What is an anxiety disorder? This is a frequently asked question by many. Let's take a closer look. The feeling of anxiety and fear not only becomes the cause of human suffering, but also has a strong adaptive value. Fear keeps us safe from emergencies, while anxiety allows us to be fully prepared in the event of a perceived threat. Feeling anxious is considered a normal emotion. Everyone has ever experienced this. However, if anxiety becomes permanent and causes stress, affecting all aspects of a person’s life, most likely, we are talking about a mental deviation.
Anxiety disorder according to the ICD has the code F41. Represents restlessness and anxiety for no apparent reason. These emotions are not a consequence of the events taking place around and are due to strong psycho-emotional stress.
Causes of anxiety disorders
What do doctors say about the factors contributing to the development of pathology? Why do they appearsuch violations? Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to establish the exact cause of the development of anxiety personality disorder. However, such a condition is not, like other types of mental problems, a consequence of weak willpower, bad parenting, a defect in character, etc. Research on anxiety disorders continues today. Scientists have found that the following factors contribute to the development of the disease:
- Changes in the brain.
- The influence of the environmental factor on the human body.
- Fault in the work of interneuronal connections involved in the emergence of emotions.
- Prolonged stress. Can disrupt the transmission of information between brain regions.
- Diseases in the brain structures that are responsible for emotions and memory.
- Genetic predisposition to this type of disorder.
- Psychological trauma, stressful situations and other emotional upheavals in the past.
Provoking diseases
Also, scientists identify a number of diseases that can affect the development of an anxiety disorder:
- Mitral valve prolapse. Occurs when one of the heart valves fails to close properly.
- Hyperthyroidism. It is characterized by increased activity of the gland.
- Hypoglycemia, which is characterized by low blood sugar levels.
- Abuse or addiction to mental stimulants such as drugs, amphetamines, caffeine, etc.
- Another manifestationAnxiety disorders are panic attacks, which can also appear on the background of certain diseases and for physical reasons.
Symptoms
Signs of an anxiety disorder vary depending on the type of disorder. Immediate referral to a specialist requires the presence of at least one of the following symptoms:
- Feelings of anxiety, panic and fear that occur regularly and for no reason.
- Sleep disorder.
- Sweating and cold hands and feet.
- Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath.
- Feeling of dry mouth.
- Tingling and numbness in limbs.
- Persistent nausea.
- Dizziness.
- Increased muscle tone.
- Increased heart rate and chest pressure.
- Easy breathing.
- Decrease in visual acuity.
- Bilateral headache.
- Diarrhea and bloating.
- Difficulty swallowing.
Any manifestation of a mental disorder is invariably accompanied by a feeling of anxiety and obsessive negative thoughts that distort a person's acceptance of reality.
Structure
The structure of anxiety disorder is heterogeneous and is formed by several components, including consciousness, behavior and physiology. The disorder affects behavior, performance, and can cause insomnia and stuttering, as well as stereotypic behavior and hyperactivity.
As for the physiological symptoms of an anxiety disorder,quite often they are perceived as dangerous to human life and he alth, as patients see life as black and white, without halftones. They tend to make up facts that don't exist, mistaking a headache for a brain tumor, chest pain for a heart attack, and rapid breathing for a sign of impending death.
Types of anxiety disorders
In order to prescribe adequate therapy, it is necessary to determine the type of disease. Medical science identifies several variants of anxiety disorder:
1. Phobias. They represent fears that are incommensurable with the real scale of the threat. It is characterized by a panic state when it gets into certain situations. It is quite difficult to control phobias, even if the patient wants to get rid of them. The most common in phobic anxiety disorder are social and specific phobias. The latter are characterized by a feeling of fear of a specific object or phenomenon. There are some common types of phobias, such as animals, natural phenomena, specific situations, etc. Fears of injuries, injections, the sight of blood, etc. are somewhat less common. So-called sociophobes fear negative evaluation from other people. Such a person constantly thinks that he looks stupid, is afraid to say something in public. As a rule, they lose social ties. This can also be attributed to the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.
2. Post Traumatic Stressdisorder. This is a person's reaction to certain situations that occurred in the past, which were difficult to resist. A similar situation can be the death of a loved one or a serious injury and other tragic circumstances. A patient with such a disorder is constantly under the yoke of intrusive memories. Sometimes this results in nightmares, hallucinations, delirium, experiencing what happened again. Such people are characterized by emotional overexcitability, sleep disturbance, impaired concentration, sensitivity and a tendency to bouts of causeless anger.
3. Acute stress anxiety disorder. Its symptoms are similar to other species. The reason for its development is most often a situation that traumatizes the patient's psyche. However, there are a number of significant differences between this disorder and post-traumatic disorder. An acute disorder caused by stress is characterized by a lack of emotional reaction to ongoing events, a person perceives the situation as something unreal, thinks that he is sleeping, even his own body becomes alien to him. Such a state can later transform into the so-called dissociative amnesia.
4. panic disorder. As the name implies, the basis of this type are panic attacks. The latter occur unexpectedly and rapidly lead the patient to a state of fear. Panic-anxiety disorder can last from a few minutes to an hour. Panic attacks are characterized by symptoms such as dizziness, shortness of breath, fainting, tremors, increased heart rate, nausea, andindigestion, numbness of the limbs, chills and fever, feeling of tightness and pain in the chest, loss of control over the situation and fear of death.
5. Generalized anxiety disorder. It differs from panic attacks in a chronic form of leakage. The duration of this state can be up to several months. The characteristic symptoms of this type of anxiety disorder are: inability to relax, concentrate, fatigue, constant feeling of fear, irritation and tension, fear of doing something wrong, the difficult process of making any decision. The patient has a significant decrease in self-confidence and self-esteem. Such patients are dependent on the opinions of other people, feel a sense of inferiority, and are also convinced that it is impossible to achieve change for the better.
6. Obsessive compulsive disorder. The main characteristic of this form of anxiety disorder are ideas and thoughts that are repetitive, unwanted and inconsistent, as well as uncontrollable. They arise in the mind of the patient, and getting rid of them is quite difficult. Most often there are compulsive disorders on the topic of germs and dirt, fear of illness or infection. Because of such obsessions, many rituals and habits appear in the patient's life, for example, constant washing of hands with soap, incessant cleaning of the apartment, or round-the-clock prayers. Such rituals are a reaction to the occurrence of obsessions, their main goal is to protectfrom a state of anxiety. Most patients who are diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder also suffer from depression.
Diagnosis
How to identify phobic anxiety disorder and other types of this pathology? Anxiety is fairly easy to diagnose. Each of us encounters a similar phenomenon at least once in a lifetime. The condition is accompanied by a feeling of impending troubles or threats. In the vast majority of cases, it does not last long and passes on its own after clarification of all the circumstances. It is very important to be able to distinguish between a normal reaction to ongoing events and pathological signs.
Feature groups
It is conditionally possible to divide all the signs characteristic of an anxiety disorder into several groups:
1. Feeling tense and restless. By this is meant the constant excitement about any one situation or the absence of a reason for such a state. As a rule, the intensity of experiences does not correlate at all with the scale of the problem. Satisfaction from the situation can not be obtained under any circumstances. A person is constantly in a state of thought, worries about problems and some little things. In fact, a person is in constant expectation of negative news, so he cannot relax even for a minute. Patients themselves describe this type of anxiety as deliberately illogical, but they are unable to cope with this condition on their own.
2. Violationsleep. Relaxation does not occur even at night, as the above symptoms do not go away. It is difficult for a person to fall asleep, this often requires not only great efforts, but also medical support. Sleep is superficial and intermittent. In the morning there is a feeling of weakness and fatigue. During the day, exhaustion, loss of strength and fatigue appear. Sleep disturbance wears out the body as a whole, reducing the quality of general well-being and he alth from a somatic point of view.
3. Vegetative symptoms of anxiety-depressive disorder. A change in the balance of certain hormones can cause a reaction not only from the side of the human psyche. Quite often there are violations in the activity of the vegetative system. Anxiety quite often leads to symptoms such as shortness of breath, increased sweating, difficulty breathing, etc. In addition, dyspeptic symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, pain in the gastrointestinal tract, constipation and diarrhea, are quite common. Headaches are also possible, which are almost impossible to eliminate with standard painkillers. Also a characteristic symptom is pain in the region of the heart, a feeling that the organ is working intermittently.
Diagnostic criteria
In order to make an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to observe the patient, keeping a record of all the criteria listed below, for several months. It is not possible to eliminate them by standard methods, these signs are permanentand take place in any domestic everyday situations. The ICD-10 identifies the following diagnostic criteria:
1. Not passing fear. Because of the anticipation of future failures, a person does not have the opportunity to work and concentrate, as well as rest and relax. The feeling of excitement becomes so overwhelming that the patient can no longer perceive other important experiences, emotions and feelings. Anxiety begins to dominate the mind of a person.
2. Voltage. Constant fussiness arises as a desire to do something with persistent anxiety. At the same time, a person tries to find out the true cause of his condition, cannot sit still.
3. Vegetative signs are also very important in diagnosing anxiety. The most common symptoms in this case are dizziness, increased sweating and a feeling of dry mouth.
Treatment
Modern psychology is in constant search of new, most effective methods of treating anxiety disorders. Various breathing techniques, yoga, and relaxation therapy also help in this process. Some patients manage to overcome the disease on their own, without the use of conservative methods of treatment. The most effective and recognized by psychologists treatments for anxiety disorders are as follows:
- Self-help. This is the first thing a person can do if they are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. To do this, you need to work on yourself and learn to control the physiological manifestations of anxiety. itcan be done by performing special breathing exercises or muscle-relaxing complexes. Such techniques contribute to the normalization of sleep, relieve anxiety and reduce pain in tense muscles. Exercises must be performed regularly, over a fairly long period. Deep, even breathing also helps to get rid of a panic attack. However, hyperventilation should not be allowed. What else is used in the treatment of anxiety disorder?
- Working with a psychiatrist. It is also an effective way to get rid of an anxiety disorder. Most often, this state is transformed into the form of negative images, thoughts and fantasies, which can be difficult to exclude. The therapist helps the patient translate these thoughts into a more positive direction. The whole point of psychotherapy for anxiety disorders comes down to teaching the patient a more positive way of thinking and feeling, a realistic perception of the surrounding reality. There is a so-called habituation method. It is based on the repeated encounter of the patient with the objects of his fears and anxieties. In this way, specific phobias are most often treated. The symptoms and treatment of an anxiety disorder are often linked.
- Drug treatment. This technique is used only in the most severe cases. Therapy should not be limited to taking medications. In addition, drugs should not be taken on an ongoing basis, as this can be addictive. They are only meant to relieve symptoms. Most commonly prescribed for the treatment of anxiety disordersdrugs from the category of antidepressants: Maprotiline, Sertraline, Trazodone, etc. They are taken in a course, they begin to act a few weeks after the start of the intake. In addition, drugs related to benzodiazepines are also used: Diazepam, Noozepam, Lorazepam, etc. These drugs have a calming effect that occurs approximately 15 minutes after ingestion. They are good and quickly alleviate the condition during a panic attack. However, the negative side of these drugs is the rapid addiction and dependence. Treatment for generalized anxiety disorder can be lengthy.
- Phytotherapy. There are a number of herbs that can relieve anxiety and have a relaxing and calming effect on the body. Such herbs include, for example, the well-known peppermint. Oat straw has antidepressant properties, protecting the nervous system from excessive overload. Chamomile, lime, lavender, lemon balm and passionflower also help to manage anxiety and its accompanying symptoms such as headache, indigestion, etc. Hop cones will help relieve irritability and excessive nervous excitability.
Reviews
What do patients say about this pathology? In the case when a person is diagnosed with an anxiety-depressive disorder or any other type of it, qualified help and properly selected therapy are of key importance. There are also a number of preventive measures that can be used,to prevent the development of the disorder or to avoid relapse.
According to the reviews, it is not easy to cope with an anxiety disorder, but it is possible. First of all, it is important to clearly understand your own condition and be able to assess it in terms of symptoms. Then the anxiety disorder will not come as a surprise, respectively, it will be easier to recognize and eliminate the problem.
Reviews of those who have ever experienced all these unpleasant symptoms are contradictory.
People recommend quitting or minimizing smoking and excessive coffee consumption. Individuals prone to anxiety disorders can provoke an outburst of emotions with caffeine or nicotine and aggravate this condition. No less caution should be taken with many drugs, such as diet pills, etc.
You should learn a few breathing techniques in advance to calm and relax. Breath control helps develop skills that promote self-soothing when needed. The same applies to relaxation techniques. Do not be shy and refuse the help of professionals.
