The medical method involves medications for panic disorder. These include prescriptive drugs like anti-depressants which are effective in reducing your stress levels. These medications are often prescribed for an initial period of one or two years before they are gradually decreased to lessen dependence.
The other way to get treatment for an anxiety disorder is with a more holistic approach. This refers to you taking a more pro-active role in regaining control over your own emotions. This includes:
- Attending counseling sessions with an experienced counselor. It does not matter if it is a religious counselor or psychotherapist. What matters is that you talk your anxieties out to someone who can offer positive moral support and suggest ideas on overcoming your fears internally.
- Meditation and yoga. Sometimes, talking it out is not enough facing your fears and coming to terms with them may require some kind of an internal look at what you really are anxious about and facing them bit by bit until you acknowledge your fears without being afraid. This can be done through meditation and yoga. The slow movements of yoga complement the deep breathing and quiet contemplative mental exercise of meditation.
- Applying the Time-Off policy. Sometimes, all that is needed is to schedule a Time Off every day. This means a specific time allocated each day for doing absolutely nothing stressful it could be getting immersed in a hobby you enjoy like building toy trains or a massage. For women, it could be getting a regular mani-pedi at a favorite spa with a close friend.
It never hurts to see a qualified person for any overwhelming anxious feelings you might be going through. It could be a pastor at your church, a psychologist or guidance counselor. Whoever it is, you need the emotional support that they can offer.
