Definition
Anxiety refers to feelings of worry, nervousness, or a sense of apprehension, typically about an upcoming event where the outcome is uncertain. Anxiety is commonly experienced in high-pressure situations or following a stressful event.
Common Anxiety Disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by persistent and excessive worry about daily events that is not specific to any one thing.
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Agoraphobia involves anxiety following exposure to, or anticipation of, a variety of situations such as public transportation, open spaces and crowds.
Social anxiety disorder is characterized by severe anxiety about being criticized or negatively judged by others, leading to avoidance of social and public events.
Phobia involves experience anxiety and fear of particular objects or situations when it causes substantial distress and/or interferes with a person’s life.
A panic attack is a sudden and intense rush of fear or dread. During a panic attack people experience strong physiological and psychological symptoms.
Obsessions are persistent unwanted intrusive thoughts or images that create significant discomfort, distress, and anxiety, but people are unable to stop them.
Panic Disorder is characterized by the experience of repeat panic attacks, and the fear of having future panic attacks.
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PTSD refers to symptoms occurring after exposure to a frightening and traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks’ or nightmares, avoidance of anything reminding the event.
Symptoms of Anxiety
Treatment
Treatment involves learning what causes and maintains your particular anxiety disorder for you, and how to overcome it.
Psychodynamic Therapy helps client to focuses on those aspects of self that may be unknown.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been found to be the most effective treatment for anxiety disorders. CBT is a type of psychological therapy that helps an individual to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and can involve problem solving, exposure therapy, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness and relaxation.
Narrative Therapy goals then is to free yourself from the conception that you are an anxious person and instead start to view your anxiety as its own entity, with its own history, its own traits and behaviors, its own drives and motivations, its own strengths and weaknesses, more or less as its own fully formed individual. You want to give your anxiety a personality.
In addition to the above psychological techniques, making simple changes to a person’s lifestyle can help lower stress and anxiety. Regular exercise, lowering or eliminating alcohol and caffeine, engaging in enjoyable activities, improving time-management skills, and having adequate sleep can help to lower anxiety.
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