Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
Heart pounding, hands shaking and this uncontrollable fear in the pit of our stomach, anxiety is one of the most distressing and overwhelming feelings. Being anxious over things and events is our body’s natural reaction to something that is gigantic to our lives. When we are under pressure, our initial reaction is to feel worried, scared or even apprehensive. It isn’t always a bad thing to feel this, as we are then wired to stay alert and motivated when we become anxious. However, feeling anxiety over things that are irrelevant and unnecessary is a problem. As this gets in the way of our daily lives, anxiety may have crossed the line from being normal into anxiety disorders.
What is anxiety disorder?
Anxiety attacks or panic attacks are episodes of intense terror and overwhelming fear that causes one to panic. These panic attacks occur without warning and suddenly that would often leave us feeling traumatized, overwhelmed and tired. During this short moment of a panic attack, the fear can be so intense that thoughts of death and feelings of losing control will cross the person’s mind. And the most common symptom of an anxiety disorder is having constant worry whether another attack will ensue and a place for you to escape or avoid it and help would not be readily available.
How will we know if we are having an anxiety attack?
Apart from the constant fear and worry, anxiety gives us two kinds of symptoms: emotional aspect and physical symptoms. The emotional symptoms are feelings of apprehension, tension, irritability and restlessness. These feelings are also compounded with anticipation of what’s worse and paranoia. Most of the time, with the overwhelming onset of emotions, our minds go blank and we fail to concentrate. A feeling that we are surreal and disillusion of reality takes over and the feeling of panic ensues. Emotional symptoms are hard to distinguish, as they often come out as normal feelings of apprehension and is considered as part of ordinary anxiety. A recent study has linked anxiety with depression. As they often go hand in hand, looking into the person’s source of anxiety may help alleviate the emotional symptoms and ease the possibility of another panic attack.
The physical symptoms of an anxiety attack are nausea and dizziness, excessive sweating, uncontrollable shaking, pounding heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue and insomnia. These physical manifestations of an anxiety attack stem from the emotional symptoms. As the above mentioned symptoms are similar to a coronary attack, most people who experience these manifestations assume that these are warning signals that triggers thoughts of life-threatening event or death.
Remember an anxiety disorder holds symptoms that are both emotional and physical in nature. But these attacks are also marked with mental indications. The thoughts of possible death, dreamlike environment, and losing control are the most gripping symptoms of anxiety disorder.
Is there a cure for anxiety disorder?
Yes, the good news is there is a way out of our panic attacks. Understanding how anxiety disorder happens, knowing the cause of our anxiety and identifying the symptoms of anxiety disorder are the first steps to healing.
It is important to know that not all worries and anxiety make up an anxiety disorder. But if we find ourselves experiencing constant anxiety due to pressure from home or work, stress and a demanding schedule, take time to evaluate your lifestyle. Learn to incorporate fun into our daily activities to distress our lives, and practice meditation to help us relax. Taking the time off every once in a while will give us time to unload ourselves of the many life’s pressures and responsibilities. This will free us from overloaded and keep us from burning out.
Do not hesitate to speak with a license medical practitioner about your anxiety attacks and anxiety disorder. The earlier we seek professional help, the earlier we can break free from anxiety.
