Blog 3- Anxiety Disorders

As in life we have many life event experiences that can give us a sense of anxious feeling that will tend not to go away but just get worse. This may be from having an Anxiety Disorder, from MayoClinic they addressed that having an anxiety disorder is having an excessive, intense, and persistent worry and fear about every day events (mayoclinic.org). These excessive worries and fear tend to interrupt the daily activities and are at least persistent for 6 months. 
There is a spectrum of anxiety disorders and they can be Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Phobia-related disorders, and separation anxiety disorders. All of these all have quite similar symptoms but are different. 

Generalized Anxiety disorders symptoms which are common anxiety signs include:

• Feeling nervous, restless or tense
• Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
• Having an increased heart rate
• Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Feeling weak or tired
• Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
• Having trouble sleeping
• Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
• Having difficulty controlling worry
• Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

Panic disorder according to National Institute of Mental Health (NIHM), address that panic disorders are when a person has recurrent unexpected panic attacks. These panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear that comes quickly from a fear of situation, or object that leads to them having a chest pain, shortness of breathing, and trembling. From the fear of a sudden situation people tend to avoid all situation or experiences that can lead them which can develop of having a phobia. 

Treatments:

It is best to see a doctor or a therapist once feeling of depressed, anxiety disorders interferes your daily activities like work and school, suicidal thoughts, or you lose control of excessive of worrying.

The treatments that are most likely to be used and helpful are psychotherapy and medication, or both. According to NIHM, states that some of the psychotherapy that is used is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which teaches people to learn different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to anxiety-producing situations. CBT have been successful in people's anxiety disorders by focusing on identifying, challenging, and then sort out their thoughts that causes their anxiety disorders in situation that can trigger them (nihm.org)

Medication for anxiety disorders do not cure them but they help ease the anxiety attacks and relieving which take more effect than antidepressant medications. The common medications are taken are benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and beta-blockers which they all have drawbacks that some can be addicted and people can build a tolerance as well. With all of these pro's and con's the doctor is able to keep an eye on the patient and is best work closely so the doctor can identify and know which medication is the best for them. 

Another treatment that can be added is complementary health approaches such as stress techniques and joining support groups which can be benefited (nami.org)

According to National Alliance on Mental Illness, anxiety disorders affect over 40 million adults in the U.S. (19.1%) in figure 1, which is most common mental health concern. It has about 7% of children with the age of 3.17 experiences which most symptoms developed before the age 21. 

Figure 1:

• Based on diagnostic interview data from the National Comorbidity Study Replication (NCS-R), Figure 1 shows past year prevalence of any anxiety disorder among U.S. adults aged 18 or older. Past year prevalence of any anxiety disorder was higher for females (23.4%) than for males (14.3%). An estimated 31.1% of U.S. adults experience any anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. 

Retrieved from Any Anxiety Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml.

Figure 2: Based on diagnostic interview data from National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), Figure 3 shows lifetime prevalence of any anxiety disorder among U.S. adolescents aged 13-18.³

• An estimated 31.9% of adolescents had any anxiety disorder. Of adolescents with any anxiety disorder, an estimated 8.3% had severe impairment. DSM-IV criteria were used to determine impairment.
• The prevalence of any anxiety disorder among adolescents was higher for females (38.0%) than for males (26.1%).

Retrieved from Any Anxiety Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml.

References:

Anxiety Disorders. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml.

Anxiety disorders. (2018, May 4). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961.

Any Anxiety Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml.

NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Anxiety-Disorders.