Anxiety and stress. The forms, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of anxiety

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Anxiety is a mental state associated with a sense of threat in response to an internal or external stimulus. The long-term negative impact of the threat on our lives can result in anxiety depression. Anxiety can be a reaction to only an imagined danger that could occur – even to a completely unreal danger.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a mental state in which a person feels threatened by external or internal stimuli. If this feeling accompanies the patient for a long time and has a negative impact on his / her life, it is called anxiety depression. The fear may be activated because of the immediate threat, but it can also be a figment of the patient, the fear of imaginary danger. The anxiety states are often accompanied by vegetative and somatic symptoms.

Where does this fear come from?

The occurrence of anxiety / anxiety is a very individual matter, because each person reacts differently to the environment. Often you can hear theses that anxiety comes from the internal experiences of a given individual or from problems that occurred already in childhood. In addition, specialists take into account the patient’s relationship with parents in childhood, so the causes of anxiety are mainly sought in the patient’s mental development and in adolescence.

Fear in healthy people may result from the fear or fear of new situations, a new job, a feeling of instability or the fear of losing a loved one. Internal anxiety often results from changes in habits or social phenomena.

Also, the overabundance of information (often incomprehensible) present today can cause anxiety in us.

So how do you deal with anxiety?

Each person deals with anxiety differently. For some, aggression brings relief, while for others the use of stimulants, e.g. drugs or alcohol. Patients suffering from anxiety or mentally suffering may experience physical diseases at the same time (every fifth person with anxiety also has somatic symptoms). Women (between 25 and 34 years of age) are more prone to anxiety. Also, less affluent people, struggling with a difficult financial situation, suffer from mental illnesses more often.

Attention! Anxiety can also take the form of social phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, panic attacks or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Symptoms of anxiety

Anxiety states have different symptoms at different levels. Often there are symptoms of a somatic nature, e.g.

1. pain in the chest;
2. Headache;
3. rapid breathing;
4. increased heart rate;
5. dizziness;
6. tingle;
7. ear noise;
8. reddening of the skin;
9. skin paling;
10. erection problems in men.

In addition to somatic symptoms, there are of course concomitant psychological symptoms:

1. nervousness;
2. tension;
3. hyperactivity;
4. problems with memory;
5. concentration disorders;
6. problems with understanding and planning.

Anxiety can occur in neurosis, psychosis and depression.

Anxiety and its types

1. Phobias are one type of anxiety. Often in our lives there are situations that make us feel fear, we are afraid for our finances, the future or the health of our loved ones. Fear causes us to think about accidents, diseases or the loss of even livelihoods, which seems perfectly normal. However, there is a difference between anxiety and a phobia that exhibits features of irrational fear in relation to given situations / people / objects that do not occur in other individuals. A phobia is also not a one-time experience, a panic attack, because anxiety states every time we come into contact with the object of our phobia. It also happens that a phobia turns into an obsession, such as an obsessive fear of losing a loved one or a fear of dying even though we are completely healthy.

2. Obsessive-compulsive disorder. They are characterized by the repetition of certain activities due to obsessive thoughts, anxiety or phobias (these activities are called compulsions). Compulsive behaviors can show up through obsessive hand washing or counting, and if left untreated, they can take complete control of our lives. Then the sick subordinate their whole life to unnecessary activities. Obsessive-compulsive disorder can occur in young children, it can even be inherited.

3. Panic disorder. He is characterized by a sudden panic attack and severe stress for no apparent reason. Panic can appear in any situation, and a person lives in fear of the next, which makes his condition even worse. Panic disorder can develop in people who live under a lot of stress on a daily basis. In addition to panic attacks, there are also somatic symptoms, such as:

1. pain in the chest;
2. nausea;
3. vomiting;
4. dizziness;
5. increased heart rate.

4. Post-traumatic stress disorder. It occurs as a result of traumatic experiences and experiences, e.g. war, car accident, violence or rape. Even though the individual is no longer in danger, he still experiences stress and anxiety. Memories of dramatic experiences come back over and over again, there are also problems with sleep and nightmares. Patients feel lonely, not infrequently they explode with anger while feeling guilty. In the treatment of post-traumatic stress, the help of a psychotherapist is needed.

5. Generalized anxiety disorder. Anxiety and fear are present in every area of ​​our life and in all our activities. The ailment may result from family inheritance or be the result of long-term stress. Patients experience constant fear for no apparent reason, live in tension, and there are other problems, such as fatigue, anxiety, trouble sleeping, headaches, trouble concentrating.

Important! Anxiety and stress are normal reactions and feelings that accompany everyone. However, when they take a chronic form and become a disorder, they can threaten the health or life of the patient. Then the help of a specialist is necessary.

Anxiety and stress

As already mentioned, anxiety is an inseparable part of everyone’s life. We feel it, for example, when making important decisions or passing exams. Anxiety can even be mobilizing and is perfectly normal until it turns into a disorder. If the anxiety states do not go away with the stressful situation – there is a problem. Then we feel anxious on a daily basis for no apparent reason, and additionally physiological symptoms appear.

Stress can be triggered by different situations in different individuals. In turn, anxiety is both anxiety, fear and nervousness, it appears as a result of stressful situations, but there are situations in which the causes of anxiety are not fully known to the person feeling. A small amount of stress is sometimes advisable, thanks to which we have greater mobilization to act, we achieve the set goals better, or we have better results at work. However, it should be remembered that long-term stress is inadvisable and can turn out to be very harmful. It not only affects our psyche, but also our physicality. Often, patients can observe a decrease in immunity, and consequently depression, heart disease and anxiety disorders.

Anxiety – diagnosis and treatment

Persistence of unjustified fear for a long time should be the reason for visiting a specialist (psychologist or psychiatrist) who will make an appropriate diagnosis.

Currently, we can observe many preparations on the market that are advertised as anxiolytic, but they give short-term effects and can even be addictive. Anti-anxiety drugs are neuroleptics and benzodiazepine derivatives, and taking them in a dose of several tablets (per day) causes serious consequences. Before taking this type of preparation, consult a specialist and use the drug according to his recommendations.

Attention! There is no substitute for psychotherapy! Anti-anxiety drugs can only help it.

Read also: Ways out of depression – past, present and future