Turning on the Light: Anxiety in All Forms

Last week the focus was on depression this week we focus on anxiety. Though all of us deal with stress at particularly stressful times, some people deal with anxiety that is present on regular basis and can make it difficult to live a normal life. Over 18% of the adult population in the United States struggle with some form of Anxiety Disorder. So what is anxiety? Well, it can vary from a mild uneasiness in certain situations to a full panic attack. It can also vary in how long they last from a short few minute burst to a constant struggle for many years.

Anxiety can present in many ways. Physically it can include heart racing, feeling flush, shortness of breath, headaches, sweating, numbness, aches, restlessness, and even tremors. Psychologically it will potentially involve excessive fear and worry, racing thoughts, nervousness, irritability, indecision, inability to sleep, unable to sleep, and unable to focus. These symptoms can cause you to avoid potentially stressful situations, phobic behaviors, and distress in social settings. And this is not an exhaustive list. Anxiety can take on many forms and cause varying results.

While people often say they are dealing with anxiety there are a number of anxiety disorders. The most common are Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Phobic Disorders, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

• GAD's main symptoms are uncontrolled worry accompanied by a number of the physical and psychological symptoms. GAD makes it difficult to particpate in life. 
• Panic Disorder is characterized by reoccurring panic attacks for a month period. A panic attack is a sudden onset of intense fear or panic often coupled with a racing heart, sweating, chest pain, hyperventilating, dizziness, and a feeling of detachment from reality. With a Panic Disorder people with often avoid places, people, and situations that are similar to the one that caused the panic attack. 
• Phobic disorders are when a person changes their activities due to a strong and persistent fear. Phobias can be anything from spiders (arachnophobia) to fear of panic attacks, embarrassment, or helplessness (agoraphobia). One of the most common phobias is Social Anxiety Disorder. 
• Social Anxiety Disorder is the fear of public scrutiny. It is often accompanied by the fear of embarrassment and worries about not being accepted as they are. The most commonly feared situations are public speaking, social gathering, eating in public, and dates in public areas. 
• PTSD is the stress that is caused as a result of a traumatic event that the person has witnessed, responded to, or been close to someone who has witnessed it. This can be anything from a car accident to a natural disaster to exposure to war. The most common symptom is reexperiencing the event in flashbacks and dreams. 

These are some of the things that people with anxiety deal with on a daily basis. The biggest way that someone can help is to be accepting and understanding. Don't make someone feel worse about their anxiety than they already do. Be understanding of situations that people cannot handle. Social Anxiety Disorder is the most common anxiety disorder. To those who have it many of life's situations cause increased anxiety. To those who do not have it, it sounds like an excuse. It's not an excuse. I encourage you if you have more questions to reach out to someone with social anxiety or one of the other anxiety disorders. If you do think you know anyone affected by anxiety, you do, but I would suggest Googling stories of anxiety it could be quite enlightening. 

Next week I will be featuring the first interview with a friend struggling with depression and the art that has resulted from it. As always of you need someone to talk to I am here and willing to listen. It is in silence that problems go untreated. If you are in need of immediate help please call one of the numbers below. The suicide hotline is answered 24/7. If it is not an emergency, but you need more resources for anxiety or depression check out the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. 

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Information used from the Mental Health First Aid USA (First Edition (Revised)) copyrighted by National Council for Behavioral Health and the Missouri Department of Mantla Health (2015).