The word anxiety is used a lot nowadays. Maybe somebody is using it to explain their feelings of nervousness before an important interview or presentation. Or they’re discussing the fear they felt before riding a tall roller coaster. There’s really no escaping the word.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is described as a feeling of unease, worry, or fear. It can be mild to moderate, or it can escalate into something more severe.
Although the term anxiety has negative connotations, it’s a natural response that the body has to certain events. We as humans have evolved to have anxiety when humans are in a situation that our body perceives as stressful or dangerous.
If someone is giving a speech in front of hundreds of people, they are probably going to feel fearful and anxious just before they go on stage. It’s difficult to get around these feelings of nervousness and anxiety when they are part of the body’s natural response to scary situations.
What Are Anxiety Disorders?
The situations above describe temporary or short-term anxiety. There’s that feeling of nervousness before an interview, or that fear just before the first day at a new job, but once it’s over, these feelings dissipate. Everything goes back to ‘normal’. The body returns to its baseline state, and the anxiety is almost forgotten about.
However, this feeling of anxiety can remain even after stressful events for many people. If the feelings of fear and anxiety never disappear, they can become debilitating. They can stop people from doing certain things or socializing with others. If the anxiety lasts more than six months, a person may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder.
Does Everybody Suffer from Anxiety?
To an extent, everybody suffers from anxiety. As mentioned above, when people are placed in stressful or worrying situations, it’s natural for them to feel anxious.
Symptoms of short-term anxiety include dry mouth, increased heart rate, excessive sweating, and increased breathing rate. The body releases cortisol (the stress hormone), which causes these physiological changes in our bodies. It’s commonly referred to as the ‘fight or flight’ response.
But when the anxiety becomes recurrent and disruptive to daily living, it switches from a short-term response to fear or stress into a long-term condition. When it becomes chronic, it can be diagnosed as a disorder. At this point, it may require treatment or intervention to be managed properly. Although not everybody will suffer from an anxiety disorder in their lifetime, millions of people across the world are affected by at least one of these disorders. Long-term anxiety can lead to symptoms that include fatigue, insomnia, digestive issues, irritability, and restlessness.
Anxiety disorders can be silent. Many people live with severe anxiety every day, but they have found ways to cope with it or they hide it from others. These disorders can often show up through anxiety attacks (sometimes referred to as panic attacks). These are characterized by similar symptoms to those mentioned above, as well as dizziness and numbness or tingling. Usually, panic attacks only last a couple of minutes, but if they are persistent, they can disrupt the person’s daily activities and reduce their quality of life.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, women are more likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder than men. This could be because women genuinely get more anxious than men or it could simply be that females are more likely to seek help than males. It can often be difficult to get accurate statistics for the prevalence of anxiety disorders for this reason.
Anxiety in Other Disorders
Anxiety shows up in several other disorders. These include the following.
- Panic disorders. These are characterized by an individual experiencing regular panic attacks at unexpected times.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder. This is where somebody has irrational thoughts about particular things, leading them to perform specific, ritualistic behaviors
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This describes the anxiety that is experienced following a traumatic event in someone’s life
Treating Anxiety
When it comes to treating anxiety, what works for one person may not work for another. Some people will require medical intervention, whilst others will get by with minor lifestyle changes.
When the anxiety is moderate to severe, more intensive treatment is usually required. Treatments can include psychological intervention using methods like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or exposure therapy. When psychological treatment is used, the individual will meet regularly with a healthcare professional to try and tackle the root cause of their anxiety.
The psychologist can support the sufferers and can offer great tools and techniques that they can use to reduce their anxiety. The healthcare professional may also offer tools that the person can use to lessen the severity of their anxiety attacks.
Medications can be used as part of the treatment for anxiety. Often, antidepressants or sedatives are used to try and balance out the brain’s chemicals. Often, anxiety is caused by an imbalance in the neurotransmitters within the brain. For this reason, these medications may help to lessen the symptoms of the individual’s anxiety.
A healthcare professional will always prescribe lifestyle changes alongside medications. These changes can include reducing external stress, improving sleep hygiene, regular exercise, a well-balanced diet, and mindfulness-based activities such as yoga, meditation, or journaling.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to treating anxiety. Every case of anxiety differs in calls and symptoms. Therefore, when somebody is suffering from an anxiety disorder, it’s beneficial for them to try every type of intervention to see what works best for them.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a cure for anxiety. However, with appropriate psychological intervention and positive lifestyle changes, it can be managed more easily so that the sufferers can still live happy and healthy lives.