by Ken Reimer
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem, and include
panic disorders, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and
post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety disorders are caused by both a genetic
predisposition and environmental factors.
Generalized anxiety disorder,a relatively common disorder affecting 3-4% of
the population, turns daily life into a state of worry, anxiety, and fear. This
disorder is characterized by excessive worry and rumination over everyday events
which even the sufferer recognizes as being excessive. Physical symptoms include
of generalized anxiety may include headaches, trembling, twitching,
irritability, frustration, inability to concentrate, and insomnia. Mild symptoms
of social phobia and/or panic may sometimes occur, such as feelings of
self-consciousness and fear of being trapped in enclosed spaces. Symptoms can
vary from hour to hour or day to day.
Social anxiety disorder,or social phobia, affects 7-8% of the population.
This type of anxiety disorder affects 15 million Americans in any given year.
Sufferers feel as though they are being watched and judged in every social
interaction, and become so fearful that they avoid people altogether. Sufferers
know that their fear is irrational, but they cannot overcome it, and often
become reclusive.
People with panic disorders have acute physical symptoms which can lead them
to believe that they have a serious physical disease. They may fear that they
are having a heart attack, that they're about to lose control, or that they're
going crazy. Patients with panic disorders may have sensations of
breathlessness, suffocation, dizziness, and lightheadedness. Often these
patients make repeated use of emergency medical facilities, convinced they are
having heart attacks or that their lives are danger from some acute physical
disorder.
Agoraphobia is a reaction to panic attacks that occur unpredictably and
frequently in many places, thus making the person with agoraphobia feel unsafe
when leaving the familiarity of their homes. Panic/agoraphobia affects
approximately 5-6% of the population.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder usually occurs
after an individual experiences or witnesses severe or life-threatening trauma.
In the US, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 8-10% and
accounts for considerable disability and morbidity. One study found the
prevalence of PTSD in a sample of adolescent boys to be 3.7% and adolescent
girls to be 6.3%. Approximately 30% of men and women who have spent time in a
war zone experience PTSD.
The individual initially responds to the precipitating event with intense
fear, helplessness, or horror. The patient later develops a disorder
characterized by persistently re-experiencing the event, with symptoms of
numbness, avoidance, and hyperarousal, resulting in significant distress or
functional impairment. To meet the full criteria for PTSD, these symptoms should
be present for a minimum of 1 month following the initial traumatic event.
Events which cause PTSD include natural disasters, violent personal or sexual
assaults, war, or severe accidents. PTSD can be acute (symptoms lasting <3
mo), chronic (symptoms lasting >3 mo), or of delayed onset (6 mo elapses from
event to symptom onset).
PTSD is associated with brain changes in the amygdala, a structure in the
brain which processes primitive emotions such as fear and the fight/flight
response. Traumatic events can lead to fear conditioning with resultant
activation of the amygdala and associated structures such as the hypothalamus,
locus ceruleus, periaqueductal gray, and parabrachial nucleus. This activation
and the accompanying autonomic neurotransmitter and endocrine activity produce
many of the symptoms of PTSD. The orbitofrontal cortex exerts an inhibiting
effect on this activation. The hippocampus also may have a modulating effect on
the amygdala. However, in people who develop PTSD, the orbitofrontal cortex
appears less capable of inhibiting this activation.
Females may be at a higher risk than males because of higher rates of
traumatic events, such as being victims of crimes and abuse in personal
relationships. Sexual assault probably has the most impact on women, and trauma
from combat is more likely to cause the disorder in men. PTSD can occur at any
age, including during childhood.
The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was created
within the Department of Veterans Affairs created the National Center for PTSD
in 1989, in response to a Congressional mandate to address the needs of veterans
with military-related PTSD. Their website provides an educational resource
concerning PTSD and other enduring consequences of traumatic stress, for both
military and non-military audiences.
In all anxiety disorders, cognitive behavioral therapy is often helpful,
combined with anxiolytic drugs to ease acute symptoms. Patients with anxiety
often also suffer from depression, and antidepressants are often also used.
About the Author
K Reimer enjoys writing http://www.anxiety-now.info http://www.supplaments-anxiety.info
http://www.life-extension-now.com
